Celeste Rapone

Celeste Rapone (b. 1985, New Jersey, USA) fuses material invention, humour, high-low free play, tough art history and resourcefulness with the figure, all in service of detailed 21st-century narratives that prioritise women. Rapone is a 2013 MFA graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago — where she is now an adjunct professor in painting and drawing — and the subject of recent solo exhibitions at Josh Lilley and Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago.

Celeste Rapone lives and works in Chicago.

Education

2013, MFA, School of The Art Institute of Chicago
2007, BFA, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence

Solo Exhibitions

2023
House Sounds, Josh Lilley, London

2022
Nightshade, Marianne Boesky, New York

2021
Controlled Burn, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago

2020
Celeste Rapone and Sarah Peters, Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery, Luxembourg City
Retreat, Josh Lilley, London
The Big Dig: Celeste Rapone (Virtual Exhibition)Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago

2019
Behind Face, Roberts Projects, Los Angeles

2018
Rose Tinted: Celeste Rapone and Justin O’Brien, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York

Group Exhibitions

2023
Women on the Verge, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago
Flesh and Flowers, No Name, Paris
Framing the Female Gaze, Lehman College Art Gallery, New York
Aspen Part II, Marianne Boesky Gallery, Aspen
Presence in the Pause: Interiority and its Radical Immanence, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha
Neo Chicago, The Peninsula Chicago, Chicago

2022
Celeste Rapone + Ryan Mosley, Josh Lilley Pop-Up, Los Angeles
A Place for Me: Figurative Painting Now, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

2021
Wild Frontiers, The Pit, Los Angeles
Time Takes a Cigarette, Josh Lilley, London
In Situ, Marianne Boesky Gallery, Aspen

2020
Duo show Sarah Peters - Celeste Rapone, Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery, Luxembourg

2019
Stains on a Decade, Josh Lilley, London
Small Painting, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago

2018
Celeste Rapone and Justin O’Brien, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York
Everlast: Celeste Rapone and Betsy Odom, Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago
Five Propositions, Roberts Projects, Los Angeles
On Anxiety, Cleve Carney Gallery, Glen Ellyn
Stretching out the Cramp: A Drawing Survey from 2017, Green Door Gallery, Chicago
Women Painting Men, Riverside Arts Center, Riverside

2017
Celeste Rapone and Jenn Smith, Julius Caesar Gallery, Chicago
8, Elizabeth Houston Gallery, New York
Not Knowing, Heaven Gallery, Chicago
Minds Eye I, Ed Paschke Art Center, Chicago
Layer Cake, Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago
Close to Me, Roots and Culture, Chicago

2016
Figure It Out, Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston
Storytelling, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens

2015
Seven, Elizabeth Houston Gallery New York

2014
Ground Floor: A Biennial Exhibition of New Art For Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago
Luminarts Cultural Foundation Visual Arts Exhibition, Union League Club of Chicago, Chicago
Hoarding, Amassing, and Excess, Northern Illinois Art Museum, DeKalb

2013
Should have gave you my number, Art Amalgamated, New York
American Painting Today: Physical and Visceral,
Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph Union Civic and Arts Foundation Visual Arts Competition, Chicago
MFA Thesis Exhibition, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Severe Style, LeRoy Neiman Center Gallery, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

2010
I Speak American, The Gallery at Delaware County Community College, Media

2009
Emerging Artists 2009, Limner Gallery, Hudson, NY INPLACE, SOHO20 Chelsea, New York
ATOA (Artists Talk on Art) Winners Exhibition, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York

2008
Rockers and Posers, Brooklyn Artists Gym, Brooklyn

2007
The Last Word, Pierro Gallery of South Orange, South Orange
RISD Alumni Exhibition, Caelum Gallery, New York RISD Senior Invitational Exhibition, Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence
RISD Illustration Departmental Exhibition, Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence

CV

Click here to download.
Balconet by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Bunt by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Contenders by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Fixtures by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Summer Bangs by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Drawing Corner by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Morning Shade by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Blue Basement by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Weekenders by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Midwestern Window by Celeste Rapone, 2023
House Sounds by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Trymaker by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Ambiance  by Celeste Rapone, 2023
New Rug by Celeste Rapone, 2022
Soapboxing by Celeste Rapone, 2022
Pyramid by Celeste Rapone, 2022
Al Fresco by Celeste Rapone, 2022
Daytime Bathers by Celeste Rapone, 2022
Floater by Celeste Rapone, 2021
Thoroughbred by Celeste Rapone, 2021
Interior with Egyptian Curtain and Kale (after Matisse) by Celeste Rapone, 2021
Very Berry Laocoon, 2020 Oil on canvas 86 x 97 cm by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Siren by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Island by Celeste Rapone, 2020
The Eye by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Yawn by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Eclipse by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Serenade by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Do-gooder by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Phantom by Celeste Rapone, 2019
Retreat by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Tourist by Celeste Rapone, 2019
Timekeeper by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Grazer by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Assist by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Swan by Celeste Rapone, 2020
 Fun Aunt by Celeste Rapone, 2019
One Woman Show by Celeste Rapone, 2019

Exhibitions

House Sounds at Josh Lilley,presenting Celeste Rapone

House Sounds

Solo Show

Celeste Rapone + Ryan Mosley - LA Pop-up Exhibition at Josh Lilley,presenting Celeste Rapone & Ryan Mosley

Celeste Rapone + Ryan Mosley - LA Pop-up Exhibition

Group Show

Time Takes a Cigarette at Josh Lilley,presenting Brandi Twilley, Celeste Rapone, Gareth Cadwallader, Genesis Belanger, Harold Mendez, Ian Davis, Kathleen Ryan, Oska Gutheil, Peter Shire, Rachel Maclean, Sarah Pichlkostner, Tau Lewis, Vicky Wright & Victor Seaward

Time Takes a Cigarette

Group Show

Retreat at Josh Lilley,presenting Celeste Rapone

Retreat

Solo Show

Stains on a Decade at Josh Lilley,presenting Tom Anholt, Brian Bress, Peter Linde Busk, Gareth Cadwallader, Sarah Dwyer, Derek Fordjour, Nick Goss, Nicholas Hatfull, Christof Mascher, Rebecca Nassauer, Sarah Pichlkostner, Benedetto Pietromarchi, Belén Rodríguez , Kathleen Ryan, Analia Saban, Vicky Wright, Ryan Mosley, Celeste Rapone, Hurvin Anderson, Jack Burton, Ian Davis, Svenja Deininger, Holly Hendry, John Houck, Aliza Nisenbaum, Conrad Shawcross, Leon Kossoff, Tal R, Paula Rego, Euan Uglow & Kaari Upson

Stains on a Decade

Group Show