Melissa Eder received a B.F.A. in Painting/Printmaking from the Parsons School of Design and a M.F.A. in Combined Media from Hunter College. Her work has been shown at the Bronx Museum, the Aperture Foundation, Humble Arts, the Davis/Orton Gallery, the Griffin Museum of Photography, Rockefeller Center and in Berlin, London, Rome and Korea. She was an artist-in-residence at the Henry Street Settlement, the Saltonstall Foundation, Jentel Foundation in Banner, Wyoming and the Atlantic Center for the Arts with renowned photographer Graciela Iturbide. Her work has been reviewed by the New York Times, Feature Shoot, the Huffington Post, the Collector Daily, and VICE. She maintains a studio in Brooklyn with Chashama and lives in New York City.
I utilize the genre of still life to explore issues related to beauty, nature and artifice, exterior and interior worlds, popular culture and my personal experiences. These paintings are on mid to large scale canvas (16” x 20” to 4ft x 5ft) created with acrylics, gouache, and photo collage. These works bridge my art of photo works which document 99 cents store objects and junk food placed within vividly psychedelic stylistic painting. The objects used are atypical. Instead of the conventional apples and oranges of Cezanne, I may use junk food, plastic fruit, tchotchkes, souvenirs and items obtained from 99 cents stores. I also use different foods such as raw meat, fried chicken, cake and pizza. Quite often, my work references my upbringing in the suburban New Jersey of the 70s. In this place, I have found a dystopia of broken promises – a land where modernity, comfort and technology helped to maintain the emptiness found within the banal and status quo.
Solo Exhibitions:2002 "Sense of Herself", Broadway Windows Gallery, New York University, New York, NY1992 "State Controlled" (A Collaborative Installation with Adult Literacy Students from LehmanCollege), Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY1992 "In Memoriam/A Journey Through a Fantasy's Childhood and Adolescence", Stadtlengsfeldt, Germany
Group Exhibitions:2023 Gratification, Treat Gallery, Artsy (online) https://www.artsy.net/show/treat-gallery-gratification?sort=partner_show_position2023 The Flag Project Rockefeller Center, NY, NY (Artwork Selected by City Harvest)2023 Info Bahn, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL2022 Karst Grounds: Quatro Sunistra, Anastasia Samoylova-Guest Curator, Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL2022 Satellite Art Fair with Paradice Palase and House of Yes, Miami, FL2022 The Flag Project Rockefeller Center, NY, NY (Artwork Selected by the United Nations Environment Programme and The Climate Museum)2022 Ham Sandwich, AHA Fine Art, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY2022 Photobooks, Davis/Orton Gallery and Griffin Museum of Photography, Hudson, NY, Winchester, NY2021 Every Woman Biennial, Copley Gallery, London, UK2021 Every Woman Biennial NFT Drop, Super Chief Gallery, NY, NY2021 WINDOWS INTO THE VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY, Loosen Art, Roma, Italy2020 Primordial Soup, Paradice Palase, Bushwick, NY2020 Bird, Nest, Nature, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA2020 Group Show, Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY2019 Environs, Paradice Palase, Bushwick, NY2019 Photobooks, Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY2019 Another Day in Paradise, Gregory Eddie Jones and Anastasia Samoylova, Curators, Gravy Studios, Philadelphia, PA2019 Twist and Twine, Paradice Palace, Long Island City, NY2019 What We Eat and Wear, CICA Museum, Korea2019 Bright Colors, Bold Strokes: Creations of Low Brow Art, Huntington Arts Council, Huntington, NY2018 UnAmerica, Puffin Cultural Forum, Teaneck, NJ2018 Falling Forward, The Cigar Factory, LIC, NY2018 Photo Book 2017, Davis/Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY will travel to the Griffin Museum of Photography in 20192018 Far Out, The I.D.E.A. Museum, Tempe, AZ2018 Summer Show- Paula Tagnorelli-Director-Griffin Museum of Photography, Curator, Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY2018 30-Something Strange, Uncanny, or Otherwise Unsettling Photos of McDonald's Golden Arches, Humble Arts Foundation2018 American Splendour, Ilon Gallery, Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Curator, Harlem, NY2018 Ultra Violet, Urban Center of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI2018 Outside the Box, Whitebox Collection, West Palm Beach, FL2018 Trees, Griffin Museum of Photography, (Online Exhibition)2017 Truth, BRIC Arts Media, Brooklyn, NY2017 The Poster Show, Troppus Projects, Kent, OH2017 What the World Needs Now, Curators Anita Arliss, Ruben Natal-San Miguel, B-Complex Gallery, Atlanta, GA2017 Fleur Essence, Aimee Hertog and Melissa Eder, Lazy Susan Gallery, Lower Eastside, NY2017 Solair Flair, Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, Saint Joseph, MO2017 Poster, Blackball Projects, Williamsburg, NY2017 Whitney Houston Biennial, Christine Finley, Curator, New York, NY2017 Objectification, Cica Museum, Korea2017 NXNE, Brattleboro Museum of Art, Brattleboro, VT2016 ‘Fleur (Essence)’, Aimee Hertog and Melissa Eder, Art Shape Mammoth @ Satellite Art Show, Miami Beach, FL2016 WTF is a Still Life?,, Humble Arts Foundation, Instagram #hafstillifez @humblearts2016 WE: AMEricans, Station Independent Projects, Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Curator, LES, NY2016 Paradise in the City, Local Projects, Long Island City, NY2016 Landscapez, Humble Arts Foundation, Instagram #haflandscapez @humblearts2016 4th Biennial of Fine Art and Documentary Photography for the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards-Berlin, Germany2016 Faux, Louise Clements- Curator, Center for Fine Art Photography, Ft. Collins, CO2016 Open Call: Up for Debate, BRIC Arts Media, Brooklyn, NY2016 Valentine’s Show, Lenscratch, http://lenscratch.com/2016/02/the-2016-valentines-exhibition-part-2/2016 Hipster and Otaku Photography Show, CICA Museum, Korea2016 Photobook!, A Collaborative Show with the Davis/Orton Gallery (Hudson, NY) and the Griffin Museum of Photography (Winchester, MA), The Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA2015 Yourself, LP Gallery, Long Island City, NY2015 Open Call, Lorimoto Gallery, Ridgewood, Queens2015 9 Topics Guest Exhibit, (Amalia Caputo and Marina Font, Curators), The Girls’ Club, Ft. Lauderdale, FL2015 Happiness, Jersey City Theater Center/Merseles Studios, Jersey City, NJ2015 The Rights of Summer, Ruben Natal-San Miguel and Sean Corcoran, Curators, Ripe Art Gallery, Huntington, NY2015 The Hair Show, Lenscratch,http://lenscratch.com/exhibitions/2015 After Image: Contemporary Artists and Photography, Art House Productions, Jersey City, NJ2015 The Omnivore’s Dilemma: Visualized, Barry Rosenberg- Curator, Contemporary Art Galleries, University of Connecticut,Storrs, CT2015 Radical Color, Jon Feinstein, Curator, Humble Arts Foundation and Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, OR,http://hafny.org/group-show-44-radical-color2015 Respond, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY2014 Photobooks!, A Collaborative Show with the Davis/Orton Gallery (Hudson, NY) and the Griffin Museum of Photography (Winchester, MA), The Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA2014 Collective, Perth Center for Photography, Perth, Australia2014 Bahamas Biennale, Sean J. Patrick Carney- Curator, Mukwonago, WI2014 Illuminated: A Photographic Essay of Holiday Lights, The Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA2014 The Chicken Thief, Friday Gallery, Bushwick, NY2014 New Cats in Art Photography, The Humble Arts Foundation,http://www.hafny.org2014 Summer Open, Aperture Foundation, New York, NY2014 AS/Orchard, 55 Orchard Gallery, New York, NY2014 In Full Swing, Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ2014 Body Language, George Herms, Curator, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA2014 SCOPE (with chashama), New York, NY2014 Love Shack, The Nave Gallery, Somerville, MA2013, Photo Book 2013, Davis/ Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY2013 AS/AP,Gallery 212, Dumbo, Brooklyn2013 Minstral Show, DeKonstruct Gallery, Red Hook, Brooklyn2013 Urban/Subrban,Kansas City Jewish Museum of Art, Kansas City, KS2013 Boom and Bloom, The Phatory, New York, NY2013 Scope Art Fair (With chashama), New York, NY2013 Real Time, AS/Studios Pop-Up Show, New York, NY2012 Photo Book 2012, Davis/ Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY2012 Urban/Suburban, Kansas City Jewish Museum of Art, Kansas City, KS2012 Scope Art Fair (With chashama), New York, NY2012 Bookstore, Drift Station, Lincoln, Nebraska2011 Curate NYC, Online Group Show, Work Selected Out of Over 1,500 Submissions by Eric C. Shiner, Director of The Andy Warhol Museum2011 Urban/Suburban, Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Kansas2011 Let Them Eat Cake, Marjorie Barrick Museum, University of Las Vegas, NV2011 Distant Cousins: Jewish and Muslim Women Artists Speak, ClementeSoto Velez Cultural Center, NY, NY2011 Still Life, Lori Nix, Curator,The Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR2011 The Dining Room Project, The Charlotte Street Foundation’s Paragraph Gallery, Kansas City, MO2011 The Inter-Connected World: Various Projects, (Included in Serve and Project), Hampden Gallery, Amherst, MA2011 Women and Art, New York City College of Technology, Brooklyn, NY2010 Inanimate Pictures/ Unusual Still Lifes of Man-Made Objects, Guild Gallery, New York, NY2010 Direct Objects: Still Life as Subject, The Vermont Photography Workplace/ PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT 2006 Stilled Life, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY2005 Babes, Holland Tunnel Gallery, Williamsburg, NY2004 Tunnel of Love, Holland Tunnel Gallery, Williamsburg, NY2003 A Theory of Relative Power, (Franklin Sirmans, Curator), Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY2002 Reaction, Exit Art, New York, NY2000 Meat Market Art Fair, (Represented by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council), New York1998 Settlement Installations: Ain't It Funky Now, Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY1995 Pamela Arm and Melissa Eder, P.S. 122 Gallery, New York, NY1995 Four Rooms, Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, NY1994 Art in the Clinics, Women's Caucus for the Arts, New York, NY1993 The Joke Show, Four Walls, Williamsburg, NY1992 Salon-More than a Group Show, Art in General, New York, NY1992 Toll Free, Stadtlengsfeld Castle, Germany1992 Enter-Action, (A Collaboration with WAC, Art in the Anchorage, Brooklyn, NY1992 Salon, Herron Test-Site, Williamsburg, NY1992 Children, 800 East Gallery, Atlanta, GA1991 Inappropriate Men, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL1991 Drawings: Women in the Visual Arts, (Howardena Pindell,Curator), Erector Square Gallery, New Haven, CT1991 The Decade Show, Hunter College, NY, NY1990 Reconfiguring Bodies/ Reconceiving Selves, Hunter Gallery, New York, NY1988 11" x 14, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
Awards and Grants:2022 Puffin Foundation Grant- Photography2020 Artist’s Grant during Covid, Art Bridge2020 Artist’s Grant during Covid, Saltonstall Foundation 2019 Grant for Artists’ Residency in Brasil, Professional Staff Congress, City University of New York’s Union for Adjunct Educators2018 Grant, ‘Revolution: An Unconscious (Deeper), Puffin Foundation2017 Artist’s Fellowship Grant, New York, NY2015 Award, Best Summer Symbol, The Rights of Summer,Ruben Natal-San Miguel and Sean Corcoran, Curators, Ripe Art Gallery, Huntington, NY2015 Finalist, Julia Margaret Cameron Awards/Gala Awards2012 NYFA Emergency Fund Relief Recipient2011 Travel Grant (To Attend “The Dining Room Project” in Kansas City, MO), PSE Grant for Adjunct Instructors (CUNY)2001 Grant, Manhattan Community Arts Fund, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council2001 Grant, Puffin Foundation2000 Grant, Change Inc. (Rauschenberg’s Foundation)2000 Grant, Manhattan Community Arts Fund, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council1991 Grant, Puffin Foundation1988/89 Meritorious Award, Hunter College
Special Projects:2023 Cover Art, Paradiesische Zustande, Henri Maximillian Jacobs, Roman Press, Kieperheuer & Witsch2023 Jentel Presents, Artists’ Talk, Sage Gallery, Sheridan, WY2023 Artists’ Residency, Jentel Foundation, Sheridan, WY2023 Tropical Bound Artists Book Fair, Selected by Women Photographers International Archive, Miami, Florida2022 Artist’s Talk/Virtual Studio Visit, Paradice Palase2020 Weekend Residency for Alumni Artists in Residence, Saltonstall Foundation, Ithaca, NY2019 Residency, Casa Na Ilha, Ilhabela, Brasil 2019 Art Fort Lauderdale ‘The Art Fair on the Water’2018 Smash and Grab, Locust Projects2017 100 Days100 Women, Blog, https://100days100women.wordpress.com/2017/12/21/melissa-eder-100-days-100-women/2016 Women in Photo, Fast Forward Instagram Take Over2016 Artist’s Talk/Paper, “Sunshine Daydream: How Pop Art, Dystopia, New Jersey and Jerry Garcia Shaped an Artist’s Work,” Southwest Conference on Popular Culture and American Culture,Panel Participant ‘What the Seer Can Own”, Grateful Dead Caucus, Albuquerque, NM, Feb. 122016 ARTROOMS London 2016, Melia White House Hotel, London2015 Benefit for the Medusa Project, NY2015 Instagram Takeover, Float Magazine, Sept. 10-142015 Artists’ Talk, “After Image: Contemporary Artists and Photography,” Art House Productions, Jersey City, NJ2015 The Twist Collective, Select Art Fair, New York, NY2015 Instagram Takeover, Feature Shoot, March 10-112014 The Smile Face Museum, Collection/ Study Room, Colorado2014 Benefit, Art in a Box, Skylight Gallery, Chelsea, NY2014 Benefit Auction, Brooklyn Arts Council, Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY2014 Work Available on the Little Collector,http://www.littlecollector.com/collections/melissa-eder2014 Work Available on Davis Orton Editions,http://davisortoneditions.com/melissa-eder/2013 Pianos Sing for Hope, Public Art Project, Lincoln Center, New York City2013 Benefit Show for Nurture Art,Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, 57th Street, New York, NY2013 Selected for Art Vetting Website (Elisabeth Ivers/ Brian Clamp Critique)2012 Art in a Box Fundraiser, Masters and Pelavin Gallery, New York,NY2012 Featured Artist, Generator Arts Website,www.generatorarts.com/#/art/45543757952012 Included in an online artists' archive/aktuell called AS| Artists Studioswww.artistsstudios.com2012-present Artists’ Studio/Residency Program, chashama, Sunset Park, Brooklyn2011 Artists’ Summer Institute (With Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Creative Capital), Govenors Island, NY2011 “Meet the Artist” (In Conjunction with Inanimate Pictures/ Unusual Still Lifes of Man-Made Objects”,Guild Gallery, New York, NY2010 “Collecting Art: An Affordable Art Fair”, Montclair Museum of Art, Montclair, New Jersey2014-2000 "Postcards from the Edge", Benefit for Visual AIDS, New York, NY2004 Portfolio Review,The Center, Santa Fe, NM2004 Residency (Photography), Saltonstall Foundation, Ithaca, NY2002 Residency (Photography-Graciela Iturbide/Master Artist), Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL2000 Residency (Photography), Women's Art Colony Farm, Poughkeepsie, NY1992-93 Artist-in-Residence, Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY1992 Artist Residency (Installation), Stadtlengsfeld, Germany1992 Panel Discussion (Moderator), "Are we there yet? Art and Anxiety in the 1990's", Art in General, New York, NY
Selected Publications: Catalog, Primordial Soup, Paradice Palace, 2020Article, VICE, https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kzd7wv/these-photographers-make-surprisingly-fresh-photos-of-flowers , Jon Feinstein, 2/14/19Review, Spoiled NYC, 7 Breathtaking Art Exhibits in NYC You Must Visit, Juanita Tovar, 9/5/17https://spoilednyc.com/7-breathtaking-art-exhibits-nyc-you-must-visit-september/Feature, Alexandria Quarterly, Winter 2016, http://www.alexandriaquarterlymag.com/new-page-98/Article, Extreme Color is Beautiful Now, Beautiful Now, by Shira White, January 16, 2016http://beautifulnow.is/bnow/extreme-color-is-beautiful-nowReview, Playspace Magazine, Nancy Oliveri,http://www.playspacemagazine.com/reviewsReview,The Huffington Post, Meet the Contemporary Artists Experimenting with Radical Color, 5/25/15http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/25/radical-color_n_7394404.htmlReview, 60 Blog, 5 Must-Sees at Select Art Fair,http://blog.sixtyhotels.com/5-must-sees-select-art-fair/Review, Art F City, Monday Links Spring Forward, Paul Legault, March 9, 2015http://artfcity.com/2015/03/09/monday-links-spring-forward/Review,The New York Times, Raging at Racism from Streets to Gallery (Smack Mellon), Holland Cotter, Jan. 22, 2015http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/arts/smack-mellon-and-grey-art-display-art-sparked-by-politics.html?_r=0Interview, October 25, 2014http://365artists365days.com/2014/10/24/The Collector Daily, August 11, 2014http://collectordaily.com/melissa-eder-aperture/Aperture Blog, August 1, 2014http://www.aperture.org/blog/ff-13-aperture-summer-open-photographers-follow/Article, Musee Magazine, July 25, 2014http://museemagazine.com/culture/art-out/aperture-summer-open/Article, Trend Hunter, June 19, 2014http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/surreal-still-lifeArticle, Fast Co., June 19, 2014http://www.fastcodesign.com/3032066/exposure/fakes-flowers-from-99-cent-stores-turned-into-dazzling-psychedelic-imagesArticle, Feature Shoot, June 17, 2014http://www.featureshoot.com/2014/06/tripping-daisy-psychedelic-floral-arrangements-created-from-99-cent-store-items/The Number 4 Blog, June 20, 2014http://www.thenumber4.com/blog/2014/06/psychedelic-floral-arrangements/Article, Rukico, June 23, 2014http://www.rukico.com/news/n2012.htmlThe Blvd Blog, Monday Moodboosters, June 23, 2014http://www.the-blvd.com/Issue #5:Party, Make 8elieve Magazine, 2014TV Clip, (Piano Featured), Sing for Hope, Good Day New York, Fox 5, May 1, 2013http://www.myfoxny.com/story/22466953/88-pianos-in-nyc-for-public-useInterview, “Water’s Edge:Nine chashama BAT Studio Artists on Urban Space, Public Life and the Artist as Visual Ambassador”,Davy Knittle, September 2012Article, Image featured in "Occupying the Waiting Room: 40 Years of Healthcare Needs" by Lori Adelman in the current issue of On the Issues Magazine: A Magazine of Feminist, Progressive Thinking, January 2012Review, “Mmm, art...” - Las Vegas CityLife, Jenessa Kenway, October 20, 2011Catalogue,The Dining Room Project, The Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2011Catalogue, Direct Objects: Still Life as Subject, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT, 2010Review, "Objects at Rest", Benjamin Genocchio, The New York Times, July 23, 2006Publication, "Photography Now" (Selected by Sarah Hasted), Photography Quarterly, Center forPhotography, Woodstock, NY, 2004Catalogue, Manual, Art in General, 1993Review, Freies Wort, August 18, 1992Review, “Welt-Sichen”, Rhonkurier, August 12, 1992Catalogue, The Decade Show, Hunter College, 1991
Teaching Experience:Educator, Critical Thinking, City University of New York, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, NY,Sept. 2011-Present
Education:BFA (Painting and Printmaking-Studied with Sean Scully), Parsons School of Design, New York, NY, May 1985MFA, Hunter College (Combined Media-Studied with Robert Morris), New York, NY (Meritorious Award 1988/89), May 1990
New York
CountryUSA
