SELECTED AWARDS

NYFA Grant in Computer Arts, New York, NY, 2005
Emerge 7, Fellowship, Aljira Art Center, Newark, NJ, 2005
Chashama AREA Visual Arts Studio Award, New York, NY, 2005
SXSW Interactive Festival, Website Finalist, January 2002
Nan Travel Art Scholarship, 1995
Jastrow Art Scholarship, 1992

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2008
“Carla Gannis”, TZR Galerie, Dusseldorf, Germany

2007
“Jezebel”, Claire Oliver Gallery, New York, NY

2006
“Everything That Rises Must Converge”, Kasia Kay Art Projects, Chicago, IL
“Jezebel”, Loop Video Art Fair, Barcelona, Spain

2005
“I Dream of Jeannie Emerging From a Fresca Bottle”, Scope Fair, Miami, FL
“I Dream of Jeannie Emerging From a Fresca Bottle”, Christa Schuebbe Project Room, Dusseldorf, Germany

2004
“Travelogue, Pablo’s Birthday”, Scope Art Fair, Miami, FL
“Travelogue”, Pablo’s Birthday, New York, NY

2003
“Travelogue”, Wax Gallery, New York, NY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2007
“Femme Fantastique”, Volitant Gallery, Austin, TX
“Notions of Wilderness”, Kasia Kay Art Projects Gallery, Chicago, IL
“New ’07”, CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY
“Summertime Blues”, Claire Oliver Gallery, New York, NY
“New American Story Art”, Croxhapox Gallery, Ghent, Belgium
“Scope Art Fair”, represented by TZR Galerie, New York, NY
“Red Dot Art Fair”, represented by Kasia Kay Art Projects Gallery, New York, NY

2006
“Flow Art Fair”, represented by Claire Oliver Gallery, Miami, FL
“Scope Art Fair”, represented by Kasia Kay Art Projects & TZR Galerie, Miami, FL
“Toronto Art Fair”, represented by TZR Galerie, Toronto, Canada
“E7: Aljira Emerge Exhibition”, Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ
“What I Did On My Summer Vacation”, Claire Oliver Gallery, New York, NY
“Summer Group Show”, Kasia Kay Art Projects Gallery, New York, NY
“On Tenterhooks”, Christopher Henry Gallery, New York, NY
“Young American Blood”, At Home/Stephanie Ferrario, London, England
“Scenic Detour”, Red Saw Gallery, Newark, NJ
“The Social Body”, Rocket Projects, Miami, FL
“Atmospheric”, Kasia Kay Art Projects, Chicago, IL
“Secretive”, Wheeler Gallery, Providence, RI
“fresh stART”, Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
“Scope Art Fair”, represented by Kasia kay Art Projects, New York, NY
“DIVA Art Fair”, represented by Pablo’s Birthday Gallery, New York, NY
“Miami Art Fair”, represented by Christa Schuebbe Galerie, Miami, FL

2005
“Beautiful Dreamers”, Spaces Gallery, Cleveland, OH
“Chashama Group show”, CFEVA, Philadelphia, PA
“Dark Nature”, Chashama Gallery, New York, NY
“Culture Vulture”, Jack the Pelican, Brooklyn, NY
“Groundswell Benefit”, Artists Space, New York, NY
“Nurturing the New”, Spike Gallery, New York, NY
“Art Brussels Art Fair”, represented by Christa Schuebbe, Brussels, Belgium
“FEVA Pantheon Gala”, Capitale, New York, NY
“Style Sessions”, Milk Gallery, New York, NY
“Expressions Replay”, auction honoring Claudio Buziol, New York, NY
“Scope Art Fair”, represented by Pablos Birthday, New York, NY
“Multiple Partners”, Pablo’s Birthday, New York, NY

2004
“Intimacy, Brooklyn Fireproof”, Brooklyn, NY
“New American Story Art”, Parker’s Box, Brooklyn, NY
“File 2004”, Cultural Center of Cesi, Sao Paolo, Brazil
“Shared”, Streit’s Matzo, New York, NY
“Scope Art Fair”, represented by Pablo’s Birthday, New York, NY
“Groundswell Benefit Auction”, White Columns, NY
“In the Face of Others”, LMCC Gallery, New York, NY
“Group Show”, Transplant Gallery, New York, NY

2003
“ID_ENTITY”, NURTUREart, Brooklyn, NY
“Artist Alliance Open Studios”, 2003, Curator’s Choice, New York, NY
“Groundswell Benefit Auction”, White Columns, NY
“Presence, Scope NY Art Fair”, curated by David Gibson, New York, NY

2002
“Holiday Art Auction”, Gale Gates, Brooklyn, NY
“Digital Dumbo”, M3 Projects, Brooklyn, NY
“Something”, Sesto Senso, Bologna, Italy
“No Live Girls”, Lusty Lady, Seattle, WA and San Francisco, CA
“ServicioEjecutivo”, http://www.servicioejectivo.com
“Reactions”, Exit Art, New York, NY
“Open Zone 8”, Ocularis at Galapagos Art & Performance Space, Brooklyn, NY

2001
“coLABoratory”, Gale Gates, Brooklyn, NY
“Digital Media Festival”, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
“A Collaborative Fusion”, 450 Broadway Gallery, New York, NY
“Duchamp Traveling Exhibition”, Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey
“Politics and Justice”, Festival de Unita, Modena, Italy
“Digital Dumbo”, Mastel + Mastel Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
“Suk, Sesto Senso”, Bologna, Italy
“Refrigerate After Opening”, The Cool Show, Cynthia Broan Gallery, New York, NY
“New Media Underground Festival”, Brooklyn, NY
“Everything Nice”, Baktun, New York, New York
“Film Video Club”, Four Walls, Brooklyn, NY
“OPEN HOUSE”, organized by Steve Rogenstein, Brooklyn, NY

2000
“Sugar & Spice”, The Space @ Media Triangle, New York, NY
“Mayonese”, curated by Stefano Pasquini, Sesto Senso, Bologna, Italy
“Fantasy and Identity”, Star 67, Brooklyn, NY
“Duchamp Traveling Exhibition”, New York Arts, New York, NY
“Article Magazine” - online gallery, featured artist, selected by David Gibson, New York, NY

1999
“Emerging Artists’ Show”, Here Art Gallery, New York, NY
“Take a Holiday”, curated by Claudia Michael Brown, Star 67 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
“Fuori del Commune”, Modigliana, Forli, Italy
“Save the Teens, Benefit Scholarship Fund”, curated by Mike Weiss, China Club, New York, NY
“No Dumb Bunnies”, curated by Tod Jorgensen, Jorgensen Gallery, New York, NY
“Hit & Run, Six Emerging Artists”, curated by Ed Winkleman, New York, NY
“WAR, Benefit Exhibition for War in Kosovo”, Postmasters Gallery, New York, NY
“MegaSalon Portrait Show”, 2nd Annual, curated by Brandon Ballengee and Tod Jorgensen, Jorgensen Gallery, New York, NY

CURATORIAL

2005
“Multiple Partners”, Pablo’s Birthday, New York, NY

TALKS/LECTURES

2006
Artist talk on work, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Artist talk on work @ Stephanie Ferrario Contemporary, London, England
“Fine Art in the Age of Digital Manipulation”, Artist talk on work, Manhattan Art Program, IS95, New York, NY
“Art & Technology”, Radio interview with Daniel Durning, PS1 Radio, New York, NY
“Fine Art in the Age of Digital Manipulation”, Artist talk on work, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
Artist talk on work, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

WRITING / ART CRITICISM

2007
Circle 8, “Global Feminisms”, Carla Gannis, July
artnotes, “Global Feminisms”, Carla Gannis, April

2005
LIC Magazine, “Interview with artist Afruz Amighi”, Carla Gannis, Oct

REVIEWS / PUBLICATIONS

2007
Circle 8, “Devil in a Red Dress | A Review of Carla Gannis Jezebel”, John Haber, July
Art Info, “Chelsea Art Pick”, April 12
LA Times, “Art That Eyes 21st Century Feminism”, Suzanne Muchnic, March 4
Ionarts, “Little Room an the Inn, Red Dot Fair, NYC”, MM, Feb 25

2006
Flavorpill Chicago, “Carla Gannis, Everything That Rises Must Converge”, AM, Nov 21
TimeOut Chicago, “Carla Gannis, Ruth Lopez & Audrey Mast”, October
The New York Times, “Tristate Talent Search Hits a High Note”, Benjamin Genocchio, August
res Magazine, “America The Beautiful: Carla Gannis”, Shana Ting Lipton, July/August
La Vanguardia, “The City of Videos (Spanish)”, Terese Sesé, May 20
Flash Art Online, LOOP 2006 – Barcelona (Italian), Paola Nicita, August/September
WPS1 Art Radio, Carla Gannis and Jillian McDonald, May 8
The Star Ledger, Artists on the rise, Dan Bischoff, July 30
Miami Herald, Critics Pick: The Social Body, by Elisa Turner, May
Hoboeye.com Arts Journal, Carla Gannis, April
New City, Wall Text, Michael Workman, February

2005
Animal Magazine, featured artist, issue 6, September
LIC Magazine, featured artist, September
Opium Magazine, cover image, issue 1, August
NY Arts Magazine, “The New Pop Art: Culture Vultures”, by Leah Oates, July/August
The Daily News, “Expression Replay”, April 28
The Village Voice, “Culture Vulture”, Voice Pick, April 27-May 3

2004
Travelogue | Carla Gannis 2002-2004, exhibition catalog, 68 pages, writings by Grady Turner, David Gibson, and Judith Barry
Flavorpill, “New American Story Art”, (listing), November
New Yorker, “New American Story Art”, (listing), November

2003
NY Arts Magazine, “It’s Good to Be Back”, Stefano Pasquini, Nov/Dec issue

2002
Wired.com, “Peepshow Gets an Artistic Implant”, Robin Cloley, January

2001
Collezioni Edge, “Carla Gannis, Interview with Stefano Pasquini”, November, http://stefanopasquini.net/stef/essays/carla.htm
11211, “Habit of Creation Interviews Carla Gannis”, Interview with Bevin Cummings, August
The New York Times, “The Cool Show”, by Holland Cotter, July 27
Village Voice, Refrigerate After Opening/The Cool Show, (listing), July

2000
New York Arts Magazine, “Playing Smart” video stills used for the contents page, June

WORKS ON VIEW
GalleryArtist, galleryartist.com, New York, NY
ArtLexis, artlexis.org, New York, NY
ArtBase, rhizome.org, New York, NY

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC

EDUCATION

MASTERS OF FINE ARTS IN PAINTING
Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

BACHELORS OF FINE ARTS IN PAINTING
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
(Summa Cum Laude)




JEZEBEL

Gannis' work deals with the female archetype Jezebel - a figure of the old testament – one who implied for many centuries heathenism and lust. In modernity she is increasingly linked to nonconformity as for example the main character in the movies “Jezebel“ (1938) and “Gone with the Wind“ (1939). Today Jezebel is multidimensional: a brave rebel, seductress, feminist icon who has been given form in literature, film, and musical interpretations.

In Gannis´ large-scale “new media“ artworks she re-invents different aspects of the Jezebel persona via digital collage. A multitude of complex characters is unified in her representations: the nonconformist, the beauty, the rebel, the sex goddess, the victim (bondwoman, slave) and the super hero. Gannis lifts her figures on a newly-created stage from where they radiate strength, intelligence and complexity. They now triumph over mythology, history and stereotypes which have formed and defined in the collective subconsciousness the term of femaleness for generations. Her main characters wear red – just as the historic example, not only as a signifier of lust and sexuality, but as an expression of courage and revolution in resistance of the cliché.
The exhibition comprises large-scaled digital prints, a wall installation, a life-size silhouette, a PHSCologram created in collaboration with (art)n*, and an interactive digital game work which can be experienced on the website of the gallery as well as in the gallery itself. In her artwork Gannis expresses her contemporary re-interpretation of the Jezebel-myth through image and metaphor. In the context of the digital age the interpretation of this topic, with the help of computer-based techniques, is only logical and consequent.


EVERYTHING THAT RISES MUST CONVERGE

Inspired by a same titled collection of Flannery O'Connor's short stories, Carla Gannis’s first solo exhibition at Kasia Kay Art Projects Gallery explores themes of "Southern Gothic", scrutinizing issues of race, class, and otherness with a darkly absurdist and tragicomic prose. Gannis, a native of the southern United States, creates digital paintings, drawings, and video works that are rooted in a storytelling tradition—embracing allusion, shunning the didactic, and revealing universal archetypes and patterns of human behavior. Gannis creates images with "tweaked" realities, embedded satire, and dreamlike juxtapositions. In her new work we see an African American beauty queen, "Ms. Phenomenal Woman", encountering anthropomorphized "lions, tigers, and bears" during a small town afternoon parade, as well as Jenny, a very long-necked vegetarian school girl (the title of this piece suggests "some" people think vegetarianism is just Jenny's "nature") eating from a tree. In Gannis’s large-scale work, The Intelligent Design Circus, a snake oil salesman at a county fair demonstrates his ID concept by plugging in a female sex doll he has produced. This contemporary Pygmalion does not seem to want his creation to love him, just to turn a profit. Viewers are encouraged to draw their own conclusions about the meanings and convergence points in this body of work. Gannis's assortment of characters and locations, popular media references, historic mythologies, and personal identity politics often collide. At points Gannis's specifics converge with universals (the monstrosity of concealed racism, the continued propagation of physical beauty as a determinate for female empowerment). Perhaps viewers may find that Gannis’s strange world is actually not so distant from their own.


I DREAM OF JEANNIE EMERGING FROM A FRESCA BOTTLE

I Dream of Jeannie Emerging From A Fresca Bottle inverts American idealism & optimism. As you may be aware, I Dream of Jeannie was launched as a television series in which an astronaut discovers a mysterious bottle containing a beautiful female genie. Eager to have him as her new master she becomes his servant.

Male stalkers are known to have the potential to turn violent toward their fixation while female stalkers will turn their violence inward, frequently turning to the bottle. Fresca is marketed as a calorie-free, grapefruit-flavored soft drink aimed at consumers particular about their physical shape & beauty. Warning: Grapefruit is proven to accelerate the affect of medications on the body, birth control included. Fresca is a rarity for a beverage introduced by the Coca-Cola Corporation; it does not have a Pepsi equivalent. Making Fresca appear at once marginalized & dangerous.

Carla Gannis creates a complex archeology & architecture of visionary imagery which does not conform to control & easy categorization. Her innovative digital paintings, drawings & installations explore a multiplicity of episodes composed of memory, mythology & the corruption of reality.

Throughout Gannis’ digital paintings portrayals of a rampant military-industrial complex, genetically altered species as well as cultural & gender stereotypes are interwoven into fantastic tableau. Art such as Endangered Species, Field Tests, Frenzyland, Fat Cats & Overkill deflate sentimental or nostalgic perceptions of American reality. Dystopia is a constant threat to any technologically accelerating society. Yard of the Month & Genesis delve into issues of an idealization of gender roles & cultural stereotypes dominating the imagination. While tautology reigns, fitting in & conforming have become aesthetic criteria. In Garden of Eden the streets of America are paved with dreams, not gold. In the crucible of the American experience dreams melt easily into darker material. Meanwhile, Orpheus and Eurydice appear to assert that the end of a couple is the end of the world. By inserting representations of herself inside many of her art works GANNIS expresses the embodiment & conflict of abnegation & power. As a supernatural female constantly requested to keep her powers "in check", Jeannie was frequently required to stay in her bottle. Through ingenuity & persistence she always found a way to subvert the wishes of her master. By keeping power "in check" there exists the potential for creative & intelligent responses to overcome threats of deprivation, oppression & terror. Uncontrolled power contributes to the erosion & destruction of humanity. GANNIS’ art is a warning that the respect for humanity is being lost & something must be done. Cool the tempest & accomplish the mission, motivate inspiration, our wits & fortitude will keep us safe.