Carl Grauer
Carl Grauer is a painter based in Poughkeepsie, NY in the beautiful Hudson Valley. He primarily works in oil, painting mostly portraits and figure-based contemporary realistic paintings. Born in rural Kansas, Grauer left to complete his degrees in human biology and his MFA in medical illustration from the University of Kansas and the University of Michigan, respectively. He spent two years in London studying figurative and portrait painting with several studios and has garnered success showing work nationally and internationally, including being shortlisted for the Wells Art Contemporary Award in the U.K., exhibiting with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in London, and having been granted several residencies including the Jentel Artist Residency in Banner, Wyoming.
Figurative Exhibit, 2024 
QUiEtER INTERIORS
Gridded Nature
Moving Clouds
Plein Air 
The Lavender Temple of Their Most Fabulous
Growing up in Kansas, I had no exposure to the history of the LGBTQ+ movement. Being that this part of history was excluded from our school texts, it was something I had to search out alone as a young queer person. Many people may not know of the subjects or stories of these paintings and because of this, it is important to deliver work that depicts our history so that these people of great significance are remembered and acknowledged with reverence. This series is at once celebratory and educational; serving as an acknowledgement of the pivotal events that emboldened the gay rights movement in the United States, while also highlighting other important figures who have contributed to LGBTQ+ visibility and equality before or since the events of June 1969. Religion also played such a strong factor in my existence from birth and still does whether through faith or through rejection. Due to this, I am choosing to use the very form of art that Christianity has used to honor and remember their saints and martyrs. In order to ‘sanctify’ these torchbearers, this work references religious iconography to spark a conversation surrounding art history, LGBTQ+ history and cultural responses.
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Education
Master of Fine Arts, University of Michigan
Bachelor of Arts, Biology, University of Kansas
Solo Exhibitions
2019 FROM MEMORY, Queen City 15 Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY
2019 The Lavender Temple of Their Most Fabulous, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2019 Oil Paintings, Cunneen-Hackett Theatre Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY
2017 #twohourportraits, 510 Warren Street Gallery, Hudson, NY
2016 Recollections, Point Gallery, Denver, CO
2012 Recollections, Goose Barnacle, Brooklyn, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2020 TIME, Bau Gallery, Beacon, NY
2020 INTERIORS, Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, MA
2020 Providence Art Club National Juried Show, Providence, RI
2020 Margins, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
2019 Body Beautiful II, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
2018 Lights Up!, Queen City 15, Poughkeepsie, NY
2018 Here's Looking at You Kid, The Loft at Liz's, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Peculiar Rarities, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2018 The Other Art Fair, Featured Artist; Los Angeles, CA and Brooklyn, NY
2017 Americana, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2017 Dia Staff Art Show, Matteawan Gallery, Beacon, NY
2017 Petit, Emerge Gallery & Art Space, Saugerties, NY
2016 Being Her Now: Feminine Identity In The 21st Century, Salisbury University Gallery, Salisbury, MD
2016 Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2016 Annual Non-Members Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
2016 Strange Figurations, Limner Gallery, Hudson, NY
2015 Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2015 The Wells Art Contemporary Awards Shortlist, Wells & Mendip Museum, Wells Somerset, UK
2014 SATURNALIA, Sweet ‘Art, London, UK
2014 The Other Art Fair, London, UK
2014 SEAMS, Sweet ‘Art, London, UK
2013 SONYA Prelude Exhibition, Free Candy, Brooklyn, NY
Group Exhibitions con’t
2012 Blue, Rising Arts Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2011 Free Parking Group Show, RePOP, Brooklyn, NY
2008 Family Matter, RePOP, Brooklyn, NY
2005 Prodigal Suns, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Opie Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2005 Annual Juried Exhibition, Images Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2000 Skin Deep, JJ Brookings Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2000 MFA Graduate Exhibit, Rackham Galleries, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Press
KU College Stories, "Hawks to Watch: Carl Grauer, Contemporary Artist", May, 2019
Poughkeepsie Journal, "'Tickled Pink' artists display their interpretations of color in group exhibit", by Linda Marston-Reid, Feb. 6, 2019
High Country News, "The Ascension of Matthew Shepard", by Katherine E. Standefer, Oct. 12, 2018
Chronogram, "7 Hudson Valley Contemporary Artists to Watch Out for: Local Gallerists Share The Artists on their Radars", By Chronogram Staff, Aug. 23, 2018
Canvas, A Blog by Saatchi Art, "Brooklyn: Carl Grauer's Two Hour Portraits", by Laura Skudder, Oct. 10, 2018
VoyageLA, "Art & Life with Carl Grauer, June 4, 2018
Art Aesthetics Magazine, "Q&A: Carl Grauer", by D. S. Graham, May 2017
Saatchi Gallery Magazine, "Carl Grauer, Painter", by Emily Catrice, May 2016
Creative Mapping, "Best of Moniker & The Other Art Fair", by Marie-Laurence Camara
