M (Margaret) Pettee Olsen
(b. 1963, Rochester, New York)
M. Pettee Olsen is an American abstract painter whose work investigates gestural abstraction, perceptual instability, and conceptual disruption — pressing against the traditions of the New York School to test what remains when its certainties are questioned and its narratives allowed to fall away.
Education
Columbia University, MA, Art Studio and advanced Arts pedagogy, New York, NY 1995
Rhode Island School of Design, BFA, Painting, Providence, RI 1986
Grants, Awards, and Fellowships
Ucross Foundation Fellow – Spring 2019
RISD Artist Grant, Passages, an installation between RISD proper and the RISD Museum – 1986
Honors at Rhode Island School of Design – The Rhode Island School of Design, Illustration Department Heads David Porter and David Niles cite the artist as inspiration for the development of the first interdisciplinary and inter-departmental study at RISD, Providence, RI – 1984
Selected Solo and Small-Group Exhibitions and Projects
2024 The Garrison Art Center, Gillette Gallery, Solo Exhibition, SHIFT – Paintings by M Pettee Olsen, Garrison, NY
2023 Vassar, The Palmer Gallery, Imploding Meaning, a four-person show curated by Monica Church, Poughkeepsie, NY
2021 Gibson Contemporary, From The Drawer – Online exhibition, Margaret Pettee Olsen + Chris Coffin, curated by David Gibson, New York, NY
2018 808 Projects, Relay: Paintings by Margaret Pettee Olsen, exhibition extended into 2019, curated by art historian Stephanie Grilli, PhD Yale, Denver, CO
2015 Gallery EEOS, File Not Found, Margaret Pettee Olsen + Brian Kane, two solo exhibitions, guest-curated by Alexander Castro, Providence, RI
2010 The University of Central Florida, Center for Emerging Media, Studio Art and the Computer Gallery, Occlusions, recent work by Margaret Pettee Olsen, Invited by E. Brady Robinson, Orlando, FL
2005 Project for McGrath & Braun, Denver, CO
2000 A Million Summer Mornings, Paintings for Poetry Project, published in Los Angeles, CA
1997 In-site Paintings Project, by M Pettee Olsen, published in Los Angeles, CA
1994 Macy Gallery, Columbia University, Dis-Covering Re-presentation – Recent Paintings by Margaret Pettee Olsen, New York, NY
1992 Established the fine art lithography press, Oberon Press, NYC, as founding curator in TriBeCa — New York, NY
1986 Rhode Island School of Design, Passages – An Installation, Grant funded by the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Selected Group Exhibitions and Projects
2026 Berry Campbell Gallery, Postcards from the Edge — A benefit for visual AIDs, New York, New York
2025 Art Cake, M. David & Co., Disguise The Limit, Curated by John Yau, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Macy Gallery, Columbia University, Connectivity, curated by Jun Gao, New York, NY
2022 The Coral Door– East Village, Elemental Fictions, curated by Jessica Nissen and Lowell Boyers, New York, NY
2021 Macy Gallery, Columbia University, Celebrating Bridges, curated by Dr. Razia Sadik, New York, NY
2021 M. David&Co. Abstraction Now – A Virtual Exhibition, Selections From the Yellow Chair Salon, curated by Michael David, Brooklyn, NY, with the Truro Center for the Arts, Cape Cod, MA
2019 The Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities, Colorado Abstract +10, curated by Collin Parson, Arvada, CO
2019 William Havu Gallery, Women In Abstraction, Denver, CO
2019 Macy Gallery, Columbia University, Coming Home, curated by Radiah Harper, New York, NY
2018 Goodwin Fine Art, Confluence, Denver, CO
2018 The Emmanuel Gallery with 808 Projects, Made In Colorado, Project lead, Jeff Lambson, with Olga Viso, and Cameron Keith Gainer, Denver, CO
2016 Center for Visual Art, Metropolitan State University, Colorado Women in Abstraction, curated by Michael Paglia, Denver, CO
2013 Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in collaboration with The Denver Botanic Gardens, CSArt, curated by David Dadone, Executive Director + Chief Curator of the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and Lisa M. W. Eldred, Director of Exhibitions, Art and Interpretation, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
2012 Core, Abstract, curated by Dean Sobel, Director of the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, CO
2011 The St. Julien, New Artists New Work, curated by Trudi Horowitz and Susan Knickle, Boulder, CO
2009 McGrath & Braun, Falling Away Project, for Robinson Waters & O’Dorisio PC Public Art Collection, Denver, CO
1994 Columbia University, Spring, Macy Gallery, curated by Mary Hafelli, New York, NY
Selected Museum and University Exhibitions
Columbia University, Macy Gallery, New York, NY
Vassar College, Palmer Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI
University of Colorado, Denver, CO
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO
Center for Visual Art, Metropolitan State University, Denver, CO
University of Central Florida, Center for Emerging Media, Orlando, FL
Presentations, Lectures + Arts Advocacy
2024- The Garrison Art Center, SHIFT, curated by Meg Hitchcock, Artist and curator talk,
2023- Vassar, The Palmer Gallery, IMPLODING MEANING, curated by Monica Church, Artists talk on “Tale-less Tales About Absolutely Nothing and Everything In Between” Led by Meg Hitchcock, Poughkeepsie, NY
2017-
2020 T\LT WEST, ongoing round table Invitational: “Curators, Collectors, & the shaping of Art History”. Led by Courtenay Finn, Aspen Art Museum, and others. Denver, CO
2020 Conversations Series, Invited to a sustained discussion of contemporary art issues. Stephanie Grilli, Ph.D., Yale, independent art historian, co-curator of Taos Contemporary, and advisory board member, Center for Visual Art, Denver, CO
2016 Guest Instructor, Boulder School of Fine Arts, Boulder, CO
2016 Artist panel, “Colorado Women In Abstraction”, moderated by arts writer Michael Paglia, Center for Visual Art, Denver, CO
2015 Artist speaker, “File Not Found – Brian Kane and Margaret Pettee Olsen”, Gallery EOSS, Providence, RI
2013 Artist speaker, The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and The Denver Botanic Gardens, CSART Project, Denver, CO
1994 Guest lecturer, Master’s candidates, Art & Art Education department, Columbia University, T.C., New York, NY
Bibliography
2023 Pillai, Ganesh, Review, Palmer Gallery Exhibit Explores Importance of Abstraction, The Miscellaneous, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
2019 — News Desk, “Ucross Foundation Announces Spring 2019 Artists-in-Residence,” Artforum, March 6, 2019
2019 — Staff, “Ucross Foundation Names Artists in Residence for Spring 2019,” ARTnews, March 6, 2019
2019 Paglia, Michael, Review, Six Women take Separate Paths to an Impressive Show at Havu, Westword, (A Village Voice publication, Denver and surrounding) July 3
2018 Paglia, Michael, Review: The Reality of Abstraction at 808 Projects, Relay: Margaret Pettee Olsen, Westword, (A Village Voice publication, Denver and surrounding) Nov 14th
2015 Rinaldi, Ray, “Colorado Women In Abstraction Cuts Across History”, The Denver Post, August 12
2015 Froyd, Susan, “Colorado Women In Abstraction”, Westword, (A Village Voice publication, Denver and surrounding), July 1
2015 Castro, Alexander, “File Not Found, Margaret Pettee Olsen + Brian Kane”, The Providence Journal, November 3
2013 Lewis, Shanna “CSArt Colorado”, Colorado Matters, Buying a share of Art, May 23
M. Pettee Olsen has been collected both nationally and internationally. Below is a list of selected collections.
Selected Collections
Selected Corporate Collections
Ann Benson Reidy & Associates
McGrath & Braun
The Rhode Island School of Design
Robinson Waters & O’Dorisio Public Art Collection
Other corporate Collections in New York, New York
Selected Private Collections
The Private Collection of Jina Brenneman
The Private Collection of Martin Johnson
Ralph Nagel of the Nagel Hall Art Collection
The Private Collection of Mark Kostabi
The David and Annette Raddock Collection
The Private Collection of Dominic Sekich
And other collections internationally