BLITHE RILEY

Biography

Blithe Riley is an artist working in video, performance & installation. Her work investigates how systems of repetition regulate human behavior. Riley received a BFA from Alfred School of Art and Design in 1999, and an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2005 where she taught courses in video and performance. In 2009 she was a resident of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. From 2002-2004 she was a founding member of the amateur feminist dance troupe, The Pink Bloque. Her work has screened nationally & internationally at venues such as the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The Kitchen, Roulette, Broadway 1602 Gallery and Monkeytown in New York City, The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and The European Media Arts Festival in Germany. She has taught classes at Columbia College Chicago, Parsons, and George Washington University. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Riley also makes performance-based video installations with artist Mary Coble. Their collaboration is represented by Conner Contemporary Art in Washington, DC.

 

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contact: beriley [at] gmail [dot] com

EDUCATION
2009 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME
2005 MFA in Art, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
1999 BFA Honors in Art, Alfred School of Art and Design, Alfred, NY

EXHIBITIONS/ SCREENINGS
2011
Bridges, Trees, Skulls, Pies and Other Treasure Trails, Nars Foundation, Brooklyn, NY [group]

Reading is Another Form of Height, Waffle Shop Billboard, Pittsburgh, PA [public art]

Slippery Slope, Capital Skyline, with Mary Coble, Washington, DC curated by Janet Biggs [screening]

Ascension/Immersion (solo), Collaboration with Mary Coble, Conner Contemporary Art, Washington, DC

APOCRYPHA: Work by Kenseth Armstead, Dahlia Elsayed and Blithe Riley, Ironworks Gallery, Orange, NJ

The Edna Experiments (solo), Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ

2010
Sweet Jesus, Lemp Brewery, Collaboration with Mary Coble, St. Louis, MO [installation]

SPARK: Festival of Electronic Music and Art, Collaboration with Mary Coble, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis [installation]

I Know What You Did Last Summer, Brooklyn, NY  [installation]

Paper Moon, Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ

Market Estate Project, Collaboration with Mary Coble, London, UK [installation]

Synthetic Zero, Collaboration with Mary Coble, BronxArtSpace, Bronx, NY [installation]

2009
IAN EPPS and Blithe Riley + ( ) + ANDREW WEATHERS, Monkey Town, Brooklyn, NY [performance]

The Green Cube, Collaboration with Mary Coble, Skowhegan, ME [installation]

Open Studios Skowhegan, Skowhegan, ME [screening]

2008
Make, Shift, Home, SPACE Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA [group show]

Performance Laboratory, Broadway 1602, New York, NY [performance/screening]

Half of the People Are Stoned and the Other Half Are Waiting for the Next Election, Light Industry curated by Nick Hallet, Brooklyn, NY [screening]

Space, Monkey Town, Brooklyn, NY [performance/screening]

Pink Bloque Revisited, PS1 MoMA, Long Island City, NY [screening/presentation]

2007
Flow, Diasapon Gallery, New York, NY [video accompanying live music by ian epps]

Google Earth Formalized, Roulette Performance Space, New York, NY [performance]

Belief Objects, Brooklyn College Art Lab, Brooklyn NY [screening/talk]

2006
Oh the Weight of it All!, Rooftop Video Installation, Brooklyn, NY [site-specific installation]

Somewhere on Walker, I Await Your Winsome, 32 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY [screening]

LMCC Open House, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY [screening]

2005
Live Video Karaoke!, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA [performance]

[BRA] Video Festival, Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh, PA [screening]

Too Far Gone, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Regina Miller Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA [performance/installation]

Busted Screening of DIY Media: The Red State Tour, [screening]
• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Appalshop, Whitesburgh, Kentucky; Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, Nebraska; Mitten Gallery, Charlottsville, North Carolina

2004
Film Kitchen, Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Pittsburgh, PA [screening]

Groupe Intervention Video, Montreal, Canada [screening]

On Guard, Ellis Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA [video performance]

2003
Yellow: Picking up after the Victorian, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA [video performance]

Pink Bloque: We’re ready for our Close Up, Version>03 Festival, Chicago, IL [workshop]

Complete Freshness, Future Tenant Project Space, Pittsburgh, PA [video installation]

Trans-Appalachian Tractor Pull, Future Tenant, Pittsburgh, PA [video installation]

2002
Not Still Art Festival, Micro Museum, New York City, NY [screening]

Hay! Market Research, Hay Market Square, Chicago, IL [street performance]

2001
Transmissions Festival 004, Chopin Theater, Chicago IL [screening]

2000
Broken Space, Open End Gallery, Chicago, IL [video installation]

1999
Prominence: New Faces in Video, Hallwalls Art Center, Buffalo, NY [screening]

1998
European Media Arts Festival, Osnabrueck, Germany [screening]

Upstate Video History Conference, Syracuse University, NY [screening]

RESIDENCIES

2010

Market Estate Project, London, UK
Institute for Electronic Arts, Alfred, NY
Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ

2009
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME
Experimental Television Center, Owego, NY

2007
Artlink Residency in Kucevo, Serbia
Brooklyn College Community Partnership Artist Residency, Brooklyn, NY

2006
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Swing Space Program, New York City, NY

2004
The Kitchen Summer Institute, New York City, NY

2000/2001
The Experimental Television Center, Owego, NY

1999
Techne And Eros, Santa Fe Media Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM

AWARDS
2009
Fellowship, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture

2007
Travel Award from Serbian American Embassy

2006
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Swing Space Grant, New York, NY

2003/ 04/ 05
Graduate Student Project Award, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Graduate Scholarship, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

1999
Thayer Fellowship, New York State Arts Grant, Albany, NY

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Summer 2007 Artist Talk, American Embassy in Serbia

Fall 2006 Visiting Artist, Saint Mary’s College, St. Mary’s City, Maryland

WORK EXPERIENCE

2009/2008

New York Underground Film Festival, Screening Committee, New York, NY

Spring 2009

Adjunct Professor, Parsons School of Design, Adjunct Professor, New York, NY

• Video Production

Fall 2008

Adjunct Professor, George Washington University, Washington D.C

Digital Media Arts I, Social Web Design

2005-Present

Creative Capital Foundation Technical Services Manager

• Maintain organization website, manage all foundation software and hardware

2000-Present

Video Data Bank, Chicago, IL

• Editor and Project Coordinator On Art and Artists Collection (http://www.vdb.org)

2006-2007

Organizer for Feedback: The Video Data Bank, Video Art, and Artist Interviews (http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_media/2007/Feedback.html)

• Co-organized 11 series program for MoMA with Sally Berger, Assistant Curator of Film/Video

2002- 2005

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

•Teaching Assistant

- Advanced Video, Concept Studio II (Wood), Physical Computing, Live Video Performance

Press Play Video Series, Pittsburgh, PA

• Series Curator/ Organizer

2001

Ladyfest Midwest, Chicago, IL

• Festival Organizer/ Curator/ Web Design

Transmissions Festival, Chicago, IL

• Festival Organizer/ Curator

Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL

• Visiting Faculty, beginning web design

2000

Assistant to Tom Weinburg, Chicago, IL

• Catalogued and organized personal video collection including TVTV tapes, Image Union, & the 90’s show

1999

FAVU School of Fine Arts, Brno, Czech Republic

• Visiting Faculty/ Lecturer, led a course on Image/ine software

1998

Cremaster 2, directed by Mathew Barney, New York City, NY

• Production Intern

Electronic Arts Intermix, New York City, NY

• Technical Intern

1997-99

Alfred School of Art and Design, Alfred, NY

• Video Department Studio Assistant