About

WHO:

Gwenn Seemel

WHAT:

artist, writer, vlogger, speaker, feminist, and free culture advocate

WHEN:

full-time since 2003

WHERE:

Long Beach Island, New Jersey by way of Brittany, France as well as Portland, Oregon

HOW:

with the encouragement and support of clients, patrons, and friends like you

I am Gwenn Liberty Seemel. My American father wanted to name me Liberty Bell Seemel—after the great Philadelphian e-flat chimer—but made the compromise when my French mother pointed out that particular ding-dong is, in fact, cracked.

Born in Saudi Arabia in 1981, I was raised partly in San Francisco and partly in a small village in France. Eventually, my family settled in the United States, in Oregon, and, for over twenty years, I lived there.

In 2003, I earned my BA summa cum laude from Willamette University. That same year, I launched my career in Portland, and I’ve been a full-time artist ever since. I spent the first 12 years of my career in Stumptown and, in 2015, moved to Surf City, New Jersey, where I currently live with my partner.

My painting style is easily recognizable—a fact that is confirmed by a tech company naming a photo filter after me. My mark-making has been evolving since high school, when I taught myself to use acrylic paint by making a copy of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. This video describes the many influences that have contributed to my style over the years.

Portraits are my thing. I paint people for commission, but I also I paint groups of people for the purpose of exploring a particular issue. I exhibit these groups in conceptual shows, like Apple Pie and Subjective for example. I recently launched a new series of portraits called Empathetic Magic. I also make conceptual work that is not portraits, like this children’s book for the child in all of us that is inspired by the research of the evolutionary biologist Joan Roughgarden.

Since 2010, I have been creating videos about art making and art marketing like the one embedded here. Since 2012, I’ve been writing books. I am the recipient of multiple grants, from Artists’ Fellowship Inc and the Haven Foundation among other institutions. My work has been written about by the art historian Richard Brilliant and featured widely across the Web, including on sites like Scientific American, Boing Boing, and Hyperallergic.

In 2014, I spoke at TEDxGeneva about the role of imitation in creativity, and I released a book that digs deeper into the ideas addressed in the talk. You Share Good reveals why I don’t copyright my art and why other artists might want to consider freeing their work.

I love talking about art and creativity at conferences, but also in interviews, like with Youngman Brown for his excellent podcast Your Creative Push. At the beginning of 2016, we did my first interview and, at the end of 2017, he had me back on for another. Redbubble Blog interviewed me along with Studio Tour Magazine and Framablog. That last one is in French!

“[Seemel] is an activist in many domains as well as being an accomplished artist.”

- Frédéric Urbain, Framalog, August 2017

“Seemel is working to make a more empathetic world through art.”

- Editor, Bust, June 2017

“Seemel’s paintings are as complex as her subjects.”

- Jacqueline Klecak, New Jersey Monthly, June 2017

In 2014, I created a 10 by 38 foot memorial mural for Kirk Reeves, a street performer from Portland, Oregon. A testament to Kirk’s popularity, the mural was featured widely in the Portland press, including in The Oregonian, on this episode of State of Wonder, and in a beautiful video which filmmaker Ifanyi Bell created for Oregon Public Broadcasting.

“The glimpses that Seemel has illustrated of the real wildness of the natural world [in Crime Against Nature] are fascinating.”

- Allison Meier, Hyperallergic, April 2013

“The issues at play [in Crime Against Nature] are hefty and potentially uncomfortable, but the book itself is light, playful, and pleasantly un-preachy.”

- Maggie Koerth-Baker, Boing Boing, January 2013

Résumé

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2017: Empathetic Magic, MT Burton Gallery, Surf City, New Jersey
2016: Crime Against Nature, PointCulture, Liège, Belgium
2012: Crime Against Nature, Place, Portland, Oregon
2011: Subjective, Art Festival Museum, Edmonds, Washington
2010: Subjective, Pence Gallery, Bend, Oregon
2010: Subjective, Arts Center, Corvallis, Oregon
2010: Subjective, North View Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2009: Apple Pie, Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts, Eugene, Oregon
2008: Apple Pie, Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, Portland, Oregon
2007: Swollen, Littman Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2006: Mutually Beneficial, Concrete, Portland, Oregon
2005: Public Faces, City Club of Portland, Portland, Oregon
2005: Private Masks, Starling Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2004: Snow Days, Northwest Sony Only, Portland, Oregon
2004: Trickster Project, Backdoor Theater, Portland, Oregon
2003: Critics Critiqued, Visage, Portland, Oregon

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2018: The Doors of Make Room, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, Virginia
2018: The Doors of Make Room, public art exhibition throughout Washington, DC
2018: Corporeal, LITM, Jersey City, New Jersey
2018: Women’s History Exhibition, Meagher Rotunda Gallery, Jersey City, New Jersey
2017: September Show, Wildflowers Too, Barnegat Light, New Jersey
2015: Implicit Bias, Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, Washington, DC
2015: Widening the Cycle, Suffolk University’s SMCR Conference, Boston, Massachusetts
2014: Art Beat Exhibition, Peoples Art, Portland, Oregon
2014: Portraits 2, Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2013: The Art of Science Policy, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC
2013: A Chronicle of Influence, Museum and ARTspace, Lake Oswego, Oregon
2012: Image, Identity, Allegory, Dan and Gail Cannon Gallery of Art, Monmouth, Oregon
2011: A Somewhat Secret Place, PRESENTspace, Portland, Oregon
2010: Spread Ego, Place, Portland, Oregon
2009: Mixed, Lewis and Clark College’s Ray Warren Multicultural Symposium, Portland, Oregon
2008: Keep Portland Weird, City Hall, Portland, Oregon
2007: PDX Panels, Portland Art Center, Portland, Oregon
2006: inCLOVER, Mount Scott Park, Portland, Oregon
2006: Boredom: I Learned It by Watching You, Portland Art Center, Portland, Oregon
2003: Recent Graduate Show, Blackfish Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2003: Senior Art Show, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem, Oregon

Public Collections:

2014: City of Portland’s Public Works Collection, Portland, Oregon
2012: Regional Arts and Culture Council’s Portable Works Collection, Portland, Oregon
2010: Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem, Oregon
2003: Willamette University, Salem, Oregon

Selected Publications:

2017: Clark Hulings Fund Learning Portal, article by Gwenn
2016: Enfant et Nature, book by Valérie Chansigaud with Gwenn’s art
2016: How to Sell Your Art Online, book by Cory Huff with Gwenn’s career as an example
2015: Acrylic Color Explorations, book by Chris Cozen with Gwenn’s art
2015: Crime Against Nature: The Coloring Book, book by Gwenn
2015: Widening the Cycle, exhibition catalog with Gwenn’s art
2015: Professional Artist, article by Gwenn in the April issue
2014: Painting in Acrylics, book by Lorena Kloosterboer with Gwenn’s art
2014: You Share Good, book by Gwenn
2013: Art Marketing, e-book by Gwenn
2013: T(OUR), literary art magazine with Gwenn’s art
2012: Crime Against Nature, book by Gwenn with foreword by Joan Roughgarden
2010: Subjective, exhibition catalog with Gwenn’s art and foreword by Richard Brilliant
2008: Apple Pie, exhibition catalog with Gwenn’s art and foreword by Inara Verzemnieks

Selected Reviews and Interviews:

2018: Surf City Portrait Painter Makes Public Art in DC, The SandPaper, Victoria Ford
2018: Gwenn Seemel: All About Sharing, Studio Tour Magazine, Thom Reaves
2017: Gwenn Seemel, Artiste Lumineuse, Framablog, Frédéric Urbain
2017: These Powerful Portraits Show People, Bust, Editor
2017: Art Exhibit Promotes Acceptance of All People, NJ Monthly, Jacqueline Klecak
2017: Surf City Artist Shows Two Sides of Real People, Asbury Park Press, Billy Anania
2016: Featured Artist: Gwenn Seemel, Redbubble Blog, Editor
2016: Character craft, The SandPaper, Victoria Ford
2016: Droit de Copie, Tout Va Mieux, Julie Guillot
2016: Ce Qui Est (Vraiment) Naturel en Termes de Genre, Mr Mondialisation, Editor
2016: Be a Great Storyteller, 99U, Jacqueline Lara
2014: Of Mouse and Man, Willamette Week, John Locanthi
2014: You’re Not a Proper Patron of Portland’s Arts Scene Until You’ve..., Willamette Week, Editor
2014: Creating Art in a Series, The Abundant Artist, Cory Huff
2014: Portland street performer ‘Working’ Kirk Reeves Is Honored in New Mural, The Oregonian, James Reddick
2013: Both Artists and Scientists Observe, AAAS.org, Kat Zambon
2013: Is Homosexuality Natural?, Scientific American, Kalliopi Monoyios
2013: Love in the Wild, Apartment Therapy, Tess Wilson
2013: Painter Illustrates the Diversity of Sex and Gender, Hyperallergic, Allison Meier
2013: Our Crime Against Nature, The Quiet Lunch, Editor
2013: Crime Against Nature, Boing Boing, Maggie Koerth-Baker
2012: Les Bonnes Recettes du Libre, OWNI, Lionel Maurel
2012: Imitation Is Still the Sincerest Form of Flattery, Tech Dirt, Leigh Beadon
2010: HOWTO Make Art Without Getting “Ripped Off” Online, Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow
2010: Paint by Numbers, The Portland Business Journal, Matthew Kish
2010: 1 Project, 2 Artists, 10 Subjects Make a World of Difference, The Oregonian, Margie Boulé
2009: Interview: Gwenn Seemel, Sweet Station, Welshie
2009: Art for Politic’s Sake, The Oregonian, Editor
2009: Leonard Portrait Is Flattering, All Right, Oregon Live, Mary Kitch
2007: Faces from the Edge of the Earth, The Oregonian, Inara Verzemnieks
2006: In the Market for Some Portraits, The Oregonian, DK Row

Selected Video and Audio:

2017: Your Creative Push, Youngman Brown
2017: Pink Power Tour Festival, Marie Guibouin
2017: The Filmmakers Podcast, Damien Swaby
2016: Your Creative Push, Youngman Brown
2014: OPBWeb, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Ifanyi Bell
2014: State of Wonder, Oregon Public Broadcasting, April Baer
2014: Creative Insurgents, Cory Huff and Melissa Dinwiddie
2012: CubFluffer, Gabe Flores and Mark Martinez
2010: Oregon Art Beat, Oregon Public Broadcasting, KC Cowan
2008: EZone, PDX49, Chloe Houser and Darcy Zettler
2004: 10 O’Clock News, KPTV, Shauna Parsons
2003: Artstar Radio, KPSU, Eva Lake

Selected Speaking Engagements:

2018: The Business of Art Panel Discussion with Pierro Gallery, South Orange, New Jersey
2018: 5e Colloque de l’Association pour le Développement Technologique en Éducation, Montreal, Canada
2018: South Jersey Arts Panel Discussion with ArtC, Hammonton, New Jersey
2018: Stockton University, Galloway, New Jersey
2017: PechaKucha Night, Lambertville, New Jersey
2017: 4e Colloque de l’Association pour le Développement Technologique en Éducation, Lévis, Canada
2015: Rencontres Mondiales du Logiciel Libre, Beauvais, France
2014: Creative Clubhouse with Maker’s Nation, Portland, Oregon
2014: TEDxGeneva, Geneva, Switzerland
2013: Visualizing Science Policy in 20x20 with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC
2013: Portland Community College, Portland, Oregon
2011: Oregon Art Education Association Conference, Eugene, Oregon
2010: Riverside Brookfield High School, Riverside, Illinois
2007: Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, Oregon

Selected Awards:

2013: Curators’ Award, Festival of the Arts, Lake Oswego, Oregon
2012: Emergency Relief Grant, Haven Foundation, Brewer, Maine
2012: Emergency Relief Grant, Artists’ Fellowship Inc, New York, New York
2012: Project Grant, Regional Arts and Culture Council, Portland, Oregon
2011: Kickstarter, crowdfunding campaign
2010: Emergency Relief Grant, Haven Foundation, Brewer, Maine
2009: Emergency Relief Grant, Artists’ Fellowship Inc, New York, New York
2009: Emergency Relief Grant, Change Inc, Captiva, Florida
2009: Project Grant, Celebration Foundation, Portland, Oregon
2009: Career Opportunity Grant, Oregon Arts Commission, Salem, Oregon
2008: Project Grant, Regional Arts and Culture Council, Portland, Oregon
2003: Member of Phi Beta Kappa

Education:

2003: BA in Studio Art and French, summa cum laude, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
2002: Magenia, Ella Jaroszewicz’s school for mime and dance, Paris, France