- 1957
- Born in South Bend, IN
- 1983
- MFA, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
- 1981
- BFA, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowegan
- Yale University Summer Program, New Haven, CT
Selected Exhibitions
- 2022
- "StrokeRollFoldSheetSlabGlitch," The Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Cal State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
- 2019
- "An Abundance of Errors," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
- 2014
- Angles Gallery, Los Angles, Los Angeles, CA
- 2013
- "Sine Language," Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV
- 2009
- "Slabs + Sines," Galerie Richard, Paris, France
- 2008
- "Sine, Sine Everywhere a Sine," Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 2005
- Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 2004
- Cohan & Leslie, New York, NY
- 2002
- Cohan Leslie + Browne, New York, NY
- 2001
- Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 1999
- Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 1998
- Post Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- 1996
- Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 1995
- Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, CA
Group Exhibitions
- 2019
- "The Light Touch," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
- 2016
- "Painting Into Three Dimensions," Galerie Richard, New York, NY
- 2014
- "25 years," Galerie Richard, Paris, France
- 2013
- "Hors Frontières – Abstrations," Galerie Richard, Paris, France
- 2011
- "Creating the New Century: Contemporary Art from the Dicke Collection," Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH
- 2010
- "Permissions," Highways Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 2009
- "In Bed Together," Royal T, Los Angeles, CA
- "Small is Beautiful," June Lee Contemporary Art, Seomi & Tuss Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
- "Synthetics," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
- PULSE Miami, Galerie Richard, Paris, France
- 2008
- Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- "California Video" ("Strip" with Erika Suderberg), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
- 2007
- "La vida privada: Coleccion Josep Civit," Centro de Arte y Naturaleza, Fundacion Beulas, Huesca, Spain
- "Proteus Gowanus Gallery" ("Strip" with Erika Suderberg) Brooklyn, NY
- Festival Miden ("Strip" with Erika Suderberg), Kalamata, Greece
- "Experimental Film and Video Festival" (EXiS) ("Strip" with Erika Suderberg), Seoul Art Cinema & Art Sonje Center, Seoul, Korea
- "Renderyard Film Festival," ("Strip" with Erika Suderberg), Roxy Theatre, The Escape Gallery, London, UK
- 18th Festival internacional de curtas-metragens de Sao Paulo, Brazil
- "The Compass of Resistance International Film" Festival: Radical Reels: Five Minutes of Mayhem! ("Strip" with Erika Suderberg), Cube Microplex, Bristol, UK
- "Video Art Start From Zero," Festival Miden, Alekton Artspace, Athens, Greece
- "Lines," Texas Gallery, Houston, TX
- "Summer Stock," Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- 2006
- "SouthwestNET: Painting," Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ
- "Hotel California," The Glendale College Art Gallery, Glendale, CA
- 2005
- "Pardners," Domestic Setting, Los Angeles, CA
- "New Works on Paper," Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- "Extreme Abstraction," Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
- "Op…ish; An Attempt at hyper-extension of the pure visual experience," Sampson Projects, Boston, MA
- "In the Abstract," Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- "L.A," Lucas Schoormans Gallery, New York, NY
- 2004
- "New Geometries," The San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
- 2003
- "One Word : Plastic," Weatherspoon Art Museum, The University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC
- 2002
- Annual Exhibition, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy
- "Sight Mapping," APT Gallery, London, United Kingdom
- "Vignettes : Modern and Contemporary Art from Colorado Collections," Colorado University Art Gallery, Boulder, CO
- "Sight Mapping," Konsthallen-Bohuslans Museum, Udevalla, Sweden Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, Scotland
- Sala Rekalde, Bilbao, Spain
- The Corcoran Biennial, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- "ColorLove," Johnson County Community College, Kansas City, KS
- "prima facie: New Abstract Painting," Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- "New In Town," Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
- Summer 2002, Cohan Leslie and Browne, New York, NY
- 2001
- "furur scribendi: Works on Paper," Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- MCA Chicago Benefit Art Auction, Chicago, IL
- "The Dreams That Stuff is Made Of," Selections Show, Frankfurt International Art Fair, curated by David Pagel, Frankfurt, Germany
- "Works on Paper," Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
- 2000
- "Glee," The Alrdrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
- The Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Palm Beach, FL
- "Inventional," Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- "Works on Paper from California," Judy Ann Goldman Fine Art, Boston , MA
- "Luminous," IKON, ITD./ Kay Richards Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA
- "The Next Wave: New Painting in Southern California," Escondido Center for the Arts, Escondido, CA
- "Muscle: Power of the View," Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO
- "CAART," Creative Artists Agency, Beverly Hills, CA
- 1999
- "Millennium Madness," Post Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- "Pasadena Adjacent," Richard Heller Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- "Hot Spots: Los Angeles," Houston and Miami, The Weatherspoon Gallery, Greensboro, NC
- The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
- "Postmark: An Abstract Effect," Site Santa Fe, NM
- "Local Color," The Harris Art Gallery, The University of La Verne, La Verne, CA
- 1998
- "Polysemy," Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
- "Color Fields," Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A., Los Angeles, CA
- "10 x 20," Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
- "8.1-29.98," Post Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- "6130," Post Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- "Salvo," White Box Gallery, New York, NY
- 1997
- "The Box," Marcia Mateyka Gallery, Washington, DC
- "Push," Miller Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
- "Sex Industry," Stux Gallery, New York, NY
- 1996
- "On and Off the Wall," The Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman College, Orange County, CA
- "Red," Newspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- "After," Post Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- 1994
- "Constructed Views," Woodbury University Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
- "Flow," Cerritos College Fine Arts Gallery, Cerritos, CA
- 1993
- "10 x 10," Stephen Rosenberg Gallery, New York City, NY
- 1991
- "Save the Penis," New Langton Arts Center, San Francisco, CA
- "Paper Trail," Stephen Rosenberg Gallery, New York, NY
- "The Central Image," Stephen Rosenberg Gallery, New York, NY
- "Paintings," Opus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Awards & Honors
- 2004
- The Graham L. Sterling Award, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA
- 2002-2003
- The Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome, Italy
- 2001-2002
- The George A. and Eliza Howard Foundation Fellowship in Painting
- 1999
- Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award
- The Museum of Contemporary Art, Emerging Artist Award Nominee, Los Angeles, CA
Bibliography
- 2022
- Knight, Christopher. "Review: Five pandemic-postponed art shows worth seeing right now," The Los Angeles Times, May 12 (Link)
- 2019
- Zellen, Jody. "Pick of the Week," What's On Los Angeles, December 5 (Link)
- 2012
- Decade: Contemporary Collecting 2002-2012, Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery (illustrated).
- Extreme Abstraction, 2.0 . Buffalo, Albright-Knox Art Gallery (illustrated).
- 2006
- Colpitt, Frances. "Linda Besemer," ArtUS , March/April 2006, Issue 12, p.4-5
- 2005
- Miles, Christopher. "Optical Illsusions to bulge the eyes," LA Weekly. November
- Hirsch, Faye. "Abstract Generations," Art in America. October
- Baron, Joan Boykoff and Reuben M. Baron. "Doors and Floors, War and More : Reflections on the Armory Show ’05," artcritical.com, March (illustrated)
- Stein Greben, Deidre. "Return of the Blob," ARTnews, Vol. 104, No. 4, April: 102-103 (illustrated)
- Orden, Abraham. "Circus with a tent," Artnet.com (illustrated)
- Binstock, Jonathan. Sam Gilliam: Retrospective, Washington, DC, The Corcoran Gallery of Art and The University of California Press (illustration)
- 2004
- Johnson, Ken. "Art in Review: Linda Besemer," The New York Times, 2004, 3rd December.
- 2003
- Millett, Ann. Greensboro, North Carolina, Art Papers, March/April
- Patterson, Tom. "Giving Plastic a Chance," Winston-Salem Journal, November 16
- "One Word Plastic, Art Reviews," Dwell, October: 34. (illustrated)
- Colman, David. "Getting in Line," Elle Décor, August/September
- Patterson, Tom. "The Word: Once again it’s ‘plastics,’ this time in the gallery," Winston-Salem Journal, September 14
- Doll, Nancy M. "One Word: Plastic," Greensboro, NC, Weatherspoon Art Museum, exhibition catalogue “One Word: Plastic.” articles, Greensboro, NC: Weatherspoon Art Museum
- Rubinstein, Raphael. "A Quiet Crisis, Art in America," March: 39-45
- 2002
- O’Sullivan, Michael. "The Corcoran Biennial: Dramatic License," The Washington Post, December 27
- ‘Site Mapping’ Konstallen-Bohuslans Museum, Modern Painters Winter
- Bick, Andrew, et al. Sight Mapping. Konstallen-Bohuslans Museum, Uddevalla, Sweden (exhibition cat.)
- Thorson, Alice. “Shifting Colors: ‘ColorLove’ presents a gallery of ideas in abstraction,” The Kansas City Star, 29.10: K-1, K-10
- Knight, Christopher. “Surface and Color in Abstract Group Show.” Los Angeles Times, 9 August
- Valdez, Sarah. “Linda Besemer.” Time Out New York, Issue 348, 30 May - 6 June (illustrated)
- "Peeled Paintings," New York Magazine, June 3
- Smith, Roberta. “A Profusion of Painting, Very Much Alive.” The New York Times, May 10
- Ollman, Leah. "Scribes of Precision and Obsession," Los Angeles Times, January 11
- Row, D.K. "Two Hands Clapping: Exhibits at PICA and PAM Complement Each Other," The Oregonian, April 12
- Ellerston, Karin. "New in Town, Reviews," The Portland Mercury, April 25
- 2001
- Pence, Elizabeth. "Everyone’s a Critic: Linda Besemer @ Angles Gallery," Coagula Art Journal, November
- Miles, Christopher. "Linda Besemer," Artforum.com Critics’ Picks/Los Angeles, October (illustrated)
- Frank, Peter. "Linda Besemer, Raymond Saunders," LA Weekly, Art Picks of the Week, October 12-18
- Solomon, Deborah. "Tastemaker, New in Town, Dives into a Caldron," The New York Times, May 2
- Dambrot, Shana Nys. "Inventional at Angles, d’ART International," Winter 2001, Vol ; 4, Number 1: 38-39
- 2000
- Dailey, Meagan. "Glee: Painting Now," ARTFORUM, December
- Tumler, Jan. "90’s Art in Los Angeles," Art + Text, Volume 71: 42-51
- Zimmer, William. "Serious Abstract Paintings with a Non-Serious Message," The New York Times, December 31
- Purple House Ltd., London: 166-167 (illustrated)
- Pagel, David. "Pushing Paint: Luminous," Los Angeles Times, July 28
- Rubinstein, Raphael. "America’s Best," Art in America, July: 39 - 40
- Gamblin, Noriko. "The Next Wave: Painting in Southern California," Escondido Center for the Arts, Escondido, California (exhibition brochure)
- Knight, Christopher. "Catching the Next Wave of Painters," Los Angeles Times, June 20
- Pincus, Robert L. "Next Wave Shows the Versatility and Talent of Southern California," San Diego Union-Tribune, June
- Fark, Bill. "The Next Wave," North County Times, June 2
- "California Artists Show Diversity in Museum Show," North County Times, June 9
- Anderson, Maxwell, Michael Auping, Valerie Cassel, Hugh Davies, Jane Farver, Andrea Miller-Keller, and Lawrence Rinder. Whitney Biennial (2000) .Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (exhibition catalogue).
- Siegel, Katy. "Biennial 2000: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York," Artforum, XXXVIII, No 9, May: 171-173
- Thorson, Alice. "Wit and Whitney: Having Some Fun With Mediums And Materials at the 2000 Biennial Exhibit," Kansas City Star, April 9
- Muchnic, Suzanne. "CAA Unveils Revamped Art Collection With Emphasis on Works by Local Artists," Los Angeles Times, April 19
- Kimmelman, Michael. "A New Whitney Team Makes Its Biennial Pitch," The New York Times, March 24
- Siegal, Katy. "The Max Factor: Whitney Biennial 2000," Artforum, March: 110- 117
- Knight, Christopher. "Not Enough Reasons to Celebrate," Los Angeles Times, March 26
- Hammond, Harmony. Lesbian Art in America. Rizzoli Press
- Richard, Paul. "Whitney Sampler: For Browsers, Biennial 2000 Goes Down Easy, Leaves No Aftertaste," The Washington Post, March 31
- Pagel, David. "CAART: Themes Out of School," The CAA Foundation, Creative Artists Agency, Beverly Hills, CA (exhibition cat.)
- Duncan, Michael. "Linda Besemer at Angles," Art in America, March: 138-139
- Iannaconne, Carmine. "Linda Besemer," frieze, Vol. 51, March
- Gilbert-Rolfe, Jeremy. "Beauty and The Contemporary Sublime (Aesthetics Today)," Allworth Press, February
- Cotter, Holland. "With a Nervy Sense of Today," The New York Times, February 25
- Gluckstern, J. Muscle, Friday Magazine, 2000: 11-12
- Siegel, Katy. "The Long List," Artforum, January
- Hickey, Dave and David Pagel. Ultra Lounge / Color Fields ARTPIX, CD Rom, Houston, Texas
- 1999
- Ferguson, Bruce. "Five Continents and One City: New Paintings from Asia, Europe, North, Central and South America. Palacio de Los Condes de Santiago de Calimaya," Museum of Mexico City, Mexico City, Mexico (exhibition catalogue)
- Wright, Leslie. "RE-Structure," Grinnell College Art Gallery, Bucksbaum Center of the Arts, Dec. (exhibition catalogue)
- Vogel, Carol. "Choosing a Palette of Biennial Artists," The New York Times, December 8
- Pagel, David. "Deep Inconsistency," Los Angeles Times, December 3
- Hickey, Dave. "Best of 90s," Artforum, December
- Thomas, Mary. “Imaginations Burn in Hot Spots.” Pittsburg Post-Gazette, August 14
- Shearin, Graham. New Academic Geography: Three Cities Surveyed in the Center for the Arts, Ticket, July 22
- Grachos, Louis, Bruce Ferguson and David Pagel. Postmark, Santa Fe, NM (exhibition catalogue.)
- Collins, Tom. Look Ma’ No Hands!, Geronimo, March
- Lopez, Ruth. Material Witness, Perspective, March / April
- Rinder, Larry. twistfoldlayerflake, January (exhibition brochure)
- Roche, Harry. twistfoldlayerflake, Artweek, March
- Narwocki, James. twistfoldlayerflake, New Art Examiner, May
- Scheer, Apollinaire. "Prying Our Minds Open: TwistfoldLayerflake," Express, February 1999: 19
- Duncan, Michael. "Testing the Fabric of the Color Field," D'Art International, Winter.
- Brown, Elizabeth. HOT SPOTS: Los Angeles, Houston, Miami , The Weatherspoon Gallery, Greensboro, NC (exhibition brochure)
- 1998
- Gilbert-Rolfe, Jeremy. "Notes on Being Framed By A Surface," ART + TEXT, Summer: 42 - 45
- Gilbert-Rolfe, Jeremy. "Linda Besemer," ART PAPERS, Fall: 29
- Milavanovich, Marco. "Linda Besemer," Art Press International, Fall.
- Pagel, David. "Linda Besemer," Art issues, Summer
- Frank, Peter. "Pick of the Week: Color Fields," LA Weekly, January 8
- Linton, Meg. "Polysemy," Artweek, December.
- Pagel, David. "Color Them Retro," Los Angeles Times, August 16
- 1997
- Pagel, David. "Spot Making Sense," Grand Arts, Kansas City, MI (exhibition catalogue)
- Fleming, Jeff. "Examining the Feminine in Contemporary Painting, South East Center for Contemporary Art," Winston-Salem, NC (exhibition cat.).
- Howell, George. "A Box," ART PAPERS, November - December
- Nichols, Jonathan. "A Picture of Insecurity," Broadsheet (Australia), Vol. 2, No. 3, Spring
- Twardy, Chuck. "Daughters of the Revolution: Contemporary Feminist Painting Reweaves the Old Themes in New Images," News & Observer, July
- Paterson, Tom. "The Ways of Women," Winston-Salem Journal, 27 July.
- Thornson, Alice. "Grand Arts Show Brings Sense and Style to the Summer," Kansas City Star, 4 July
- 1996
- Cutajar, Mario. "Linda Besemer," ART + TEXT, Vol. 54, Summer: 77 - 78
- Pagel, David. "Wet Paint," Los Angeles Times, February 29
- Frank, Peter. "Pick of the Week," L.A. Weekly, March 14
- Curtis, Cathy. "Vertical Inclinations," Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition, September 24
- Blaschy, Barbara D. "Geek Love: Flowers Bloom On and Off the Wall," O.C. Weekly, 20 - 26 September
- Yassein, Edward. "Vision: The William Small Jr. Collection," Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ (exh. cat.)
- Gomez, Pat. "Detachable Stroke #14," Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, CA (exhibition cat.)
- Elesby, Sally. "Action Station: Linda Besemer," Zingmagazine, Fall
- "How We Talk About Abstraction Now: Linda Besemer, David DiMichele and Jonmarc Edwards," ARTWEEK, September
- Anderson, Michael. "A Carafe that is a Blind Glass," Art Issues, Summer
- Jones, Amelia. "A Carafe that is a Blind Glass," Weingart Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (exhibition catalogue)
- Pagel, David. "Smart and Sensuous," Los Angeles Times, February 12
Public Collections
- American Express, New York, NY
- Chase Manhattan, New York, NY
- Creative Artists Agency, Beverly Hills, CA
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
- Panza Collection, Lugano, Switzerland
- Progressive Corporation, New York, NY
- Prudential-Bache Securities, New York, NY
- Sony Corporation, San Francisco, CA
- Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
- The University of Arizona Museum, Tempe, AZ
- Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY