NEWS
I am excited to announce that my new artist book, Every Contact Leaves a Trace, will be available at Tom Lecky’s Riverrun Books & Manuscripts booth (A9) at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, April 4 - 7th at the Park Avenue Armory.
Staged Geometries will be at the CODEX Book Art Fair, Feb 4-7 at the Henry Kaiser Center in Oakland, CA., Table, W39. Published by DeMerritt Pauwels Editions, and bound by master bookbinder John DeMerritt, Staged Geometries is a deconstructed artist book, theater piece and interactive experience.
I’m excited to have works from In/Direct Alignments, a new series that combines ceramics and photographs, in the exhibition, From the Studios: Amelia Konow + Paula McCartney, at Euqinom Gallery in San Francisco. On view through August 26.
I’m honored to announce that I received the 2023 Paula Riff Award. Many thanks to the Center for Photographic Art, juror Douglas Marshall and the dynamic artist, Paula Riff, who this award honors the work and memory of each year. Excited to have a feature on these works and an interview about my practice on Lenscratch!
Staged Geometries, published by DeMerritt Pauwels Editions, was acquired by The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA.
New work made last summer in Hawaii and at my artist residency at Hambidge can be seen in the The 2020 & 2021 McKnight Book Artist Fellows exhibition at MCBA in Minneapolis from Jan 21-April 1. Every Contact Leaves A Trace includes an artist book, ceramic sculpture and marbled paper. The closing reception is on March 31 from 6-8pm.
Eight new photograph+ceramic works are included in Surface Tension, an exhibition of photographic installations by Sophia Chai, Paula McCartney, Christine Nguyen, and Letha Wilson. Olson Gallery, Bethel University through Dec 16. Curated by Michelle Westmark Wingard with essay by Lex Thompson.
Two works from Bird Watching are included in Beyond the Frame at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, on view through Oct 30. This exhibition spotlights the MoCP’s permanent collection as a rich resource for harnessing visual literacy skills.
Vessel was acquired for the Rosemary Furtak Artist Book Collection at the Walker Art Center.
I will be an artist in residence at The Hambidge Center in July.
About
Paula McCartney makes artist books, photographs, and ceramics that illustrate her collaborations with the natural world and consider ways that light activates both objects and environments. She has received fellowships in both Artist Books and Photography from the McKnight Foundation and grants from Women’s Studio Workshop, the Aaron Siskind Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board. McCartney’s photographs have been exhibited nationally at venues including the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Her books are included in the artist book collections of the Walker Art Center, Museum of Modern Art, Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University, Getty Research Institute, among many others. She has two published monographs Bird Watching and A Field Guide to Snow and Ice. She holds an MFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute and a certificate in Creative Studies from the International Center for Photography, NYC. She currently lives and works in Minneapolis.
CV
Selected Exhibitions
From the Studios: Amelia Konow + Paula McCartney, Euqinom Gallery, SF, CA, 2023
McKnight Book Arts Fellows, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN, 2023
Beyond the Frame, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, 2022
Walk the Line, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME, 2022
Surface Tension, Olson Gallery, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN, 2022
Don’t let this be easy, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, 2021
Keeper of the Hearth, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX, 2020
Alignments: Paula McCartney and Melanie Pankau, University of Minnesota Architecture Library, Minneapolis, MN, 2019
Chronicled in Clay: Ceramics and the Art of the Story, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN, 2019
Hide the Sun, Soo Visual Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, 2018 (SOLO)
New Territory: Landscape Photography Today, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, 2018
Avifauna: Birds + Habitat, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY, 2018
Bird Watching, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, 2017 (SOLO)
Collections in Conversation: Photobooks at the Arts & Beinecke Libraries, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 2016
100+: A Photograph for Every Year of the MIA, Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN, 2015–16
Golden Hour: Thoughts on the Contemporary Photo Book, Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA, 2015–16
A Field Guide to Snow and Ice, Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2015 (SOLO)
The Book In Extremis, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN, 2015
The Singing and the Silence: Birds in Contemporary Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, 2014–15
Reading Room, Kiehle Gallery, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN, 2015 (SOLO)
A Field Guide to Snow and Ice, Klompching Gallery, Brooklyn, NY 2014 (SOLO)
The Explores Club (Paula McCartney and Lex Thompson), Schaeffer Gallery, Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN, 2013
10x10 American Photobooks, Tokyo Institute of Photography, Tokyo, Japan, 2013
Bird Watching, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 2012 (SOLO)
Terra Cognita, Noorderlicht Photofestival, Museum Belvédère, Oranjewoud, Netherlands, 2012
A Field Guide to Snow and Ice, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN, 2011 (SOLO)
Beautiful Vagabonds: Birds in Contemporary Photography, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, NY, 2011
Le Garage Photography + Artist Books, Second Edition, Recontres d’Arles, Arles, France, 2011
Bird Watching, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, 2010 (SOLO)
Bird Watching, Klompching Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2010 (SOLO)
Interpreting Nature, A Collection of Artist Books, Central Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, NY, 2010 (SOLO)
Daylight/Center for Documentary Studies Photo Awards, Center for Documentary Studies, Durham, NC, 2010
31 Women in Art Photography, Affirmation Arts Foundation, New York, NY, 2010
Between History and Memory, Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN, 2009
Human Nature, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX, 2009
Ornithological Interpretations, Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN, 2008 (SOLO)
Looking at Birds, Contemporary Art Galleries, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 2008
Photo Books Now, The San Francisco Center for the Book, SF, CA, 2006
Midwestern Views: Contemporary Photography in Minnesota, Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China, 2006
Bird Watching, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY, 2005 (SOLO)
Selected Collections
The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
The Center for Book Arts, New York, NY
Clarke Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ingalls Library, Cleveland, OH
Deutsche Bank, New York, NY
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Fleet Library, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA
Indiana University at Bloomington, Fine Arts Library, Bloomington, IN
Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
Mills College, Oakland, CA
Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, Art Artists’ Book Library, New York, NY
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Schmidt Artist Lofts, St. Paul, MN
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
St. John’s University, Alcuin Library, Collegeville, MN
Trinity College, Enders Ornithology Collection, Hartford, CT
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan
Twitter Corporate Collection, San Francisco, CA
University of California, Los Angeles, Arts Library, Los Angeles, CA
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Walker Art Center, Rosemary Furtak Artist Book Collection Minneapolis, MN
Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book Library, New Haven, CT
Awards
Paula Riff Award, 2023
McKnight Artist Fellowship for Book Arts, 2020
Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant, 2017, 2015, 2012, 2010
McKnight Artist Fellowship for Photographers, 2013, 2007
Critical Mass Top 50, Photolucida, 2012
Daylight/Center for Documentary Studies Photo Award, 2010
Women’s Studio Workshop Artist’s Book Production Grant, 2005
Individual Photographer’s Fellowship Grant, Aaron Siskind Foundation, 2004
Monographs
A Field Guide to Snow and Ice with an essay by Mark Alice Durant (New York: Silas Finch, 2014)
Bird Watching with essays by Karen Irvine and Darius Himes (New York: Princeton Architectural Press & Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Photography, 2010)
Publications
Odette England, Keeper of the Hearth: Picturing Roland Barthes’ Unseen Photography (Amsterdam: Schilt Publishing, 2020)
Sarah Urist Green, You Are an Artist: Assignments to spark creation (New York: Penguin Books, 2020)
Eric Paddock, New Territory Landscape Photography Today (Denver: Denver Art Museum, 2018)
Co-Curate Magazine, no. 3: Home Living, curated by A-Jump Books, 2018
And light followed the flight of sound (Williamsburg: One Day Projects, 2018)
"Lisa McCarty interview with Paula McCartney,” Aint-Bad, no. 12: Curator’s Choice, Fall 2017
Matthew Carson, Russet Lederman, Olga Yatskevich, 10x10 American Photobooks (New York: 10x10 Photobooks & Bookdummy Press, 2013)
Mystery Spot 2: Nature’s Nation (Minneapolis: Mystery Spot Books, 2012)
Vanessa Kramer, Jon Feinstein, and Amani Olu, The Collector’s Guide to New Art Photography Vol. 2 (New York: Humble Arts Foundation, 2011)
Darius Hines and Mary Virginia Swanson, Publish Your Photography Book (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2011)
Conveyor Magazine, no. 3: Smoke and Mirrors, Edited by Christina Labey, 2012
6x6: Erika Larsen, Paula McCartney, Dave Jordano, Ian Wolstenholme, Sasha Rudensky, Shawn Records (Johannesburg: Society of Photographers, 2008)
Selected Press
“Paula McCartney,” Der Greif, January 16, 2019
“Paula McCartney A Field Guide to Ice and Snow,” analog magazine, March 5, 2018
Satori, no. 1, Spring 2017, pp. 16–23
Paula McCartney: Construct a Landscape, The Art Assignment, Sarah Urist Green, PBS Digital Studios, 2017
Photographer’s Quarterly, no. 4, edited by Jonathan Blaustein, 2016
Allie Haeusslein, “A Field Guide to Snow and Ice,” photo-eye blog, January 2015
Emma Kisiel, “Paula McCartney’s Photographic Twist on Bird-Watching,” feature shoot, July 3, 2014
Susan Burstine, “American Connection: Paula McCartney,” Black + White Photography, no. 171, 2014, pp. 22–3
Landscape Stories, no. 15: Mountains, edited by Gianpaolo Arena, 2014
Ryan Call, “Consider the Buzzard,” nasty magazine, no. 4, Winter 2014, pp. 55–64
Saint Lucy, edited by Mark Alice Durant, 2014
Emma Kisiel, “Paula McCartney,” Muybridge’s Horse, May 12, 2014
Haydens Ferry Review, no. 51: In the Dark, 2012, pp. 21–4
“The Silent Language,” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, no. 1, vol. 22, Fall 2012
Elizabeth Biondi, “On and Off the Walls: Flights of Fancy”, New Yorker Photo Booth Blog, April 14, 2010
Madeline Yale, “Human Nature,” spot magazine, Fall 2009, pp. 4–10
Practice: New Writing + Art, Issue 1, Spring 2006, pp. 63–8
Visiting Artist Lectures and Residencies
Distinguished Fellow, Artist in Residence, Hambidge, Rabun Gap, GA, 2022
MFA in Visual Art Lecturer & Visiting Artist, Institute of Art and Design at New England College Manchester, NH, 2022
Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN, 2021
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, 2017
PhotoAlliance Visiting Artist Lecture, San Francisco, CA, 2016
Penumbra Foundation, New York, NY, 2015
12th Encuentro de Fotografia, ConArte, Monterrey, Mexico, 2014
University of Bowling Green, Bowling Green, OH, 2012
Society for Photographic Education Conference, Lightwork, Syracuse, NY, 2010
Ampersand Club at the Walker Art Center Library, Minneapolis, MN, 2008
Artist in Residence, Minnesota Center for the Book, Minneapolis, MN, 2006
Teaching and Workshops
Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Adjunct Faculty, Minneapolis, MN, 2007-present
Penumbra Foundation, Photo-based Artists’ Books Workshop, 2024, 2021
Filter Photo, Photobook Workshop, Chicago, IL, October 2017
College of Visual Arts, Adjunct Faculty, St. Paul, MN, 2008-13
Education
MFA in Photography, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA, 2002
BA in Photography, Empire State College, New York, NY, 1998
Creative Practices Program, International Center of Photography, New York, NY, 1996