Originally from Boston, MA, Janet Olney is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, drawing, and installation. She explores the contemporary human condition and the impact of technology on our perceptions of reality and physical presence through abstraction and world building.
Olney is the recipient of an Independent Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council, the Henry Walters Traveling Fellowship, and a Marcella Brenner Grant for Faculty Research. She was a resident at the Vermont Studio Center and the Facebook AIR program. Her recent projects include "Night and Day," an installation at 355 Pod Space, VisArts in Rockville, MD and "Rupture," a two-person show at Montgomery College in Silver Spring, MD. Her work was included in "Abstraction," a four-person exhibition at C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore. She lives and works in Baltimore, MD.
Education
MFA, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, MDPBC, Studio Art, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
BFA, Cum Laude, Painting, MICA, Baltimore, MD
New York Studio Undergraduate Residency Program, AICAD, NY, NY
Solo Exhibitions and Projects
2021 Night and Day, 355 Pod Space Gallery, VisArts, Rockville, MD
2019 Absence/Presence, ICA Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
2019 The Persistence of Shape, Lightwell Gallery, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK2018 Convergence, mixed media permanent installation, Facebook Inc., Washington DC
2017 If x, Then y, Gibbs Street Gallery, VisArts at Rockville, Rockville, MD2016 Distant & Adjacent, Baltimore Office of Promotion, Baltimore, MD
2014 Puddle-wonderful, Ruth Marder Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD
Selected Exhibitions
2024 Out in the Margins, Commonwealth University, Bloomsburg, PA
2023 TU Faculty Biennial, Towson University, Towson, MD
2023 The 3rd MSAC Juried Triennial Juried Exhibition, MAP, Baltimore, MD
2023 Rupture, in A Pair of Pairs, Kings Street Gallery, Montgomery College, Silver Spring, MD
2023 Under 500 Exhibition, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
2022 Abstraction, C. Grimaldis Gallery, curated by Giulia Piera Livi, Baltimore, MD
2020 The BMA Salon, digital exhibition, featured gallery ICA Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
2020 ICA Baltimore Flat File Program Exhibition, ICA Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
2019 it can begin with clouds, Faculty Juried Exhibition, curated by John Ros, Meyerhoff Gallery MICA, Baltimore, MD
2019 ICA Baltimore Flat File Program Exhibition, ICA Baltimore, Baltimore, MD2019 Timber, Strathmore, Bethesda, MD
2019 Maryland State Artist Registry Juried Exhibition, MAP, Baltimore, MD
2018 Off the Web, The Peale Museum, Baltimore, MD2018 Faculty Biennial, Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD
2017 Baltimore/Washington International Airport Art Program, Baltimore, MD
2016 MAP 35th Anniversary Exhibition, MAP, Baltimore, MD
2016 Deal With It, Maake Magazine, Woskob Family Gallery State College, PA
2016 Faculty Exhibition, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
2016 Small Works, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2015 Spatial Conversations, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
2014 Everyday Painting, Fantastic Worlds, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Chautauqua School of Art Annual Show, Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, Chautauqua, NY
2013 Regional Juried Exhibition, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
2013 On Loan, Area 405, Baltimore, MD
2012 Parametric Pleasures, Riggs Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2012 Boston Young Contemporaries, 808 Gallery, Boston, MA
Grants & Awards
2023 Adjunct Faculty Professional Development Fund, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2019 MSAC Independent Artist Award in Painting, Baltimore, MD
2018 Marcella Brenner Grants for Faculty Research, MICA, Baltimore, MD2018 Bethesda Painting Award, Semi-finalist, Bethesda, MD
2016 Lucas Faculty Grant, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2015 Bethesda Painting Award, Semi-finalist, Bethesda, MD
2014 Graduate Development Research Grant, MICA, Baltimore, MD
Fellowships & Residencies
2024 Fellowship, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), Amherst, VA
2018 Facebook AIR program and installation, Washington D.C.
2018 Residency, ICA Baltimore, Baltimore, MD2017 Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2016 Digital Fabrication Residency, Easton, MD
2014 The Chautauqua School of Art, Summer Studio Program Chautauqua, NY
2014 Henry Walters Traveling Fellowship, Tokyo, Japan
Publications
2019 Visits, Inertia Studio. “STUDIO VISIT – JANET OLNEY.” INERTIA, Amy Boone-McCreesh, June 2019, inertiastudiovisits.com
2018 Faculty Biennial. Edited by Kim Bannister. Loyola University Maryland, 2018. Exhibition catalog.
2017 Jenkins, Mark. “Review | At the galleries: How humans threaten the natural world.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 22 Dec 2017
2017 Mothes, Kate. "Janet Olney." Young Space. N.p., 13 May 2017. Web.
2015 Olney, Janet A. Studio Visit 2015: 145-46. Print.
2015 Mothes, Kate. "Janet Olney." Young Space. N.p., 26 Feb 2015. Web.
2015. "Mike McConnell and Janet Olney: "Spatial Conversations" City Paper [Baltimore] 7 Jan 2015, Vol. 39 No.1 ed., This Could Be Your Week sec.: 6. Print.
2014 Greg Lindquist, "Everyday Painting, Fantastic Worlds," Greglinquist.com, August 2014.
2014 Hyperallergic LABS, Olney, Janet. Interlocking. 2014. Painting, New York. 22 Mar 2014.
2013 Ian MacLean Davis, "We Saw This, So Should You: MAP’s Juried Exhibition," Bmoreart.com. 7 Oct, 2013.