2023-2025
I love paintings of collections and paintings within paintings, for example those Flemish paintings of galleries, with the implied self-consciousness of that form of meta-painting. But my work is really about the history of ideas, about deciphering hidden or obvious connections between our natural world, and our echoing of nature through our created world of art and objects. We have always sought to understand the world through trying to decipher how things are connected to other things. What family do they belong in?
I also love science in the way that a non-mathematical person loves science, which is to say in a taxonomic and descriptive way. I love the 18th century version, with its categories and collections, and the earlier version dating back to the Greeks, with its emphasis on the visual correlations and, often strange to us, webs of meaning which have internal consistency but are based on ideas now deemed deeply unscientific. I see parallels to modern scientific understanding of systems like ecosystems, various forms of mutualism, and our own bodies as consisting of colonies of microorganisms.
Recently, I have transitioned to a format in which I start compositions with a grid. This allows me to employ elements central to the content of my work: juxtaposition of landscape and still life; drawing from the history of art; drawing from the conceptual history of taxonomy and collection; playing with a pre-scientific taxonomy of resemblance; exploring the overlap between natural form, fine art, and decorative arts. The grid gives me the freedom to use a less literal space, one that can become more abstract, and which fits into my continuing attraction to shallow spaces.
This body of work uses a loose version of a grid, which gives me the freedom to create a less literal space, one that can become more abstract, and which fits into my continuing attraction to shallow spaces. I hope to create in all of them a sense of a narrative that remains mysterious, calling the viewer to interpret how the images relate to each other and construct meaning.
Sarah Gutwirth received her BFA and BA in painting in 1978 from a joint program of Reed College and the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland OR. Her MFA in painting is from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 1985. In 2017 she was nominated for the prestigious Joan Mitchell Prize for Painting. She has received grants from Kentucky Arts Council, Kentucky Foundation for Women, Murray State University and United University Professions at SUNY. She has had 20 one and two person exhibits over the last thirty-one years and has had work in numerous group shows. Her work is in several collections, including the People’s Education Press in Beijing. She held three tenure track teaching positions, receiving tenure at two. She retired in 2017 as Full Professor of Painting Emerita at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. She has travelled widely and lived in France. In 2017 she moved to Philadelphia where she was born and raised.
2015
Studio Visit Magazine, OpenStudios Press, Boston, MA
Juried Publication
1999 - 2017
Professor of Painting, Murray State University, Murray, KY
2003
Instructor, Kentucky Institute for International Studies, Italy program
2002
Instructor, Kentucky Institute for International Studies, Italy program
2002 - 2007
Associate Professor of Painting, Murray State University, Murray, KY
1999 - 2002
Assistant Professor of Painting, Murray State University, Murray, KY
2017
Nominated for Joan Mitchell Award in Painting and Sculpture, Joan Mitchell Foundation
2004
CISR Research Grant, Murray State University, Murray, KY
2002
Individual Artist’s Grant, Kentucky Foundation for Women
2000
Professional Development Fellowship, Kentucky State Arts Council
Individual Artist’s Grant, Kentucky Foundation for Women
People’s Education Press, Beijing, China
Gainesville College, Gainesville GA
Richard Brush Gallery, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY
Roland Gibson Gallery, Potsdam College, SUNY, Potsdam, NY
Private Collection, Mark Sloan and Michelle Van Parys, College of Charleston
2008
Lecture, Western Kentucky State University, Bowling Green, KY
2003
Panel Discussion (Women in Art) Brescia University, Owensboro, KY
2002
Gallery Talk, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA
2001
Recorded Juror’s Lecture, Henderson Art Guild, Henderson, KY
The Poetry of Eavan Boland, Jesse Stuart Symposium Composition Workshop, Murray Art Guild, Murray, KY
1985
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
MFA, Painting
1978
Museum Art School, Portland, OR
BFA
Reed College, Portland, OR
BA, Joint degree program with Museum Art School
2015
Taxonomies and Collections, Courthouse Gallery, Jackson, TN
2013
Sabbatical Show, Foyer Gallery, Murray State University, Murray, KY
2008
Metapaintings, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY
2013
Sabbatical Show, Foyer Gallery, Murray State University, Murray, KY
2004
Open Studio, Slanted Floor Studio, Santa Monica, CA
2001
Paintings and Drawings, Bethel College Gallery, Newton, KS
2024
Natural Philosophy, Cosmopolitan Club, Philadelphia, PA
2023
Chee Bravo, Sophie Glenn and Sara Gutwirth, Felicity R "Bebe" Benoleil Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Leah Douglas, Curator
2005
Two Person Show, Capitol Arts Gallery, Bowling Green, KY
2001
A Drawing Exhibition, two person, Tippy Stern, Fine Art Gallery, Charleston, SC
2024-2025
Exhibition, Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, 200 S Broad St #700, Philadelphia, PA
2024
Gilded Shadows, Park Towne Place, Philadelphia, PA
Claire Finin, Curator
2022
Mixture, CFEVA Members’ Exhibit, CFEVA Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2019
Drawn from Nature, Audubon Center, Mill Grove, PA
2018
Frabjous, Openings, St Paul the Apostle Church, NY, NY
Joel Carreiro, Curator
A Winter Juried Collection, Third St. Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Luella Tripp, Curator
2017
A Starling in Shadow, Cerulean Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Bill Scott, Curator
Perspectives, Clemens Fine Art Gallery WKCTC, Paducah, KY
2015
State of Painting, Bethel College, Bethel, KY
2014
Three Person Show, Courthouse Gallery, Jackson, TN
National Painting Invitational, Paducah School of Art and Design, Paducah, KY
2011
Pattern Play, The Living Arts and Science Center, Lexington, KY
2008
Other Worlds/Altered Visions, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN
2006
Mark Palmer Gallery, Paducah, KY
2003
Four Women Artists, Brescia University, Owensboro, KY
2002
Visual Imagery, Gallery 303,Georgia Southern University; Statesboro, GA
29th Bradley National Print and Drawing Exhibition, Peoria, IL
2001
Arts on Main, Shelbyville, KY
Juried Exhibition, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY
2000
Works by KFW Grant Recipients, Artswatch Gallery, Louisville, KY
A Sense of Place, Morlan Gallery, Transylvania University, Lexington, KY
50th Mid-States Art Exhibition, Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, Evansville, IN
Renaissance Regional Art Exhibit, The Renaissance Center, Dickson, TN
New Faculty Exhibition, Eagle Gallery, Murray State University, Murray, KY
January Jubilee, Moreland Gallery, Transylvania University, Lexington, KY
Water Tower Annual, Water Tower, Louisville, KY
