Morgan Mandalay

Selected Works - 2019-24
Curatorial Projects

Exhibitions:


    Eruption at Its Peak   —  @ Wild Palms
    On Colonus   —   @ Extase
    Dog & Pony   —   @ No Place Gallery (with Chloe Seibert)
    Bad Sin Frutas  —  @ Klowden Mann
    The Sun Hung Low or A Question Loomed  —   @ Everybody
    Thank You Squash Banana. I’m not an Ape, You Are. —   @ BWSMX
    Holy, Holy, Holy —  @  Catbox Contemporary
    Topography of a Terrestrial Paradise  —  @ Et al etc.
    Meatloaf  —  @ DAMA/ BWSMX (w/ Kim-Anh Schreiber) 
    Scene of Shipwreck  —  @ UCSD
    Norman Amygdala  —  @ City Limits


ABOUT/ CV




bio


Morgan Mandalay is an artist and teacher in the Arts in Corrections program Project PAINT at Richard J. Donovan State Prison and Centinela State Prison. Additionally, he manages the nonprofit arts-focused reentry program Designing Creative Futures in San Diego, CA.
Morgan's practice as an artist is grounded in his own experiences with the criminal legal system as a teenager, dealing with themes derived from nature and stories of fear, growth, transformation, and shame. Mandalay has exhibited internationally, with recent solo exhibitions at Wild Palms (Dusseldorf, GER), Klowden Mann (Los Angeles, CA), Extase (Chicago, IL), and BWSMX (Mexico City, MEX) among others. His work has been included recently in group exhibitions at 1969 Gallery (New York, NY), The Valley (Taos, NM), Flag Foundation (New York, NY), Deslave (Tijuana, MEX), H.G. Inn (Chicago, IL), Bahamas Biennale (Detroit, MI), DAMA (Turin, ITA), and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego . He was a 2018 Fellow of Shandaken Project’s Paint School in New York, NY, and received his MFA from UC San Diego the same year.


CV



Education

2018        Fellow, Shandaken Project’s Paint School, New York, New York 
2017        MFA, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California 
2014        BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 


Select Solo & Two Person Exhibitions 

2022        Eruption at its Peak, Wild Palms, Düsseldorf, German

2020        FAIR (NADA), with Christine Frerichs, Klowden Mann, Online
                   On Colonus, Extase, Chicago, IL, USA

2019        Dog and Pony, with Chloe Seibert, No Place Gallery, Columbus, OH, USA
                  The Sun Hung Low or A Question Loomed, Everybody, Chicago,  IL, USA
                  Bad Sin Frutas, Klowden Mann, Culver City, CA, USA

2018        Thank Your Squash Banana. I’m Not an Ape, You Are!, BWSMX, Mexico City, Mexico 
                  Holy, Holy, Holy, Cat Box Contemporary, Queens, NY, USA
                  Topography of a Terrestrial Paradise, Et Al Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA

2017        Meatloaf, with Kim-Anh Schreiber, DAMA presented by BWSMX, Turin, Italy
                  Scene of Shipwreck, UCSD Art Gallery, San Diego, CA, USA
                  Norman Amygdala, City Limits, Oakland, CA, USA 


Select Group Exhibitions 

2023        Untitled Art Fair, 1969 Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
                   Dallas Art Fair, 1969 Gallery, Dallas, TX, USA
                   Thick Pile, curated by Joe Yorty, Best Practice, San Diego, CA, USA

2022        Untitled Art Fair, 1969 Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
                   Leave a Light On, The Valley, Taos, NM, USA

2021         I have an idea: works on paper, 1969 Gallery, New York, NY, USA
                  The Scenic Route, 1969 Gallery, New York, New York, USA
                  Armory Show Off-Site Special Project, curated by Adventure Painting, New York, NY USA

2020        Dance, Dance, Dance, curated by Tyson Reeder, Circle Contemporary, Chicago, IL, USA
                   El busca, encuentra…y sigue encontrando, curated by Danny Baez, White Columns, New York, 
                            New York, USA

2019        Untitled Art Fair, Klowden Mann, Miami, FL, USA
                  Collection No. 10, Interior and the Collector, Lyon, France
                  Only Human, H.G. Inn, Chicago, IL, USA
                  Commutiny, Sibling, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
                  Tetsuo, curated by American Fantasy Classics, Bahamas Biennale, Detroit, MI, USA 

2018        El terror en lo profundo, curated by Deslave, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA, USA
                  freshly cut and softly bound, curated by Lisa Kehler and Timo Fahler, Vacation, New York, NY, USA 
                  Paint School, Flag Art Foundation, New York, NY, USA
                  Gnaw the Bone That Falls to Thy Lot, curated by Sophie Jennis Kimberly Klark, Queens, NY, USA
                  Annex, curated by Jay Ezra Nayssan, M+B, Los Angeles, CA, USA 

2017        Necronomicon Uploaded, Deslave, Tijuana, Mexico 
                  All the Small Things, Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
                  A Step Away, curated by Anthony Graham and Lara Bullock, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 
                        San Diego CA, USA 
                  Domestic Tranquility, 0-0, Los Angeles, CA, USA 
                  AnthroMorphoCene, curated by Lee M. Lavy, Bread and Salt, San Diego, CA, USA

2016        Float in a Dark Tank, Yautepec, Mexico City, Mexico 
                  How High?, Left Field, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA 
                  Le Domaine Enchanté, curated by Domenico di Chirico, Galleria Acappella, Naples, Italy 
                  Sugar Talk, LVL3, Chicago, IL, USA 

Selected Bibliography 

2020        Ortiz, Tim, Dance, Dance, Dance at Circle Contemporary, Disparate Minds, May 12.
                   Artspace Editors, Art History In Action: 7 Contemporary Artworks That Reference The Revered, Artspace:                                     On the Wall, April 6.
                    Early, Cassidy, Morgan Mandalay “On Colonus” at Extase, Chicago Artist Writers, February 23.
                    Kaye, Gareth, Review: Morgan Mandalay @ Extase, Journal.fyi, February 22.
                    Filchack, Ryan, Doubling in the Dark: A Review of Morgan Mandalay at Extase, Newcity Magazine, 
                              February 19. 

2019        New American Paintings, #141 MFA Issue, curated by Amber Isseiva, December 01.
                  Stromberg, Matthew, Morgan Mandalay at Klowden Mann, Contemporary Art Review, Los Angeles, May 1. 
                  Osbergm, Annabel, Morgan Mandalay, Artillery Magazine, April 24. 
                  Knight, Christopher, Review: In Morgan Mandalay’s new paintings, life carries on as Eden burns
                               Los Angeles Times, April 23. 
                  Bowie, Summer, Bad Sin Frutas: An Interview with Painter Morgan Mandalay, Autre, April 19. 

2017        Grand, Robert, Q&A: Morgan Mandalay’s SPF15 Gallery Avoids Gentrification By Hosting Exhibitions on                                             Public Beaches, Artspace, June 30. 

2016        Van Houten Maldonado, Devon, Itinerant and Off-the-Map Galleries Find a Place in Mexico City’s Material                                        Art Fair, Hyperallergic, February 5. 

2015        Morris, Matt, Critics Pick: Todd Kelly and Morgan Mandalay at LVL3, Artforum


Relevant Professional Experience  

2020-present     Teaching Artist, Project PAINT: A Prison Arts Initiative @ Richard J. Donovan State Prison and                                                            Centinela State Prison
2021-present      Program Manager of Designing Creative Futures, California Lawyers for the Arts