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 Exhibitions
2024 The Garrison Art Center, Gillette Gallery, Solo Exhibition, SHIFT – Paintings by M Pettee Olsen, Garrison, NY
2018 808 Projects, Relay: Paintings by Margaret Pettee Olsen, exhibition extended, curated by art historian Stephanie Grilli, PhD Yale, Denver, CO
2015 Gallery EOSS, 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
1994 Macy Gallery, Columbia University, Dis-Covering Re-presentation – Recent Paintings by Margaret Pettee Olsen, New York, NY
Selected Projects and Commissions
2024 Two works commissioned by Suzanne Randolph Fine Arts for corporate placement, New York, NY
2024 two works acquired by Suzanne Randolph Fine Arts for corporate placement, New York, NY
2013 Fifty works commissioned by the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in collaboration with The Denver Botanic Gardens, curated by Executive Director David Dadone and Lisa M. W. Eldred, Director of Exhibitions, Art and Interpretation, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
2009 Four works acquired by McGrath & Braun Art Consultants for Robinson Waters & O’Dorisio PC Public Art Collection, Denver, CO
2000 A series of six cover designs, Paintings for Poetry Project, published in Los Angeles, CA
Selected Small-Group Exhibitions
2023 Vassar, The Palmer Gallery, Imploding Meaning, a four-person show curated by Monica Church, Poughkeepsie, NY
2022 — The Coral Door– East Village, Elemental Fictions, curated by Jessica Nissen and Lowell Boyers, New York, NY
2021 Gibson Contemporary, From The Drawer – Online exhibition, Margaret Pettee Olsen + Chris Coffin, curated by David Gibson, New York, NY
2019 William Havu Gallery, Women In Abstraction, Denver, CO
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 — Berry Campbell Gallery, Postcards from the Edge, 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
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 — 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, Executive Director 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
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
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 Emmanuel Gallery, 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” moderated 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”, 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
2019 — Staff, “Ucross Foundation Names Artists in Residence for Spring 2019,” ARTnews, March 6, 2019
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
2018 — Paglia, Michael, Review: Artists Come Together in Coalesce — Goodwin’s last show, Nocember 20
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 nationally and internationally