Barbara Takenaga’s brilliant optical paintings explode with intricate patterns of colored orbs that spin around a vortex or undulate between two locus points. Expressive, vibrant and frequently described as “psychedelic,” her art is in many public collections including, in the Boston area, those of the DeCordova Museum and Fidelity Investments, and she has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions. Takenaga lives and works in New York and in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where she is Professor of Art at Williams College.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2007
Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, FL
Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearny, NE (catalogue)
McKenzie Fine Art, New York
Brattleboro Museum of Art, VT

2006
Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Museum of Outdoor Arts, Englewood, CO

2005
McKenzie Fine Art, New York (catalogue)
CU Art Museum, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (brochure)

2004
The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX

2003
McKenzie Fine Art, New York
Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2001
James Graham & Sons, New York

1997
Science and Wiener Dogs, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA

1993
The Conversation, Art in General, New York
Cambridge Multicultural Center, Cambridge, MA
College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, OH


GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2008
Psychedelic: Optical and Visionary Art since the 1960s, San Antonio Museum of Art,TX

2007
Big Bang! Abstract Painting for the 21st Century, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA (catalogue)
Natured Anew: Reflections on the Natural World, David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, RI
Block Party 2, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles
Natural Surroundings, Skylight Fine Art, Keene Valley, NY
To the Left, CTRL Gallery, Houston, TX

2006
Jack, Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, CA
Decades of Influence: Colorado 1985 - Present, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO (catalogue)
World without End, McKenzie Fine Art, New York
Block Party, An Exhibition of Drawings, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles
Dieu Donne: Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, CG Boerner Gallery, New York
ZusammenKunst, Galerie Hafemann, Wiesbaden, Germany Patternings: Barbara Takenaga and Ed Epping, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA

2005
Eye Tattoos, Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA
From Natural to Techno Universes: Our Brave New Worlds, Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Program, Long Island City, New York (brochure)
Invitational Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York
Sharon Booma, Akiko Sugiyama, Sang Roberson, Barbara Takenaga, Rocky Bridges, Joel Graesser, Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, FL
The 2005 DeCordova Annual Exhibition, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA (catalogue)
Ceremonial Exhibition, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York
Good Vibrations, McKenzie Fine Art, New York
How Bad Do You Want It, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
National Drawing Invitational, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
Cooperation of Pleasures, Julie Evans and Barbara Takenaga, Halsey Gallery, College of Charleston, SC

2004
Hard & Soft, Thatcher Projects, New York
Radial Gradient, Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco (brochure)
Abstraction, Miller Block Gallery, Boston
179th Annual: An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary American Art,
The National Academy of Design, New York (catalogue)

2004
Border Crossing: Artists from the Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series, Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
I Want to Take You Higher, McKenzie Fine Art, New York
Mindscape, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York
About Painting, Tang Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY(catalogue)
Good Fortune, Dieu Donne Gallery, New York
The Anxious Image, The Painting Center, New York (catalogue)
And Now They Aren't. But They Are., Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2003
Beautiful Recession, Red Dot, New York
Obsessive Pleasures, Pavel Zoubok, New York
Works on Paper: Variations and Themes, Pace University Gallery, Pleasantville, NY
Flicker, Jeffrey Coploff Fine Art, New York
New Prints 2003/Winter, International Print Center, New York
Working it Through: Art by Williams College Studio Faculty, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
Round, George Billis Gallery, New York

2002
Accumulations, Islip Art Museum, Islip, New York
Artists to Artists: A Decade of the Space Program, The Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation, Ace Gallery, New York (catalogue)
Inaugural Exhibition, M%, Cleveland, OH
Cascade of Scales, James Graham & Sons, New York
Vermont Studio Center Press, Robert Hall Fleming Museum, Burlington, VT

2001
Alterations, James Graham & Sons, New York
Figstract Explosionism, Bridgewater/Lustberg & Blumenfeld Gallery, New York
Revival, Bridgewater/Lustberg & Blumenfeld Gallery, New York
Takada Gallery, San Francisco

2000
Elbows and Tea Leaves, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO (catalogue)
Battenfield, Harder, Lambert, Takenaga, Nightingale-Bamford School, New York
Small Pleasures in Idleness, Gallery 456, New York

1999
Xmas Show, Kent Gallery, New York
NEFA Fellowship Recipients, University Art Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
Size Matters, Gale Gates, Et. Al., Brooklyn, NY
Split/Shift: Williams and Bennington Faculty, Mass MOCA, North Adams, MA
Trippy World, Baron/Boisante Gallery, New York

1998
DNA Gallery, Provincetown, MA
Contemporary Asian Women Artists, the Taipei Gallery, New York (catalogue)

1997
Threshold: Limits of Perception, Eighth Floor Gallery, New York (catalogue)
1: One, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Fermented, Parsons School of Design, New York
Generations, A.I.R. Gallery, New York
The Intimate Brush, Palo Alto Arts Center, Palo Alto, CA

1996
25th Anniversary Exhibition, Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series, Douglass College, Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ (catalogue)
Pulse: Works on Paper, No.B.I.A.S., Bennington, VT
Repetition Compulsion, Eighth Floor Gallery, New York

1995
In and Out of Character, Roger Smith Gallery, New York
Beyond Boundaries and Traditions, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI

1994
Art to Art: Expressions by Asian American Women, Asia Society, New York
Pasando La Mano, Soho 20 Gallery, New York
Redefining Legacies, 1203 Art Space, San Antonio, TX

1993
And He Was Looking for Asia: Alternatives to the Christopher Columbus Story, Asian American Arts Center, New York
Art to Art: Expressions by Asian American Women, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
NEFA Painting Fellows, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston
The Choice of Painting, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT (brochure)
Visible Meaning, (2 person show), Ise Art Foundation, New York


BIBLIOGRAPHY

2007
Capasso, Nick, catalogue essay for Big Bang! Abstract Painting for the 21st Century, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
"The Cosmic and the Ordinary," Williams Alumni Review, January
Cook, Greg. "Ah, Painting! At the DeCordova, Abstraction is New Again," The Boston Phoenix, January 25
Johnson, Ken. "Seeing a Pattern, From Cosmology to Geology, Science Inspires Abstract Art at DeCordova," The Boston Globe, February 2
Dantzic, Cynthia. 100 New York Painters, Schiffer Books

2007
MacAdam, Barbara. "The New Abstraction," Artnews, April
Rodriguez, Teliza V., catalogue essay for Barbara Takenaga, Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearny, NE
Van Slican, Bill. "Forces of Nature and Art," The Providence Journal, June 21
McQuaid, Kate. "Revealing Creative Nature," The Boston Globe, June 21

2006
MacMillan, Kyle. "Colorado's Top Creators, 1985-2006," Denver Post, June 4
Paglia, Michael. "Basis Loaded, 'Decades of Influence' is a home run…," Denver Westword, June 29

2005
Baker, Kenneth. "Radial Gradient," Artnews, January
Henry, Sara Lynn, brochure essay for Brave New Worlds, Dorsky Curatorial Programs, Long Island City, NY
Novina, Alexandra. "Barbara Takenaga," The 2005 DeCordova Annual Exhibition, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
Meyers, Lisa. "L.A. Hosts Art Fairs Trifecta," Art Business News, April
Becker, Lisa Tamiris, brochure essay for Barbara Takenaga, Micro/Macro, CU Art Museum, University of Colorado, Boulder
Marglin, Elizabeth. "Artful Transformation," The Boulder Daily Camera, July 3
Cohen, David. "Gallery Going," The New York Sun, July 7
Chandler, Mary Voelz. "Art by Numbers," Rocky Mountain News, July 14
Johnson, Ken. "Good Vibrations," The New York Times, July 15
Trieschmann, Werner. "Invitational at Arts Center is a Big Draw," Arkansas Democrat Gazette, October 28
Kushner, Robert, catalogue essay for Barbara Takenaga, McKenzie Fine Art, New York
Cohen, David. "Gallery Going," The New York Sun, November 17
Baker, R.C., "Barbara Takenaga," The Village Voice, December 6
Perry, Vicky. Abstract Painting, Concepts and Techniques, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York

2004
Johnson, Ken. "The 179th Annual," The New York Times, May 14
Kushner, Robert. "Barbara Takenaga," Art in America, February
Malloy, Nancy. "The Annual Exhibition Today," The 179th Annual, an
Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary American Art, National Academy of Design, New York
Walker, Sarah, brochure essay for Radial Gradient, Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2003
Buhmann, Stephanie. “Barbara Takenaga,” Artcritical.com, October
Johnson, Ken. “Obsessive Pleasures,” The New York Times, May 9
Hirsch, Faye. “Working Proof,” Art on Paper, April
Korotkin, Joyce. “Beautiful Recession,” M The New York Art World, April

2002
Newhall, Edith. “Talent,” New York Magazine, January 7

2001
Johnson, Ken. “Barbara Takenaga,” The New York Times, December 28
Johnson, Ken. “Alterations,” The New York Times, August 10
“Figstract Explosionism,” The New Yorker, February 19

2000
Gluckstern, J. “Frontrange Women,” Daily Camera, Boulder, CO, June

1999
Johnson, Ken. “Trippy World,” The New York Times, October 22
Levin, Kim. “Choices,” Village Voice, October 19
"People are Talking About…," Vogue Magazine, September
Shout Magazine, New York, September

1998
Cotter, Holland. “Contemporary Asian Women Artists,” The New York Times, April 24
Lien, Fu-Chia-Wen. Contemporary Asian Women Artists, Taipei Gallery, New York

1997
Pelli, Denis. “Seeing Is Easy,” New York Arts Magazine, October

1996
Cheng, Amy. “Would You Mind Repeating That Again?” NY Soho Arts Magazine, October

1993
Cloud, Laura. “The Choice of Painting at Lyman Allyn Art Museum,” Art New England, June/July
Zimmer, William. "Invention Hews to Yankee Tradition," The New York Times, March 14
Raven, Arlene. The Conversation: Barbara Takenaga, Art in General, New York


PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AK
Citigroup, New York, NY
CU Art Museum, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
Dieu Donne Papermill, New York, NY
Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
The Hallmark Fine Arts Program, Kansas City, MO
Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME
Museum of Nebraska Art, Lincoln, NE
Neuberger Berman, New York
The News Corporation, New York, NY
Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Village, OH
United States Embassy in Algeria
Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA