Using a personal language of shape and color, Janet Olney reframes the familiar to reveal an alternate world populated with things that defy naming. Her paintings and installations investigate subjective nature of reality and explore a realm of uncertainty that lies just outside our awareness.
Originally from Boston, MA, Janet received her MFA and BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). She is the recipient of an MSAC Individual Grant, the Henry Walters Traveling Fellowship, and a Marcella Brenner Grant for Faculty Research. She was a resident at the Vermont Studio Center. Her recent projects include an installation at 355 Pod Space, VisArts in Rockville, MD and a solo exhibition at Martha Spak Gallery in Washington, DC. She has created site-specific installations for the Facebook AIR program in Washington DC and the MICA Juried Faulty Exhibition. Her work is included in “Abstraction,” a four-person exhibition at C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore and an upcoming two-person show at Montgomery College in Silver Spring, MD. She lives and works in Baltimore and currently teaches at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
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 Residency Program, AICAD, NY, NY
Solo Exhibitions
2021 Night and Day, 355 Pod Space Gallery, VisArts, Rockville, MD (current)
2021 And Other Dreams, Martha Spak Gallery, Washington DC (current)
2020 Absence/Presence Revisited, digital exhibition, Exhibbit.com
2019 Absence/Presence, ICA Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
2019 The Persistence of Shape, Lightwell Gallery, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK2017 If x, Then y, Gibbs Street Gallery, VisArts at Rockville, Rockville, MD
2017 Peripheral Logic, Hee Gallery, Holliston, MA
2016 Distant & Adjacent, Baltimore Office of Promotion, Baltimore, MD
2014 Puddle-wonderful, Ruth Marder Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2014 Eden, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Shelia and Richard Riggs Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Rupture, Kings Street Gallery, Montgomery College, Silver Spring, MD
2022 Abstraction, C. Grimaldis Gallery, 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, Installation, 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 Exhibition, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
2018 Faculty Biennial, Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD
2017 Annual Faculty Exhibition, HCC, Chesapeake Gallery, Bel Air, MD
2017 Marquee Ball, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
2017 Baltimore/Washington International Airport Art Program, Baltimore, MD
2016 MAP 35th Anniversary Exhibition, MAP, Baltimore, MD
2016 Featured on the Board, LEDBaltimore.com, Baltimore, MD
2016 Deal With It, Maake Magazine, Woskob Family Gallery State College, PA
2016 Faculty Show, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
2016 Small Works, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2016 Driven to Abstraction, Motor House, Baltimore, MD
2016 Marquee Ball, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
2016 Annual Faculty Exhibition, HCC, Chesapeake Gallery, Bel Air, MD
2015 Spatial Conversations, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
2015 K-Town Show, MK Gallery, Vienna, VA
2015 Annual Faculty Exhibition, HCC, Chesapeake Gallery, Bel Air, MD
2014 Everyday Painting, Fantastic Worlds, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Chautauqua School of Art Annual Show, Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, Chautauqua, NY
2014 Ceres 11th National Juried Show, Ceres Gallery, NY
2014 6x6x2014, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY
2014 The Empathy Project, Curated by Paul Rucker, Riggs Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2013 LeRoy E. Hoffberger Fall Show 2013, Riggs Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2013 Regional Juried Exhibition, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
2013 The Story Book Exhibition, North and East Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2013 On Loan, Area 405, Baltimore, MD
2013 The First Year MFA Juried Show, MICA, Fox III, Baltimore, MD
2012 Parametric Pleasures, Riggs Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2012 Boston Young Contemporaries, 808 Gallery, Boston, MA
2012 Post-Baccalaureate Thesis Show, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Grants & Awards
2019 MSAC Individual Artist Award in Painting, Baltimore, MD2018 Marcella Brenner Grants for Faculty Research, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2018 Bethesda Painting Award, Semi-finalist, Bethesda, MD
2016 Lucas Grant, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2016 International Emerging Artist Award, Semi-finalist, Dubai, UAE
2015 Bethesda Painting Award, Semi-finalist, Bethesda, MD
2014 Graduate Development Research Grant, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2014 Chautauqua Friends of the Arts Summer Program Grant, Chautauqua, NY
Fellowships & Residencies
2018 Facebook AIR program and installation, Washington D.C.2018 Residency, ICA Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
2017 Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2017 Digital Fabrication Residency, Easton, MD
2016 Digital Fabrication Residency, Easton, MD
2014 The Chautauqua School of Art, Summer Studio Program Chautauqua, NY
2014 Henry Walters Traveling Fellowship, Tokyo, Japan
2012 Art New England, Bennington College, Bennington, VT
Commissions
2015 Corporate Art Commission, Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI.
2010 Corporate Art Commission, Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI.
Professional Experience
2017-20 Affiliate Professor of Art, Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD
2016 Juror, Artist Selection Panel, Baltimore Office of Promotion, Baltimore, MD
2014 Program Coordinator, New York Summer Studio Program, MICA, Brooklyn, NY
Lectures & Visiting Critic
2017 Artist Presentation, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2017 Visiting Critic, Introduction to GFA/Drawing, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2016 Stand & Float, Artist Talk, Course: Drawing Composition, MICA
2016 Systems Mash-up, Presentation, Synergy Lunch Series, MICA Office of Research
2015 Life Post-MFA, Guest speaker, Course: Philosophy and Pedagogy, MICA
Curatorial Projects
2016 Fair Game, Fox II Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2016 AP Painting Show, Third Floor Gallery, MICA, MD
2016 Intro to GFA Show, Main Building, MICA, MD
2014 Tradition meets Contemporary: Foundation Painting, Main Building, MICA, MD
2013 Co-Organizer, Size Matters Exhibition, The 109 Gallery, MICA
2013 Curator, Chromatics, Project Room 403 Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD
Publications
2019 Visits, Inertia Studio. “STUDIO VISIT – JANET OLNEY.” INERTIA, Amy Boone-McCreesh, 3 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
Youngspacedotcom.wip. Artist Take Over. Instagram, Janet Olney, 9-11 Sept. 2017, https://www.instagram.com/youngspacedotcom.wip/?hl=en
Mothes, Kate. "Janet Olney." Young Space. N.p., 13 May 2017. Web.
2015 Olney, Janet A. Studio Visit 2015: 145-46. Print.
Mothes, Kate. "Janet Olney." Young Space. N.p., 26 Feb. 2015. Web.
"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 Olney, Janet. Interlocking. 2014. Painting. Hyperallergic LABS, New York. 22 Mar 2014. Web.
Olney, Janet A. Eden II and Mish-Mash. 2014. Painting. MICA annual report 2014. MICA, Baltimore, MD, 2014: 29. Print.
2013 Ian MacLean Davis, "We Saw This, So Should You: MAP’s Juried Exhibition," Bmoreart.com. October 7, 2013.