My drawings explore methods for breeding urban environments using organic models – multicellular organisms’ reproductive and propulsion strategies, pollination methods employed by plants, or stellar birth. My source materials include urban planning, microbiology and astronomy, and I consider all three to be related phenomena unfolding at different scales. The resulting images depict cities grown organically, without an “urban planner” as protagonist, based on environmental conditions and observing "natural" rules that are internally consistent - a closed set describing the universe they inhabit.
Education
1994 Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI MFA, Sculpture
1990 Washington University School of Fine Art, St. Louis, MO BFA, Sculpture
Awards & Honors
Residencies
2004 LMCC Downtown Residency Program, Equitable Building
1991 Residency, Studios Midwest, Galesburg IL
Bibliography
2016 Wolgamott, L. Kent, "No Figures, Graphite in a 'Schema' at NWU", Lincoln Journal Star, 12/4/2016
Fallon, Roberta “Joyful Space”, the Art Blog, 4/17/2016
Haber, John “The Infrastructure of Abstract Art”, haberarts, 2/12/2016
2015 Newhall, Edith “Woodmere Annual”, Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/12/2015
2014 Feige, Jacob "Drawing Now", Title Magazine, 10/20/2014
2013 Newhouse, Sam "Cities without size, cities without color - Urban Environments at Grizzly Grizzly", the Art Blog, 9/24/2013
Fallon, Roberta "First Friday Flash", the Art Blog, 9/12/2013
Newhouse, Sam "A studio visit with Colleen Keefe", the Art Blog, 9/6/2013
Yaniv, Etty "Self-Guided Gallery Tour of BOS Created by Arts in Bushwick Blog", Bushwick Daily, 5/29/2013
Griffin, Donovan "Breadboard Discovers the Art of the Petri Dish", InLiquid Art+Design, 5/3/2013
2012 Alday, Sean "Authoritative Chairs, Freud and Zooplankton: Art Reviews", Bushwick Daily, 9/26/2012
Meyer, Ben "Woodmere’s 71st Annual Juried Exhibition", the Art Blog, 8/16/2012
Donohoe, Victoria "A Quartet Show Artistry in Abington", The Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/1/2012
Newhall, Edith "Here Comes Summer", The Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/20/2012
Schwartz, Chip "Drawing Organics – Colleen Keefe, Sarah Laing and Alana Bograd at Rebekah Templeton", the Art Blog,5/18/2012
Sexton, Courtney "Critical Mass: CURATOR – Organon at Rebekah Templeton", CityPaper, 5/4/2012
2004 Myers, Holly "The Value of Having Some Space, LA Times, 12/24/2004
Moody, Tom "Paradise/Paradox", Sculpture Magazine March 2004
2001 Cotter, Holland "Colleen Keefe at ROME Arts", New York Times Art In Review, 12/3/2001
Levin, Kim "(un)Planned", Recommended Pick, Village Voice Jan 2001
Dault, Gary Michael "Adrian Blackwell, Colleen Keefe, Rupen at Project" Toronto Globe and Mail 1/20/2001
Fallon, Roberta "Worlds of Possibility" Philadelphia Weekly 2/23/2000
1999 Sozanski, Edward J. "Dream Gardens" The Philadelphia Inquirer 2/25/2000
Youens Rachel "Utopia" Cover Magazine 1999
1998 Smith, Roberta "Brooklyn Haven for Art Heats Up" New York Times 11/6/1998
Jennifer Dalton "Shake" Review Magazine 6/15/1998
Publications
Writing with Jacque Liu Artists' Commerce, Title Magazine and Citywide Philly
Professional Experience
2009-present Co-Director, Mount Airy Contemporary Artists Space, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Visiting Artist, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NE
Speaker, T3 Lectures at Excite Center, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
2015 Speaker, "Risk and Failure: Stepping into the Art World", Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
Juror, Arcadia Student Biennial, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA
2010 Juror, Annual February Benefit, Highwire Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1995-1998, and 2001 Co-Director, 57hope Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
1998 Curator, (for 57hop e), Local Spaces, Abrons Art Center
1996 “The Williamsburg Gallery Scene.” Panel with Mike Ballou (Four Walls), Laura Parnes and Eric Heist (Momenta Art), Joe Ahmrein (Pierogi 2000), and Colleen Keefe (57 Hope). Artists Talk On Art, Organized by Jane Harris
Exhibitions
Solo
2019 Speer Gallery, Bryn Mawr, PA
2018 Bohlin Cywinski Jackson / Design Center, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Methods for Breeding Urban Systems, Robert Henry Contemporary, Brooklyn NY
2012 Structural Biology, Robert Henry Contemporary, Brooklyn NY
Abington Art Center, Jenkintown PA
2010 RHV Fine Art, Brooklyn NY
2001 ROME Arts, Brooklyn NY
Group
2020 Group Exhibition, myCIO, Philadelphia, PA Curator: Michael Mergen
2019 The Chalkboard Chronicles, ArtYard, Frenchtown, NJ
Andrea Wohl Keefe and Colleen Keefe, Marlin Gallery, Camden, NJ
2017 Architectonic Shift, InLiquid at Park Towne Place, Philadelphia, PA
Local Engagement, Awbury Arboretum, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Schema: Works on Paper - Colleen Keefe, Robert Lansden, Amy Ruffo, Samantha Mitchell and Matt Sontheimer, Elder Gallery, Lincoln, NE
Colleen Keefe, Derek Lerner and Mike Childs, Robert Henry Contemporary, PULSE MIAMI
Ontology of Influence: Ron Leax and Alumni Exhibition, Des Lee Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2015 Woodmere Annual, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Summer: Works on Paper, Pagus Gallery, Norristown, PA
Andrea Wohl Keefe and Colleen Keefe, Allens Lane Art Center, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Drawing Now Philadelphia 2014, ArtSpace Liberti, Philadelphia, PA Curator: Sabina Tichindeleanu; Asst. Curator: Emelie Keim Viss
Married: Colleen Keefe and Andrea Wohl Keefe, Winter Gallery, Lancaster, PA
2013 Made In Philly, CFEVA, Philadelphia, PA
Benefit Exhibition for BalletX, Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Cellular/Molecular, EKG Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Curator: Gaby Heit
Colleen Keefe and Fabio Fernandez/Tom Lauerman, Grizzly Grizzly, Philadelphia, PA Curator: Jacque Liu
2012 Aqua Art Miami, Robert Henry Contemporary, Miami, FL
Alana Bograd, Colleen Keefe, Sarah Laing, Rebekah Templeton, Philadelphia, PA
71st Annual Juried Exhibition, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Affordable Art Fair NY, RHV Fine Art, New York, NY
New Trails /// Summer 2011, Adaptation Art/CAi, Philadelphia, PA
Stimuli • Stimulus, 110 Church Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2007 Overlapped Sensibility, Sabina Lee Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Kindness of Strangers, The Helm Gallery, Tacoma, WA
2006 Art of the Neighborhood 2, Tastes Like Chicken, Brooklyn, NY
Out of the Blue, Abington Arts Center, Jenkintown, PA
Critical Mass, Kentler Int'l Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY (catalogue)
2005 Within Limits, Sabina Lee Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Affordable Art Fair, Sabina Lee Gallery, New York, NY
ArtLA, Sabina Lee Galllery, Los Angeles, CA
2004 House Bound, Sabina Lee Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Freehand, Marvelli Lab, Brooklyn, NY
Plane and Elevation, Art in General, New York, NY
All About Drawing, Eisentrager•Howard Gallery, Lincoln NE
Colleen Keefe and Aaron Wexler, P.S. 122 Gallery, New York, NY
2003 Far Away, Up Close, ROME Arts, Brooklyn, NY
Paradise/Paradox, Castle Gallery, New Rochelle, NY (catalogue)
Daniel Carello and Colleen Keefe, ROME Arts, Brooklyn, NY
2002 The Brewster Project, Brewster, NY
Never-Never Land, Stedman Gallery, Camden, NJ
2001 Never-Never Land, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tampa, FL
