Julie Wolfe
Julie Wolfe is a multimedia, conceptual artist living and working in Washington DC. Her practice is rooted in gathering images and data to explore the world around us and, just as importantly, our interior lives. Her intent is to guide the viewer through richly conceived systems of color, form, and language that often serve as markers of time.
Wolfe is know for her large abstract paintings, drawings on book pages and conceptual installations using water, color and light. The scope of her work demonstrate her ability to move freely across multiple materials and techniques.
In this way, Wolfe often works within her own archive of images, appropriating and reappropriating them in new configurations that inspire wonder and pose urgent questions. By juxtaposing various elements, Wolfe causes patterns and free association between images, unleashing the optical unconscious to reveal something essential about perception.
As Wolfe develops these works in the studio, she makes artist’s books that explore similar concepts. A dialogue arises between the artwork and the books, which crystallize her visual ideas into intimate narratives contained in an object that viewers can hold in their hands while referencing the underpinnings of her artmaking process.
Artist Julie Wolfe's work can be found in notable collections and institutions globally, including The American University Museum, The Allen Memorial Museum, The American University Museum and the libraries of The National Gallery of Art, The National Museum of Women in the Arts and The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art as well as the collections of Microsoft, Meta / Facebook and Capitol One.
Wolfe has worked on projects based in Quito, Andorra, Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris and throughout the United States. Her work has been featured and reviewed in Hyperallergic, Artnews, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times’ “T Magazine” and BBC America. She is currently preparing for an exhibition in Tokyo, Japan and the Laconica Biennial in Vilnius, Lithuania.
JULIE WOLFE
EDUCATION
1986 BFA Painting and Art History, The University of Texas, Austin, TX
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Julie Wolfe, HPGRP Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (Forthcoming)
2022 Opposing Forces, HEMPHILL, Washington, DC
2021 Arranging Proximity, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
2020 Wildfires and Dreamfields, HEMPHILL Artwork, Washington, DC
2019 Under Their Gaze, We Become Creatures, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2018 Before and After Now, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
2017 Quest for a Third Paradise, The American University Museum, Washington, DC
2016 Julie Wolfe: The Language of the Birds, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2015 Green Room 11, Kunstraum Tapir, Berlin, DE
2015 Julie Wolfe: Green Room, Hemphill @ 1700 L Street, Washington, DC
2014 Meta, Public Art Commission, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC
2013 Julie Wolfe: Rewilding, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2010 Julie Wolfe, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2010 Window installation, Barneys New York, New York, NY
2009 Surface Tension, Mu Project, Washington, DC
2000 Faith Ringgold interactive installation, San Diego Children’s Museum, San Diego, CA / San Diego Museo de Los Niños, San Diego
2000 Elements of Devotion, Concordia University, Irvine, CA
1994 New Juice in Orange County, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Lanconica Biennial, Radvila Palace Museum of Art and Pamenkalnio, Vilnius, Lithiania (forthcoming)
2021 OPEN on K, HEMPHILL Artworks, Washington, DC
2021 New Prints 2021 / Summer, International Print Center New York, New York, NY
2021 The Color of Light: Utopian Abstractions, Rothko Art Centre, Daugavpils, Latvia; travels to L’ancienne évêché, Uzes, France (September 2021), Sete, France (October-December 2021)
2020 Unbound 2020, Candela Gallery, Richmond, VA
2020 Natura, Amelie Maison d’Art, Paris, France
2019 Full Bleed, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
2019 Overlooked, Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA
2018 Creative Energy for Peace, United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY
2018 Oh, What a World! What a World!, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ
2017 System Adjustment, AGA LAB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2017 United States Embassy, US Department of State, Bratislava, Slovakia
2014 Body Boundaries, Radiator Arts, Long Island City, NY
2014 Total View, Kunstraum Tapir, Berlin, Germany
2013 Curio, Heiner Contemporary, Washington, DC
2013 REPRESENT, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2013 Artist-Citizen, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2013 Colors per la Planeta, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France, Namur, Belgium, Strasbourg, Germany, Venice, Italy, Vienna, Austria, Tokyo, Japan
2011 DC Fine Art Photography Fair, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2011 United States Embassy, Sofia, Bulgaria, U.S. Department of State
2011 (e)merge art fair, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
2011 Network, Addison/Ripley Fine Art, Washington, DC
2009 Art in Embassies, US Department of State, United States Embassy, Sofia, Bulgaria
2009 Art in Embassies, US Department of State, United States Embassy, Paris, France
2009 Art in Embassies, US Department of State, UNESCO, Paris, France
2006 Botanical Treasures of Lewis and Clark, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
2005 Faculty and staff exhibition, Corcoran College of Art & Design, Washington, DC
1997 Group exhibition (juror: Audrey Flack), Chuck Levitan Gallery, New York, NY
1997 Wolfe, Ansel, Nelson, Rhino Art Company, Solana Beach, CA
1996 Tapestry showcase, The National Textile Museum, Washington DC
1994 Virgins, Whores, Witches and Saints, La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Allen Memorial Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC
Capital One, McLean, VA
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Georgetown University Library Art Collection, Washington, DC
Hogan Lovells, LLP, Washington, DC
Meta Open Arts, Washington, DC
Microsoft Art Collections
National Gallery of Art Library, Washington DC
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Sidley Austin, LLP, Washington, DC
UNESCO Residence Collection, Paris, France
United States Embassy, Sofia, Bulgaria; Paris, France; Quito, Ecuador
LIBRARY COLLECTIONS
Courtauld Institute of Art Library, London, UK
George Eastman House Library, Rochester NY
Martin Luther King Memorial Museum Library, Washington DC
Metropolitan Museum of Art Library, New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art Library, New York, NY
MUUS Collection Library, Tenafly, NJ
National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC
New York Public Library, New York, NY
SELECTED REVIEWS / PUBLICATIONS
2019 Jenkins, Mark, “In the galleries: modernist art that looks to the past”, The Washington Post
2019 Jenkins, Mark, “In the galleries: An exhibition that draws attention to overlooked issues”, The Washington Post
2019 Dugan, Kaylee, Taking Rorschach Tests with Julie Wolfe, Brightest Young Things
2018 Sci-art Magazine, Systems of Color with Julie Wolfe
2018 Crazy Horse No. 94 Literary Journal, Cover
2017 Voon, Claire, “Julie Wolfe, Quest for a Third Paradise: Abstracting the Data of the Natural World with Colorful Geometries”, Hyperallergic
2017 Jenkins, Mark, In the Galleries: Remapping the Boundaries of Drawing, The Washington Post
2016 Capps, Kristin, “Julie Wolfe, Language of the Birds”, Washington City Paper
2016 Mazar-Fox, Holly, Compelling Color, DC Magazine
2016 Coplan, Tina, “Point of Reference”, Home and Design Magazine
2015 McKenna, William, “Green Room: Julie Wolfe”, BBC World News America
2015 Jenkins, Mark, “Water Colors Leave a Mark”, The Washington Post
2014 Bunyard, Jesc, “Julie Wolfe’s Cycles of Life”, Rooms13, London, UK
2013 May, Stephen, “Reviews: Julie Wolfe”, ARTnews Magazine
2013 Jenkins, Mark, “Gallery Reviews: Julie Wolfe”, The Washington Post
2013 Capps, Kristin, “Review: Rewilding”, Washington City Paper
2013 O’Sullivan, Michael, Gallery Opening of The Week, The Washington Post
2011 Exhibition Catalogue, Quito Ecuador: Art Collection of the US Embassy
2010 Dawson, Jessica, “Reviews: Julie Wolfe”, The Washington Post
2009 Exhibition Catalog, US Mission to the OECD, Paris Art In the Embassies
ARTIST BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS
2023 Apophenia, Publisher: Apophenia Press, Artist Book
2022 Cradling the Singing Bird, Publisher: PAN & The Dream, Artist Book
2022 Wonderland: The Optical Unconscious, Limited Edition Artist Book
2020 Wildfires & Dreamfields, Limited Edition Artist Book
2019 Under Their Gaze, We Become Creatures, Limited Edition Folio
2019 Dream Sequel: Seeing Again, Limited Edition Artist Book
2018 Dream Sequel Observatory, Limited Edition Artist Book
2017 Landview Effect: Travel Guide Series, Limited Edition Artist Book
2017 Quest For a Third Paradise, Exhibition Catalog
ARTIST RESIDENCIES / PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2019 Resident, Mass MOCA, North Adams, MA
2018 Resident, Mass MOCA, North Adams, MA
2018 Resident, AGA Lab, The Netherlands
2017 Contributing Editor, The Studio Visit Online Art Journal, 2017–present
2017 Public Art Commission, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 2017–2018
2017 Resident, AGA Lab, The Netherlands
2017 Resident, Two Coats of Paint, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Public Art Commission, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC
2014 Resident, Takt Academy, Berlin, Germany
2012 Resident, UNESCO Sustainable Energy, Andorra
2011 Artist-in-Residence, Art in the Embassies/Sincha Satcha Foundation, Quito Ecuador
2006-07 Faculty, Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington DC
2004-06 Lab Technician/Adjunct Instructor, Jewelry, Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington, DC
2001 Faculty Art Instructor, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA
1996-00 Faculty Artist in Residence, San Diego Children’s Museum, CA
1995-96 Faculty Art Instructor, Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA
1993-95 Faculty Art Instructor, Orange County Museum of Contemporary Art