John Bisbee

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“Throughout thirty years of abstract humming, the nail has never failed me. Anchored only by its form and materiality, I reveled in the nail’s infinite possibilities. However, further erosion in our governments already limited empathy has demanded that I move from the realm of pure abstraction to one of allegorical realism. I am now compelled to create with a new voice, one that summons the utilitarian associations of the nail with new vigor and responds to the world outside of myself, pointedly and with humor. I work to achieve a patriotic and poetic reexamination of America.” - John Bisbee

Selected Solo Exhibitions

  • 2018 American Steel, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME

  • 2016 The Needle and the Milkmaid, SAPAR Contemporary, New York, NY

  • 2015 Only Nails, Always Different, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, Lancaster, PA, Curated by Heigi Leitzki

  • 2015 Floresco, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, Curated by Alex Sachs

  • 2014 New Blooms, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, VT, Curated by Kory Rogers

  • 2012 Aucocisco Gallery, Portland, ME 2011 Old and New Nails, Snite Museum of Art at University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

  • 2010 The Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, ME

  • 2009 Pillars, Cynthia Reeves Gallery, New York, NY

  • 2008 Bright Common Spikes: The Sculpture of John Bisbee, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME Patch, Ridge, Mound, Coleman Burke Gallery, Brunswick, ME

  • 2006 Plane Space, New York, NY

  • 2005 Fine Arts Artist-in-Residence, Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, MA

  • 2004 Plane Space, New York, NY

  • 2003 Hargate Art Center Gallery, St. Paul’s School, Concord, NH

  • 2002 Plane Space, New York, NY Three Tons, Suyama Space, Seattle, WA

  • 2001 John Bisbee: Arc and Plume, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY ICON Gallery, Brunswick, ME

  • 2000 Field, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO

  • 1999 Tons, Institute of Contemporary Art, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME

  • 1998 John Bisbee: A Winter’s Work, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME

  • 1997 Frozen by Fire: Sculptures, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME

  • 1996 Recent Gatherings, Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery, Portland, OR

  • 1995 Five Years, Sculpture by John Bisbee, Chase Gallery at City Hall, Spokane, WA

  • 1993 Evidence in Sculpture, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, KS

Selected Residencies and Awards

  • 1995-2009 9-time MacDowell Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH

  • 2006 Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant

  • 2003 The Rappaport Prize (administered by the DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA)

  • 2001 Portland Museum of Art Biennial William Thon Juror’s Prize

  • 2000 Maine State Individual Artist Grant

  • 1998 Portland Museum of Art Biennial Purchase Prize

  • 1994 Yaddo Art Colony, Saratoga Springs, NY

Collections

  • Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

  • Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine

  • DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts

  • Fidelity Corporation, Boston, Maine

  • Farnsworth Art Museum, Wyeth Center, Rockland, Maine

  • Harvard Business School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

  • Hugo Neu Corporation, New York, New York

  • Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Virginia

  • Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine

  • Portland Press Hotel, Marriott Autograph Collection, Portland, Maine

  • Snite Museum, Norte-Dame University, Notre Dame, Indiana

Education

  • 1992 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME

  • 1990 B.F.A., Alfred University, Alfred, NY Teaching/Visiting Artist

  • 1996-2016 Artist in Residence, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME

  • 2002-2008 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, TN

  • 2005 Visiting Artist, Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, MA

  • 2003 Artist in Residence, St. Paul’s School, Concord, NH

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