Nathaniel Donnett
Curriculum Vitae
Education
Yale University, Master of Fine Arts, New Haven, CT
Texas Southern University, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2023 -24 Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Dark Imaginarence
University Museum, Houston, TX
2022 To Know a Veil, MCLA Gallery 51, North Adams, MA
Nathaniel Donnett, n. masani landfair/ and/ or/ existence
Cindy Rucker Gallery, New York, NY
2019 Black and Blue, Photos of Four Neighborhoods, Neighborhoods of
Houston, Houston, TX
2018 Turner & Donnett, Nathaniel Donnett, Vadis Turner, Carnegie Center for Art
History, New Albany, IN
2017 In One Form or Another, The Art League Houston, Houston, TX
Can You Afford To Throw That Away?- Houston Community College
Houston, TX
2014 Nothing To See, Hear, Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston
Houston, TX
Alone In My Four Cornered Room, Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT
2013 You Are The One, Redline Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
2012 ZZZzzz, The Art League Houston, Houston, TX,
2011 Holla if You Hear Me; The Vibrational Theory, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL
2010 Black Plastic and the Paper Bag Kids in the Solecistic Playground, Deborah Colton Gallery
Houston, TX 2009 Paper or Plastic? Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
Group Exhibitions
2024 Solid State; a Celebration of the Material World
Sculpture Month Houston, Houston, TX
Space City; Art in the Age of Artemis, Asia Society Texas, Houston, TX
Strangeness, Tone, Translucency, McClain Gallery, Houston, TX
Strange Strings, Cindy Rucker Gallery, New York, NY
2023 AIM Biennial - Miami, FL
Post Hip Hop? or return of the Boom Bap! Sikkema Jenkins & Co, New York, NY
2022 The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse (traveling)
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver, CO
InLight, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA
I Shouted My Laughter to the Stars, Aicon Contemporary, New York, NY
next to a mountain: portals y paisajes, Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL
2021 The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse, (traveling)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, Houston, TX
Shifting the Gaze: A Reconstruction of The Black & Hispanic Body in Contemporary Art Opalka Gallery, Sage Colleges, Albany, NY
In Praise of Shadows, Lyles and King, New York City, NY
Legacy and Rupture, City Gallery, New Haven, CT
2020 Shifting Gaze: A Reconstruction of the Black and Hispanic
Body in Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art,
Virginia Beach, VA
2019 Child's Play: An Exploration of Adolescence, Kemper Museum
of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
The Drawing Room, Artport Gallery, Ontario, Canada
2018 Silos: Art League Houston, Houston, TX
Shifting Gaze: A Reconstruction of the Black and Hispanic Body
in Contemporary Art, The Mennello Museum of American Art
Orlando, FL
Transitory Emplacements, McColl Center, Charlotte, NC
2017 Looking at the overlooked, Ulrich Museum, Wichita, KS
Unmoored Geographies; Works from the Permanent Collection
Ulrich Museum, Wichita, KS
2016 Silos, Glass Curtain Gallery, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Il
Silos, American University Museum at The Katzen Arts Center,
Washington, D.C.
2015 Here's Looking Back at You: Mana Contemporary Arts Museum; Jersey
City, NJ
The One and the Many: A Self-Portrait in Seven Parts, Project Row
Houses, Houston, TX
Piece by Piece; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas
City, MO
Venturing Out of the Heart of Darkness, Harvey B. Gantt Art Center
for African American Arts and Culture, Charlotte, NC
2014 Black in the Abstract, Part 2; Hard Edges/Soft Lines, Contemporary
Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX
Black Identity in America, LH Horton Jr Gallery, Stockton, CA
2013 Coming Through The Gap, University Museum, Houston, TX
2011 Alpha's Bet Is Not Over Yet The New Museum, New York, NY
Performances
2018 I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You; Black Vernacular
Art League Houston, Houston, TX
2017 I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You; Black Vernacular- Wichita
University, Wichita, KS
2015 No Vacancies Outside of the Tortoise Shell, Project Row Houses, Houston, TX
Project Row Houses, No Vacancies Outside the Tortoise Shell-Art Talk
Non-Talk, Houston, TX
2014 In Memory Of...; Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, Houston, TX
2014 Give The Drummer Some: Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX
2013 S.O.U.L.A. Press Conference: The University Museum, Houston, TX
2012 Last Stage of Sleep; The Art League of Houston, Houston, TX
The Visitor; The Art League of Houston, Houston, TX
Projects
2020- 2023 - Acknowledgment, Houston, TX
2011- 2020 - Founder - Publisher, What's The New News, Houston, TX
2014-2018 - Founder, Not That But This - Website Blog
Public Commissions
2020 Acknowledgement; The Historical Polyrhythm of Being(s),
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX
2019 What's The New News, Fresh Arts Houston, Houston, TX
2018 What's The New News, Project Row Houses, Houston, TX
2017 Walking Tour Public Art Installations, Public Row Houses
Houston, TX
2015 Houston Downtown Vehicular Wayfinding Sign Project,
Houston, TX
Awards/ Grants/ Fellowships
2024-25 University of Houston, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fellow
Scholar in Residence, Houston, TX
2024 American Academy of Rome Affiliated Fellow, Rome, Italy
2022 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, New York, NY
Support for Artists and Creative Individuals Grant
Houston Arts Alliance, Houston, TX
2021 Helen Frankenthaler Scholarship, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2020 Art and Social Justice Initiative Grant, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2020 Dean's Critical Practice Research Grant, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2019 Fresh Arts Houston Commission/ What's The New News, Houston, TX
2018 Project Row House Commission/ What's The New News, Houston, TX
2017 Individual Artist Grant, Houston Arts Alliance, Houston, TX
2015 The Wayfinding Sign Project, Downtown Management District, Houston, TX
2015 Idea Fund, The Andy Warhol Foundation, Houston, TX
2014 Harpo Foundation New Work Project Grant, Los Angeles, CA
2011 Individual Artist Grant, Houston Arts Alliance, Houston, TX
2011 The Idea Fund, The Andy Warhol Foundation, Houston, TX
2010 Artadia Grant Award, New York, NY, Houston, TX
Residencies
2024 - 25 University of Houston, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fellow
Scholar in Residence, Houston, TX
2024 American Academy of Rome Affiliated Fellowship Residency, Rome, Italy
Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL
2023 International Studio & Curatorial Program Residency, Brooklyn, NY
2022 Bemis Center Residency, Omaha, NE, MCLA Artist Lab North Adams, MA
2021 Hermitage Artist Retreat, Englewood, FL
2016 Centraltrak, Dallas, TX
2013 Redline, Milwaukee, WI
Art Talks - Lectures - Discussions
2024 Rhode Island School of Design - Glass Department, Providence, RI
University of Houston - Painting Department Houston, TX
2023 International Studio and Curatorial Program with Dana Robinson, Shanekia McIntosh
moderator Allison Glenn, New York, NY
2022 Clark Art Institute, Roundtable on Blackness as a Multifaceted Experience
with Joshua AM Ross, Conrad Egyir, & Moderator Caroline Fowler, Williamstown, MA
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Closing Lecture, moderator Erica Wall
North Adams, MA
Eastern Connecticut State University, Moderator Lindsay Mancini, Willimantic, CT
Opalka Gallery, Russell Sage College, Moderator Judie Gilmore, Albany, NY
2021 Yale School of Art, Power and Possibilities, with Maria de Los Angeles
Moderator Lindsay Mancini, New Haven, CT
2018 Art League Houston, Erasure, Visibility, and Activation Discussion Panel
Moderator Akua Holt, Houston, TX
Art League Houston, The Homeplace Aesthetic, Speaker Andrea Roberts
2015 Ulrich Museum, (art talk performance) I Can Show You Better Than I Can Tell You; Black
Central Trak, Dallas, TX
Kemper Museum, (art talk performance) Kansas City, MO
2014 Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX
2010 The Artist’s Eye, The Menil Museum, Houston, TX
Bibliography
2024 Robert Sweeney, Digital Visual Art Education: Making, Learning
and Teaching with Digital Media, May 9
When We Were Twenty - Five, Artadia, May 4
Burnaway Staff, Close Look, Atlanta, GA, Feb 17
Terrance Turner, TSU Alumnus Nathaniel Donnett Presents
Multimedia Art Exhibition, Terrance Turner, Mar 27
2023 Nathaniel Donnett, Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Dark Imaginarence
Houston, TX, Dec 2
Peter Warren, New art exhibit at Texas Southern inspired by man
who almost became the first Black astronaut, Houston Chronicle
Houston, TX, Dec 21
Kathleen Coleman, Exploring the Cosmos of Blackness
Houston Style Magazine, Houston, TX, Dec 19
Sikkema Jenkins and Co., Post Hip - Hop? or return of the Boom Bap!
Sikkema Jenkins & Co Gallery, New York, NY, Jul 10
Michael Corris, Nathaniel Donnett, Massachussetts College of Liberal Arts Gallery 51
Artforum, Print, North Adams, MA, March 1
Stacy J. Pratt, The Dirty South Comes to Denver, Hyperallergic, Denver, CO, Jan 13
2022 Greta Jochem, Guggenheim Fellow Nathaniel Donnett exchanged backpacks
with students in North Berkshire, The Berkshire Eagle, North Adams, MA, Apr 28
Jillian Currier, Artist Brings Backpack Exchange for New Project
The Online Beacon, North Adams, MA, Mar 2.
Amarie Gipson, The South Speaks, Rice Design Alliance, Houston, TX, Jun 5
Michael McFadden, The South's Got Something to Say: Dirty South at CAMH
Arts and Culture Texas, Houston, TX, Jan 22.
2021 Valerie Cassel Oliver, The Dirty South Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and
the Sonic Impulse, Richmond, VA, Sept, 6
Molly Glentzer, Black Southern Music and Art Merge in "The Dirty South"
Texas Monthly, Houston, TX, Dec 6.
Holland Cotter, Art Meets Its Soundtrack Deep in The Dirty South,
New York Times, New York, NY, Jul 15.
Indiana Nash, "Shifting Gaze" at Opalka Gallery in Albany breaks boundaries about identity
and culture, The Daily Gazette, Albany, NY, Nov 13.
Lindsey Mancini, Sculptural Infrastructure, Cosmic Altar, Nathaniel
Donnett installs "Sub Woofer" for the city of New Haven, New Haven, CT, Aug 27.
William Jaeger, Opalka's terrific " Shifting Gaze" exhibit tackles perceptions, Albany, NY
Lucy Gellman, At City Gallery, Seven Black Artists Bridge Past and Present
New Haven Arts, New Haven, CT, May 17.
2020 Willie J. Wright, Acknowledging Histories of the Present, Sugarcane magazine, Miami, FL, Oct 3.
Percival Everett, Middlegame, N plus 1 magazine # 37, Brooklyn, NY, Mar 20.
2019 Shannon Fitzgerald, Shifting Gaze; A Reconstruction of the Black
& Hispanic Body in Contemporary Art, Mennello Museum of American Art, Orlando, FL, Jan 13.
2018 McFadden, Michael, News as Political Performance,
Experimental Action, Houston, TX, Feb 23.
Middendorf, Paul, Here Are Five Houston Creatives Who Should
Be On Your Radar In 2018, Free Press Houston, Houston, TX, Jan 22.
2017 Gregory, Casey, Show Up: Nathaniel Donnett, Art and Culture TX, Houston, TX, Dec 17
Glentzer, Molly, Nathaniel Donnett's work has an inner glow, Dec 17
that opens the windows to the soul, Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Dec 20.
2016 Claire C. Carter; New American Paintings # 126, Boston, MA, Oct 12.
Bill Arning, Up Close: Houston Loves Eccentrics, Art in America, New York, NY, Jun 2
2015 Lauren Cornell; Mass Effect: Art and the Internet in the Twenty-First
Century; Critical Anthologies in Art and Culture; New York, NY, Oct 23.
Martine Syms, Stages of Laughter, Art in America, New York, NY, Jun 24.
John Plueker, The One and the Many: A Self Portrait in Seven Parts, ArtForum,
Houston, TX, May 29.
Nancy Wonzy Performia: The Artist Talk as Theater, Arts and Culture Texas, Houston, TX, Jul 7.
Molly Glentzer, Project Row Houses Artist Create A Universal "Self -Portrait, Houston Chronicle
Houston, TX, May 14,
Valerie Cassell Oliver Right Here, Right Now: Nothing To See,
Hear,The Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, Houston, TX, Dec 14.
2014 Valerie Casell Oliver, Outside the Lines, The Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston
Houston, TX, Dec 21.
Olivia Flores Alvarez, "100 Creatives", Houston Press, Dec, Houston, TX, Dec 24.
Molly Glentzer, "A Show That's Close To Home", Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, Sept 15.
2013 Curtis L. Carter, "Your're Are the One", Shepard Express Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, May 06.
2012 Carrie Marie Schneider, Nathaniel Donnett, "ZZZzzz", Glasstire, Dec 17.
Virginia Billeaud Anderson, A Visit wth Nathaniel Donnett, "A Visit with Nathaniel Donnett"
The Great God Pan is Dead, Houston, TX, Dec 17.
2011 Steffani Jemison, Quincy Flowers, Otabenga Jones, "The Book Club Book", Houston, TX
Chicago Reader- "Messin With Texas", June, Chicago, IL, Jun 27.
Madame J- "My Mind's Playing Tricks On Me", March, New York, NY, Jun 13.
2010 Dr. Charles Rowell, Excerpts from Interview, Callaloo, Volume 33- Number 3, Mar 20.
Documentaries
2018 What's The New News Documentary, Produced by Nathaniel Donnett
& Brenda Cruz Wolf, 27 min
2014 Rhythm in Black, filmed by Paige Polk & Lydia Smith, 11 min
2008 Life Artist, by the Awakenings Movement, 5 min
Public Collections
Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS
Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT
Microsoft Arts Collection, Dallas, TX
Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection -The Bunker, West Palm Beach, FL
The Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation, Jersey City, NJ
The Nicholson Foundation, Newark, NJ
The Richard and Ellen Sandor Foundation, Chicago, IL