Artist Statement

“Star Guardians” presents paintings in gouache and graphite on paper created by Catherine Colangelo over the past two years.

Catherine Colangelo’s work explores the complex emotional relationships between mother and child. The images are talismanic in nature, created to protect a loved one, but end up protecting her as well. Exhibiting a strong sense of flat and frontal design, the work serves to ward off evil spirits with its elaborate patterns, bright colors, and ever-watchful eyes. The creation of the work is meditative and slow, and as intuitive as possible, as she taps into a more subconscious realm. In this body work, Colangelo also examines the uplifting power of color and the creative process during emotional periods in our lives.

After earning a BFA in Painting from The Cooper Union in New York, Catherine Colangelo returned to Houston to pursue her art practice. She was one of five finalists for the 2017 Artadia Award – Houston, the recipient of 2011 and 2007 Individual Artist Grant Fellowships from the Houston Arts Alliance, and has been a Hunting Prize finalist in 2014 and 2010. Catherine’s work has been featured in many group exhibits and in the recent solo exhibitions Force Field at Front Gallery, Everyday Sorcery and Talismanic at Cindy Lisica Gallery (Houston), Ocular Rhythms at McMurtrey Gallery (Houston), and Sea Change at Conduit Gallery (Dallas).

Catherine’s work has been selected by Rebecca Matalon, Curator, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Claire C. Carter, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and Bill Arning, former director of the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, to be included in New American Paintings, West Issue. Her work is also included in corporate collections including: Four Seasons Hotel (Abu Dhabi, UAE), Four Seasons Hotel (Houston), Rosewood Abu Dhabi Hotel, (Abu Dhabi, UAE), Fidelity Investments (Boston), and Sidley Austin LLP (Houston).

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2022 Neighborhood Garden Guardian, SPP Projects, Houston, TX.

Catherine Colangelo, Mary Matteson-Parrish Gallery, Conroe, TX.

2021 Force Field, Front Gallery, Houston, TX.

Shield, ARChouse, Houston, TX.

2018 Everyday Sorcery, Cindy Lisica Gallery, Houston, TX.

2017 Talismanic, Cindy Lisica Gallery, Houston, TX.

2014 Ocular Rhythms, McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX.

2012 Double Wedding Ring, DARKE Gallery, Houston, TX.

Sea Change, Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX.

2011 Fleet for Abby, Art League Houston, Houston, TX.

2010 Progression, Lonestar College – Kingwood, Kingwood, TX.

Connected Thread, Mary Matteson-Parrish Gallery, Lonestar College — Conroe, TX.

2008 3 Months and 90 Days, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2021 Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX. Curated by Cecilia Fajardo-Hill.

2020 Congruence, I Like Your Work (online), curated by Bridgette Mayer.

2017 On Repeat, Clarke & Associates, Houston, TX. Curated by Raphael Rubinstein.

Home Bodies, Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, TX.

2014 Hunting Art Prize Finalists Exhibit, Houston, TX. Jurors: Stephen Wicks – Curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, Leila Cartier – Director of Exhibitions and Curator at the William King Museum, Abington, VA, and Marie Bosarge – Founder of Music Doing Good, Inc., Houston, TX.

Assistance League of Houston Celebrates Texas Art 2014, Williams Tower Gallery, Houston, TX. Juror: Rock Hushka – Curator of Tacoma Art Museum.

2013 Leap, Bank of America Center, Houston, TX, organized by Kinzelman Art Consulting.

enCircled, Dunedin Art Center, Dunedin, FL.

Ratio, DARKE Gallery, Houston, TX, curated by Jon Clark.

2011 If you didn’t see the Texas Biennial…, DARKE Gallery, Houston, TX.

Texas Biennial 11, 816 Congress, Austin, TX. Curator: Virginia Rutledge.

2010 In & Out: Narratives, Zoya Tommy Contemporary, Houston, TX.

Hunting Art Prize Finalists Exhibit, Houston, TX.

Preserving Space, Russ Pittman Park, Houston, TX.
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2009 Texas Biennial 09, Women and Their Work, Austin, TX. Curator: Michael Duncan.

AWARDS:
2019 New American Paintings #144. Curator – Rebecca Matalon, Curator, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX.

2017 Artadia Award Finalist (one of five finalists) – Houston, TX.

2016 New American Paintings #126. Curator – Claire C. Carter, Curator of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ.

2012 New American Paintings #102. Curator – Bill Arning, Director, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX.

2011 Houston Arts Alliance, Individual Artist Grant Fellowship, Houston, TX.

2009 Accepted into the Viewing Program at The Drawing Center, New York, NY.

2007 Houston Arts Alliance, Individual Artist Grant Fellowship, Houston, TX.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
“Meet Catherine Colangelo,” Voyage Houston, Sept. 19, 2018.

“Highlights from Art Daybook,” Molly Glentzer, Houston Chronicle, Jan. 22, 2017.

“Catherine Colangelo at Cindy Lisica Gallery,” Donna Tennant, Visual Art Source, Jan., 2017.

Top Five Exhibits Presented by Glasstire, Local Houston Magazine, Jan., 2017.

“Visual Vernacular: Cindy Lisica Gallery at the Texas Contemporary Art Fair,” Free Press Houston, Sept. 28, 2016.

“Catherine Colangelo at McMurtrey Gallery,” Donna Tennant, Visual Arts Source, Aug., 2014.

“Opportunity Comes Knocking for Emerging Artists,” Molly Glentzer, Houston Chronicle, July 25, 2014.

“A Boatload of Friends: Fleet for Abby at Art League,” Abby Koenig, Houston Press, July 2011.

“Texas Biennial: Austin,” Dan Boehl, …might be good, May, 2011.

“Texas Biennial at 816 Congress: Office Space,” Sarah Fisch, Glasstire, May, 2011.

“Texas Biennial – Multiple Venues”, Frances Colpitt, Art in America, June-July, 2009.

“Arts Review: Texas Biennial 2009 – DIY: Double Wide”, Robert Faires, The Austin Chronicle, April 10, 2009.
“Old is New”, Sarah Gajkowski-Hill, ArtsHouston Magazine, July, 2007.

Art Capsule Review: “Old is New”, Troy Schulze, Houston Press, July 19, 2007.

Better than Crack”, Dusti Rhodes, Houston Press, June 14, 2007.

BORN:
1969 San Antonio, Texas

EDUCATION:
1992 The Cooper Union, New York, NY, B.F.A. in Painting