Jane Swavely
Jane Swavely’s abstractions attempt to reconcile romanticism and minimalism while referencing natural and cinematic elements. Intense areas of color are set against zones where paint has been wiped from the surface, revealing undertones and vestigial forms. Swavely’s practice is intuitive and comes from the artist’s subconscious, each work an expression of a lingering thought. Compositionally, visual evocations of screens and portals are constant in the work as is an illusive silver tone, appearing intensely reflective and polished in some works and a tarnished patina in others. When combined with rich pigmented color otherwise present in her paintings the results can be emulsive and luminous, recalling some alchemical consequence.
Jane Swavely attended the figurative academic program at Boston University College of Fine Arts. Swavely moved to New York City in 1980, and worked as an assistant to New Image artist Lois Lane while attending the School of Visual Arts, and then for Brice Marden until 1985. In 1986 at the age of twenty-five, she held her first solo-show at CDS Gallery. She was part of the CDS Gallery roster until 2005. As her career progressed, Swavely became part of A.I.R, a legendary female-run art space founded in the 1970s. A.I.R provided her with five solo exhibitions from 2011-2022, showcasing the depth and breadth of her talent over the years.
Swavely has held solo exhibitions at Magenta Plains, New York, NY; the New Arts Program, Kutztown, PA; Loyola College, Baltimore, MD; and the Mandeville Gallery at Union College in Schenectady, NY. She has exhibited her paintings in group exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Nashville, and abroad. Swavely is the recipient of a Ford Foundation Fellowship. Her work is in numerous public and private collections, including the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection and the Allentown Art Museum in Pennsylvania. She currently lives in her loft on the Bowery in New York City and maintains a studio in Hudson Valley, New York.
Born in 1959, Allentown, PA
Lives and works in New York, NY
Education
1980
Boston University, Boston, MA
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2025
(Forthcoming) Supernatural, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2024
Independent New York with Alan Uglow, Magenta Plains, New York, NY
Paintings, Magenta Plains, New York, NY
2022
Pareidolia, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2020
Jane Swavely, Mandeville Gallery at Union College, Schenectady, NY
2018
Jinx, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2016
Espial, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013
Purlieu, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2012
New Work, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2002
A Detacher, New York, NY
1996
New Arts Program, Kutztown, PA
1992
Loyola College, Baltimore, MD
1990
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
1988
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
Public Installation, One Penn Plaza, New York, NY
1987
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
1986
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
Group Exhibitions
2025
Just a Song Before I Go, Last Days Gallery, New York, NY
2024
Art Basel Miami Beach, Night Gallery, Miami, FL
TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art, Rachofsky House, Dallas, TX
The Salon by NADA and The Community, Magenta Plains, Paris, FR
Swim Hole, Magenta Plains, New York, NY
Felix Art Fair, Magenta Plains, Los Angeles, CA
2023
Three Painters, Theadore, New York, NY
In August, Sarah Brook Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Viewing Room I, Magenta Plains, New York, NY
2022
Lather, Rinse, Repeat (Organized by Joan Snitzer and Jane Swavely), lokal_30 Gallery, Warsaw, PL
Modus Operandi, Kean University, Union, NJ
Body Root, Sarah Brook Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Very Metal, Theodore, New York, NY
2021
A Dog Legging Horizon, Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York, NY
2020
Soft Windows, Public Swim, New York, NY
2019
Install/Deinstall, Artspace 601, New York, NY
Said I Meant, PS 122, New York, NY
The House Made of Sugar, NADA House, Governors Island, New York, NY
1959: Spirit of the Void, Two Coats of Paint Headquarters, New York, NY
2018
A.I.R. Gallery at NADA, Miami, FL LAttitude, Artepoetica, New York, NY
2017
September Gallery, Hudson, NY Studio 44, Stockholm, SE
2016-17
Cochin Biennial Satellite Space, Cochin, IN
2016
Salon Zurcher, New York, NY
The Weight We Hold, Causey Contemporary, New York, NY
2015
Governors Island, New York, NY
The Body in Revue, curated by Lynne Warren, Arc Gallery, Chicago, IL Unframed, A.I.R. Gallery, New York
2014
A.I.R. ReFreshed (New York & National Artists Traveling Exhibition), Ground Floor Gallery, Nashville, TN; Adore, San Francisco, CA; The Center for Gender and Sexuality Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; Ginko Room at Washington University, St. Louis, MO; House 5B, Governors Island, NY
If These Walls..., Governors Island, NY
Wet Paint, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013
The Impermanent Collection, Los Angeles, CA
2012
Anomalistic Revolution, AIR gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2005
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
2003
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
2002
New Arts Program, Kutztown, PA
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
1999
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
1998
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
1997
CDS Gallery, New York, NY
1996
The Young Ones, CDS Gallery, New York, NY
1987
Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, NY
1985
8 Artists/8 Years/SVA, SVA Gallery, New York, NY Further Exposure, CDS Gallery, New York, NY
1984
The Fan Show, Jon Leon Gallery, New York, NY
1983
Artists Choose Artists, curated by Jack Flam, (choice of Brice Marden), CDS Gallery, New York, NY
Issues & Trends in Modern Art, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1981
Cave Girls Show, White Columns Gallery, New York, NY
1980
SVA Gallery, New York, NY
Public Collections
Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA
Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY
Union College, Schenectady, NY
