Lily Prince has her B.F.A. from The Rhode Island School of Design, her M.F.A. from Bard College and studied at Skowhegan. Lily participated in The Bronx Museum's Art-in-the-Marketplace Program and studied abroad on R.I.S.D.’s European Honors Program in Rome. Prince has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally, including in England, Germany, Israel, Poland, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, among many others. In 2020 Prince was awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner award in painting. Prince joined Littlejohn Contemporary Gallery, NY in 2017 showing her work in the Art on Paper Fair. In 2018 they had her solo exhibition Recurring Waves of Arrival. Prince was awarded an artist residency at Galerie Huit in Arles, France, summer 2019 and was awarded a sabbatical for 2019-2020. Her solo show There There was at Cross Contemporary Art at 11 Jane Street Gallery, Saugerties, NY, July 2019. In fall of 2021 Prince is having a solo show American Beauty at Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham, NY. Lily has been awarded commissions by numerous hotels and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Her book of portraits with writer Richard Klin’s profiles, Something To Say: Thoughts on Art and Politics in America, was published by Leapfrog Press, 2011. Prince was commissioned to create 100 illustrations for the book Abstract Expressionism For Beginners, published by For Beginners Books, 2016.
In addition to her recent residency at Galerie Huit in Arles, France, Prince was Artist-in-Residence at state historic site Olana in 2016. In 2014 Prince was chosen for Draftsmen’s Congress, a residency with international artists at New York’s The New Museum. Lily was one of only two international artists awarded a fully-funded residency at the BAU Institute’s residency in Italy, 2013. Prince’s solo show Here, There and Everywhere was at Vassar College, 2013. In 2014 her work was featured in numerous shows and publications including Force of Nature at SUNY Ulster’s Muroff-Kotler Gallery and she had work in the Weatherspoon Museum’s Works on Paper Biennial. In 2015, Thompson Giroux Gallery began representing Lily’s work and her work was in the summer 2016 show at Chelsea’s Garvey Simon Gallery. Also in 2016, her work traveled with Pierogi Gallery’s exhibition to Sorrento, Italy and she had a solo museum show Dream State in Naples, FL.
Lily Prince’s work has appeared in the New York Times, New York magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, the Newark Star- Ledger, New American Paintings, San Francisco Weekly, The Bloomsbury Review, Rain Taxi, Jewish Currents Magazine, Chronogram magazine, and the literary journal Crossborder. A catalogue of her drawings The Ten Plagues was published, with poems by David Shapiro, by The Paterson Museum. In 2021 Zephyr and Maize published her work: American Beauty with Lily Prince and Richard Klin, edited by Varia Serova and also Studio Visit with Lily Prince by Varia Serova. Lily was interviewed for ArtSpiel,in 2020 by Etty Yaniv and also by Ann Landi in Vasari21. Prince has lectured widely, including at Yale, Vassar, Cornell, RISD’s European Honors Program, Pratt and at the Artists Talk on Art series. Lily was interviewed on WVKR radio for their cultural currents show as well as on WBAI and WAMC, among others. Lily Prince lives in NY and is an Associate Professor at William Paterson University.
Critic, poet and art historian David Shapiro has written about Prince's work in his essay for the catalogue Paper Point Blank:
“She seems to have a learned scattering, the carefulness that counts, and the multiple humors of the body. It is easy to discern a Tantric centering that might also be part of the heritage of her essential syncretism. These richly colored works speak of a bold mysticity. But the balance and Eros of the work is strange and strongly painterly, and strong too its reliance on a devastating doubleness of vision. In Prince, one is observing both the pleasures of observation and a severe and principled devotion to abstraction.”
2020 Pollock-Krasner Award Grantee
EDUCATION:
1991 MFA Painting, Bard College Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Annandale, NY
1984 BFA Painting, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1991 Bronx Museum Artist-in-the Marketplace Program, Bronx, NY
1983 European Honors Program, Rhode Island School of Design, Rome, Italy
RESIDENCIES :
2019 Galerie Huit, Artist-in-Residence, Arles, France
2016 Olana, Artist-in-Residence, Mystery Box Residency, Frederic Church’s Historic Home
2014 The New Museum, Draftsmen's Congress, Artist Residency, NY
2013 BAU Institute, Otranto, Italy, Fully funded residency
1991 Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Fellowship
1991 Bronx Museum Artist-in-the Marketplace Program
GALLERY AFFILIATIONS:
Littlejohn Contemporary, NY, NY
Thompson Giroux, Chatham, NY
Cross Contemporary, Saugerties, NY 11 Jane St. Art Center, Saugerties, NY
Pierogi flat files, NY, NY
SOLO and 2 and 3 -PERSON EXHIBITIONS:
2021 American Beauty , Solo Show, Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham, NY
2019 There There, Solo Show, 11 Jane St. Art Center, Jen Dragon guest curator, Saugerties, NY
2018 Recurring Waves of Arrival, Solo Show, Littlejohn Contemporary, NY, NY
2018 Wild World, Cross Contemporary, 3-person show, Saugerties, NY
2016 Mystery Box, Solo Exhibition, Olana, Hudson, NY
2016 Dream State, Solo Exhibition, Naples Museum, Naples, FLA
2014 Force of Nature, Muroff-Kotler Visual Arts Gallery, 2-person show, SUNY Ulster, NY
2013 Here, There and Everywhere, Solo Exhibition, Palmer Gallery, Vassar College, NY
2005 Points of Departure, Solo Exhibition, Domo Gallery, Summit, NJ
2005 Logical Harmony, Solo Exhibition, Johnson & Johnson World Headquarters Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2021 Albany Airport, Sunrise/Sunset, Albany, NY 2021 Greenly Art Space, USPS Art Project Invitational, Signal Hill, CA 2020 Littlejohn Contemporary Artists at The Beacon Playhouse, Bedford, NY
2020 Dorsky Museum, virtual exhibition stayhome.makeart, New Paltz, NY 2020 Joanne Mattera Artblog, The Corona Sidestep virtual exhibition 2020 Woodstock Film Festival Benefit Exhibition, curator Jen Dragon 2020 USPS Art Project, Traveling Exhibition: Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY 2020 USPS Art Project, Traveling Exhibition:Ely Center, New Haven, CT 2020 USPS Art Project, Traveling Exhibition:Art Studios, Dallas, TX 2019 Novado Gallery, Ingenious Prospects, Jersey City, NJ
2018 Littlejohn Contemporary, Tell Me, What Is It You Plan to Do With Your One Wild And Precious Life, NYC
2018 Cross Contemporary, Wild World, Saugerties, NY
2018 Thompson Giroux Gallery, En Masse, Chatham, NY
2018 Littlejohn Contemporary, Gallery Highlights, NY, NY
2018 Ben Shahn Galleries, Faculty Exhibition, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
2017 Projects Gallery, Square Foot, 5, Miami Art Fair, Miami, FLA
2017 Ille Arts, Works on Paper, East Hampton, NY
2017 Cross Contemporary, Winter Show, Saugerties, NY
2017 Thompson Giroux Gallery, En Masse, Chatham, NY
2017 Littlejohn Contemporary, Summer Show, NY, NY
2017 Littlejohn Contemporary, Group Show, NY, NY
2017 Littlejohn Contemporary, Art on Paper Fair, Pier 36, NY, NY
2016 Drawing Rooms, Big Small Show, Jersey City, NJ
2016 Projects Gallery, Square Foot,4, at Pulse Miami Art Fair, Miami, FLA
2016 Garvey Simon Gallery, Select, NY, NY
2016 Thompson Giroux Gallery, En Masse, 10th Anniversary, Chatham, NY
2015 Drawing Rooms Gallery, Big Small Show, Jersey City, NJ
2015 Projects Gallery, Square Foot, Miami Art Fair, Miami, FLA
2015 Thompson Giroux Gallery, En Masse, Chatham, NY
2015 Pierogi Gallery, Traveling Exhibition, Sorrento, Italy
2015 Thompson Giroux Gallery, Visions and Voices, Chatham, NY
2015 Byrdcliffe Kleinart James Art Gallery, 5 x 7 Show, Woodstock, NY
2015 Ben Shahn Galleries, Faculty Exhibition, William Paterson University, NJ
2015 PS209 Gallery, Paper White, Stone Ridge, NY
2014 Weatherspoon Museum, Works on Paper Biennial, Greensboro, NC
2014 Peace Project, Traveling Exhibition, Culver City, CA and Chelsea, NYC
2014 Skylight Gallery, Other Worlds, Curator Jill Slaymaker, NY
2014 Kleinart James Gallery, Ruckus, Byrdcliff Annual, Woodstock, NY
2013 BAU Institute, Residency Exhibition, Otranto, Italy
2013 Byrdcliffe Kleinart James Art Gallery, Group Show, Woodstock, NY
2012 Ben Shahn Galleries, Faculty Exhibition, William Paterson University, NJ
2011 Ben Shahn Galleries, Faculty Exhibition, William Paterson University, NJ
2008 Soho Myriad, Pink, Curator Sarah Hall, Atlanta, Georgia
2007 Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Pillow Talk, curator M. McCorkle, Santa Monica, CA
2006 Ben Shahn Galleries, Faculty Exhibition, William Paterson University, NJ
2005 Rockland Center for the Arts, 7, curator Lynn Stein, Nyack, NY
2004 New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts, First Look, curator M. D’Alessandro
2004 Claire Oliver Fine Art, R.I.S.D. Biennial, Whitney curator Shamim Momin, NY
2004 473 Broadway Gallery, Meditation, NYArts magazine, curator E. Park, NY, NY
2003 The Affordable Art Fair, NYC, represented by Kenise Barnes Fine Arts, NY, NY
2003 The Armory International Arts Fair, Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2003 Metaphor Contemporary Art Gallery, Paper, Brooklyn, NY
2002 Currier Museum, Pierogi Gallery Traveling Exhibition, Manchester, NH
2002 Kenise Barnes Fine Arts, Less Than One, Larchmont, NY
2002 The Affordable Art Fair, NYC, represented by Kenise Barnes Fine Arts, NY, NY
2002 The Armory International Arts Fair, Pierogi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2002 Kenise Barnes Fine Arts, New Works, Larchmont, NY
2001 Art Forum, Pierogi Travelling Exhibition, curated by Joe Amrhein, Berlin
2001 Exit Art, Reactions, NYC (Library of Congress Acquisition)
2001 Istanbul Biennial, Duchamp Travelling Exhibition, Curator Ipek Duben, Istanbul, Turkey
2001 Venice Biennial, Duchamp Travelling Exhibition, Curator A. Lubolsky, Venice, Italy,
2001 Block Artspace, Pierogi Traveling Exhibition, Kansas City, MO
2001 Kenise Barnes Fine Arts, Drawing Show, curator Robin Lesser, Larchmont, NY
2001 Schweinfurth Art Center, curator Kenise Barnes, Auburn, NY
2000 Catherine Moore Fine Art, Winter Show/Works on Paper, NY, NY
2000 Post Gallery, Pierogi 2000 Traveling Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA
2000 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Pierogi 2000 Traveling Exhibition, CA
2000 Contemporary Museum of Art, Snapshot, Baltimore, MD
2000 Kulturbahnhof, Bremen, Germany, Curator Andrew Lubolsky, NYArts magazine
2000 Heller Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel, Curator Andrew Lubolsky, NYArts magazine
2000 The Artists' Museum, Lodz, Poland, Curator Andrew Lubolsky, NYArts magazine
2000 Catherine Moore Fine Art, Summer Group Show, NY, NY
2000 Kenise Barnes Fine Arts, Summer Invitational, Larchmont, NY
2000 Wendy Cooper Gallery, New Works, Madison, WI
2000 The Brooklyn Museum, N.A.G., Pierogi Auction, Brooklyn, NY
2000 Gasworks Gallery, New York Drawers: The Pierogi Flatfiles, London, UK
2000 Corner House Gallery, New York Drawers: Pierogi Flatfiles, Manchester, UK
1999 Feigen Gallery, Brooklyn Academy of Music Visual Arts Salute, NY, NY
1998 Unilever Corporation, Invitational Group Exhibition, NJ
1998 The New York Art Exchange, DeChiara Stewart Gallery, NY, NY
1997 Walter/McBean Gallery, Bio-Hazard, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
1997 The Berkshire Museum, Works on Paper, Juror Jerry Saltz, MA
1997 Viridian Gallery, 8th National Juried Exhibition, Juror Thelma Golden, NY, NY
1997 U. of Bridgeport, Contemporary Visions, Juror J.Collischan, Bridgeport, CT
1996 The Parrish Museum, 35th Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror Jack Tilton, NY
1996 Doshi Center for Contemporary Art, Abstraction II, Juror John Ravenal, PA
1996 Viridian Gallery, 7th National Juried Exhibition, Juror Lisa Phillips, NY, NY
1996 Aljira Gallery, Aljira National II, Juror Bill Arning, Newark, NJ
1996 Hopper House, Small Matters of Great Importance, Juror A. Grant, Nyack, NY
1996 The Workspace Gallery, Paper Point Blank, Curator/Exhibitor, NY, NY
1995 Artists Space, Night of 1000 Drawings, NY, NY
1995 Aljira Gallery, Aljira National 1, Juror J. Jacobs, Newark, NJ
1995 Rhode Island School of Design, 12 x 12, Juror Diana Johnson, Providence, RI
1995 Montclair University, Small Works, Juror Vivien Raynor, Montclair, NJ
1995 Silvermine Guild, Art of the Northeast, Juror Andre Emmerich, CT
1994 Ben Shahn Galleries, Faculty Exhibition, William Paterson College, Wayne, NJ
1993 First Street Gallery, re/SOURCE, co-curator, NJ
1993 Molica Gallery, 360 Degrees Invitational, Rome, Italy and NY, NY
1992 First Street Gallery, Cannibalism Invitational, Jersey City, NJ
1992 Emerging Collector Gallery, Invitational, NY, NY
1991 Woods Gerry Gallery, 12 x 12, Juried Show, R.I.S.D., Providence, RI
1991 The Bronx Museum, Artist in the Marketplace, Invitational, Bronx, NY
PUBLICATIONS
2021 Zephyr and Maize, American Beauty with Lily Prince and Richard Klin, editor Varia Serova 2021 Zephyr and Maize, Studio Visit with Lily Prince by Varia Serova
2020 Vasari 21, What is a Drawing, part eight 2020 ArtSpiel, Artspiel.org/lily-prince-honing-plein-air/ , Etty Yaniv
2019 Vasari21, “Lily Prince Under the Radar”, Ann Landi
2018 Arts 511 magazine, “Lily Prince named in Top Ten NYC Artists Now”
2018 ArtSpiel, Lily Prince in Cross Contemporary’s Wild World, Etty Yaniv
2018 Vasari 21, Plein Air Painters, Lily Prince, Ann Landi
2018 ArtSpiel, Lily Prince at Littlejohn Contemporary, Etty Yaniv
2018 Vasari 21, Pic of the Day, Lily Prince at Littlejohn Contemporary, Ann Landi
2018 ArtDaily.org, Littlejohn Contemporary Opens Exhibition of Lily Prince
2018 our risd, Natural Connections, by Simone Solondz
2017 The Brooklyn Rail, image of band Priests for profile by Richard Klin
2016 Compass Cultura, images for The Austrian Gambit by Richard Klin
2016 La Femmes Folles Calendar, image for month of July, 2017
2016 La Femmes Folles, interview and images
2016 our RISD Blog, images and article on Abstract Expressionism for Beginners
2016 Abstract Expressionism For Beginners, Illustrations and cover for book by Richard Klin, For Beginners Books
2016 On View magazine, profile with 5 paintings
2016 The Compassion Anthology, paintings
2016 Florida Weekly, exhibition info with painting
2016 Drawing Rooms The Big Small Show exhibition catalogue
2016 xyz magazine, Journal of Rhode Island School of Design, profile and paintings
2014 Painter's Table, "Have You Met Artist...", Featured Artist, April 2014
2014 Yew Journal, paintings to accompany poetry, March
2014 The Forward, image of Hugh Nissenson, Remembering the Legacy of Hugh Nissenson, January
2013 Chronogram magazine, full-page painting, December
2013 The Daily Freeman, image of painting, November
2013 Cross Borders, cover for 2nd issue of literary magazine and inside art
2013 The Brooklyn Rail, image of The New Zion Trio, February
2013 Cross Borders, cover for inaugural issue of literary magazine
2013 Jewish Currents magazine, Special Calendar Edition, drawings and paintings
2012 Hudson Valley magazine, Leading Lady, image of Genya Ravan, July
2012 Jewish Currents magazine, Sheryl Oring:Taking Dictation, image of S.Oring, summer
2011 Something To Say, images of artists for book of profiles by Richard Klin, Leapfrog Press
2011 Rain Taxi, image of Quincy Troupe, April
2010 The Bloomsbury Review, image of Howard Zinn, April
2009 New American Paintings, Anniversary Edition, December
2008 January Magazine, photo of Noam Chomsky, July
2007 January Magazine, drawing of poet David Shapiro, July
2006 Bluecoupe Magazine, Photo for “The Kids Are All Right”, December
2005 New York Magazine, Photo of author Hugh Nissenson, September 26
2004 The Newark Star Ledger, Sept. 19, Art Review “First Look”, Dan Bischoff
2003 Art Is, George Quasha, White Box Gallery, NY; Poland Int’l Film Festival
2002 Library of Congress, Permanent Collection, Exit Art “Reactions”
2002 The New York Times, Sunday, January 27, Art Review, D. Dominick Lombardi
2001 The New York Times, Sunday, February 4, Art Review, William Zimmer
2001 New American Paintings, April/May, Open Studios Press, Wellesley,MA, B. Venn
2001 The New York Times, February 4, Review of “Re: Drawing”, Kenise Barnes, William Zimmer
2000 The New York Times, New York Today Online, review of “Summer Paper”, NY
1999 Visual Artists Salute, Exhibition Catalogue from B.A.M.@ Feigen Gallery, NY, NY
1997 San Francisco Weekly, Image "Death of the Firstborn" in Weekend Edition
1997 The Proof, Short Film; Director Mathew Stone, Producer Gloria Zimmerman
1997 The China Project, Exhibition Catalogue from Nanjing College of Art Gallery
1996 The New York Times, The Parrish Museum 35th Annual, Phyllis Braff
1996 The New York Times, "Practitioner of a Lonely Art", Barry Schwabsky,2 images
1996 The Ten Plagues, Exhibition Catalogue, The Paterson Museum
1996 Paper Point Blank, Exhibition Catalogue, The Work Space Gallery, NY, NY
1993 360 Degrees, Exhibition Catalogue, Molica Gallery, Rome, Italy
1993 The New York Times, "re/SOURCE" Exhibition Review, Vivien Raynor
1991 Artist in the Marketplace, The Bronx Museum Exhibition Catalogue
LECTURES:
The School, Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, NY, Book talk, 2016
WAMC Radio, Interview, 2016
School of Visual Arts, Book presentation/lecture, 2016
SUNY Ulster, artist talk, September, 2014
Radio Interview, WVKR radio Cultural Currents show, December 10, 2013
Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Plein Air Drawing Workshop, Naples, Florida, 2014
Vassar College, December 2013
Vassar College, December 2012
Radio Interview, WBAI Radio, with Prairie Miller, May 3, 2011
Radio Interview, WAMC, with Joe Donahue, April 21, 2011
Yale University, American Studies Graduate Program, November 2011
Green Mountain College, November 2011
Fordham University conference The Art of Outrage, October, 2011
William Paterson University Research Day, 2011Cornell University, 2011
Two Rivers Bookstore, Binghamton, 2011
Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, 2011
Brown University Bookstore, 2011
NYU Bookstore, 2011Inquiring Minds Bookstore, New Paltz, 2011
Golden Notebook Bookstore, Woodstock, 2011
Rhode Island School of Design European Honors Program, Rome, Italy, 1997
Foundations in Art: Theory and Practice National Conference, VA, 1997
Fulcrum Gallery, Artists Talk On Art, "Curator's Choice", NY, 1996
Pratt Institute, Graduate Painting Lecture, NY, 1996
South Eastern College Art Conference, LA, 1994
COMMISSIONS:
Prints for Westin North, Chicago, IL
Prints for San Francisco Sheraton, CA
Medical Examiner’s Building, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NY, NY
Painting for Sheraton Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Paintings for Hilton Hotel Ballroom, Hasbrook Heights, NJ
Prints for Westin River North, Chicago, IL
Paintings for Ritz Carlton Hotel Spa, South Beach, FL
Painting and Prints for Mandarin Oriental Hotel, D.C.
Painting and Prints for Mandarin Oriental Hotel, NY, NY
Prints for Marriot World Center Hotel, FL
Paintings for Mohegan Sun Casino Hotel, CT
AWARDS:
2013 BAU Institute, Otranto, Italy, Fully Funded Residency
2013 Sabbatical, spring semester, William Paterson University, NJ
2018-2008, 2005, 1997 Assigned Release Time Grant, William Paterson University, NJ
2015-1993 Career Development Grant, William Paterson University, NJ
2013-2011 College of Arts and Communication Summer Research Grant, William Paterson University, NJ
2013 Travel Incentive Grant, William Paterson University, NJ
LINKS:
Littlejohn Contemporary
Thompson Giroux Gallery
Saatchi Art
Pierogi Gallery
Richard Klin
Leapfrog Press
WAMC Public Radio: Something to Say with Joe Donahue
I approach a place of particular interest to me with plein air drawing, which is the basis for my studio works. Returning repeatedly to specific views, I combine illusionistic space with the interpretive mark-making inherent in the abstract ordering of the chaos of nature. While my paintings are rooted in my interpretation of particular places, they combine with the memory of past spaces and future aspiration.
I consider myself an explorer, studying the atmosphere of diverse spaces., My initially observational works portray the pulsating rhythms found in undulating hills, rippling fertile fields, echoing distant mountains and shifting skies. These paintings represent my visceral connection to nature, to the energy emanating from a specific evocative terrain, and my constant longing to return to it anew, like recurring waves of arrival.
My works give the viewer the sense of flying through them, hovering, as the earth shifts in subtle twists and turns. This slightly unsettling vantage point merges with vivid color, pattern and deep space to create a view of a world filled with light, hope and resurgence.
Recently, after years spent exploring the Italian landscape, I have begun a much-needed search for tangible beauty in our own country. I did a series of oil pastel drawings en plein air while on a western road trip summer 2019. These drawings done in the desert and on the side of roads in 100 degree heat are the basis for my studio paintings I have been making in an 1850’s barn in upstate NY for my American Beauty series. In these times of environmental and societal devastation, I consider it a political act to immerse myself in the landscape to record the natural beauty lurking there: perhaps to incite the arousal of sentiment, a stirring of connectedness.
When I began this series, summer 2019, I never could have imagined what we would all be going through in these extremely difficult and dark times. I thought then that the world was damaged enough. Now I feel I'm on a mission to record views of nature in our broken country to remind us all how much beauty still exists, to inspire us to connect with our higher selves, to retain hope to carry on and still dream