Artist Statement
My paintings grow out of an intuitive process of layering—adding, subtracting, and responding to marks as they emerge. Drawn to pattern and rhythm, I begin without a fixed image in mind, allowing line, color, and gesture to accumulate in a kind of visual improvisation. Marks, looping forms, and shifting fields of color create a visual pulse that moves across the surface. As the painting develops, the process becomes more analytical as I decide what to emphasize, soften, or erase, allowing the painting to find its own balance—sometimes dense and turbulent, sometimes spare and meditative. The paintings explore what emerges when structure and spontaneity meet. My hope is to create complex spatial and emotional experiences that invite viewers to look and imagine at the same time. www.CarolBivins.com
Biography
Carol Bivins is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work can be found in private collections in the U.S. and in the United Kingdom. Growing up in a small midwestern town, she moved to New York and began pursuing her artistic career. After spending many years in NYC and Los Angeles and working in theater, television and appearing in such films as “Defending Your Life” and “Groundhog Day,” she moved to the Southwest. Seeking a creative outlet, Carol turned to an old hobby, ceramics. Dissatisfaction with glazing results propelled her to investigate drawing and painting. After working on her own for over a year, she took her first painting workshop at the Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque. Finding that experience exciting and rewarding, she followed it by enrolling in fine art classes at the University of New Mexico.
Looking for new energy, adventure and inspiration, she relocated to Colorado in 2017. Since then, Carol’s artwork has been juried into exhibitions from coast to coast and appeared in Artsy Magazine as part of the Minimalism exhibition at Shockboxx Gallery in CA and was included in the Los Angeles exhibition “photoLA 2020,” a collection of portraits of LA Artists and Others by fine art photographer, Jeffrey Sklan. In 2021 she was featured in VoyageLA, an online arts and culture publication in Los Angeles. In 2025, she was awarded an “Honorable Mention” in the I Love New York exhibition hosted by Agora Gallery in NYC and most recently, she exhibited her work in the 63rd Annual Juried Competition at the Masur Museum in Monroe, LA, where she received an Honorable Mention.
Always influenced by the environment around her, painting provides her as a means of wrestling with and expressing her emotional reactions to the world at large. Her process-driven, intuitively developed abstract works investigate both the play and the tension created by marks, gesture, line and color as they compete for pride of place on the canvas.
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
University of New Mexico 2010-2012
Workshops: Margi Weir, Lauren Mantecon, Nicholas Wilton Private Study: Leslie Ayers, Natalie Voelker
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Carol Bivins : Paintings on Paper, RPO Gallery, Denver, CO
2024 City O' City, Denver, CO
2024 Rhythym and Repetition: The Palimpsest Paintings, Blo Back Gallery, Pueblo, CO 2023 Back in Black, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO
2023 Colorphrenia, Blo Back Gallery, Pueblo, CO
2021 Ten : Works on Paper, The Annex, Denver, CO
2017 Gang of Seven, Zendo Artspace, Albuquerque, NM
SELECTED GROUP AND JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2026 Juried exhibition, On Edge 2026, Edge Gallery, Lakewood, CO. Juror: David Dadone, Executive Director + Chief Curator of the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoA) 2026 Juried exhibition, Red, White and Blue, CORE New Art Space, Lakewood, CO 2026 Group exhibition, Between Rhythm and Shape, 360 Gallery, Denver, CO
2026 Group exhibition, 4 Play, Black Book Gallery, Englewood, CO
2026 Juried exhibition, 63rd Annual Juried Competition, Masur Museum , Monroe, LA 2026 Invitational charity auction, ARTMA, Centennial, CO 2025 Invitational exhibition, Living Tradition: Past. Present. Future.Colorado Women Artists, The Capitol Building, Denver, CO, sponsored by the WCACO 2025 Group exhibition, Between Here and There, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO
2025 Juried exhibition, Lone Tree Arts Expo - 2025, Lone Tree Arts Center, Lone Tree, CO
2025 Juried exhibition, New York, I Love You, Agora Gallery, NYC
2025 Juried exhibition, Drawing Resistance, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
2024 Group exhibition, Expanded Horizons, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO
2024 Juried exhibition, Seed, BRDG Project Gallery, Denver, CO
2024 Juried exhibition, On Edge 2024, Edge Gallery, Lakewood, CO
2024 Juried exhibition, 40th Annual Best of Colorado, Depot Art Gallery, Littleton, CO
2024 Juried exhibition online, Monochrome Explored, Site:Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
2024 Juried exhibition, Art in B &W 24, 3 Square Art Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
2024 Juried exhibition, Explorations in Monochromatic Art, Benicia Arts Center, Benicia, CA
2024 Juried exhibition, Emerald: Celebrating 20 Years In The Arts, Webster Arts Center, St. Louis, MO 2024 Juried exhibition, BLACK, WHITE or GRAY, 2024, Las Lagunas Art Gallery, Las Lagunas, CA 2023 Juried exhibition, 10th Annual Living Mark, Verum Ultimatum Gallery, Portland, OR
2023 Juried exhibition, Lone Tree Art Expo, Lone Tree Art Center, Lone Tree, CO
2023 Invitational fundraiser, One Square Foot, Redline Contemporary Art Center, Denver, CO
2023 Group exhibition, Yellow, Artist Space Gallery, Online Exhibition
2023 Juried exhibition, Co-Curator and Exhibitor, Taking Up Space, Curtis Center for the Arts, Greenwood Village, CO Jurors: Autumn T. Thomas, artist and Genevieve Waller, founder of DARIA Magazine
2023 Group exhibition, Essentially D'art, Fourth Anniversary Exhibition, D'art Gallery, Denver, CO 2023 Juried exhibition, TRUTH, 2nd Annual Exhibition, Blo Back Gallery, Pueblo, CO
2023 Juried exhibition, Living Tradition, Taza Gallery, Brighton, CO
2022 Invitational fundraiser, Art In The Round - BRDG Project Contemporary Art Gallery, Denver, CO 2022 Juried exhibition, SeeMe, Sasse Musuem of Art, Pomona, CA
2022 Juried exhibition, Holy Moly, What's Next?, Niza Knoll Gallery, Denver, CO 2022 Member exhibition, Small Works, Big Ideas, WCACO, 40 West Arts, Lakewood, CO 2022 Duo exhibition, Mystery and Metaphor, Blo Back Gallery, Pueblo, CO
2022 Group exhibition, D'Art Gallery Third Anniversary Exhibition, D'Art Gallery, Denver, CO 2022 Group exhibition, The Truth Show, Blo Back Gallery, Pueblo, CO 2022 Group exhibition, One Square Foot, REACH fundraiser, Redline Contemporary Art Center, Denver, CO 2022 Juried exhibition, #9 Annual Abstract Sanctuary, Verum Ultimatum Art Gallery, Portland, OR
2022 Juried exhibition, Monochromatic: One Color, Infinite Possibilities, O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA
2022 Juried exhibition, Herstory 2022, Manhattan Arts International, New York, NY
2022 Juried exhibition, Celebrating Color, RIWS, Pawtucket, RI
2022 Member exhibition, Over Under Further Forever, WCACO, Core New Art Space, Lakewood, CO 2021 Group exhibition, Colorado Women's Hall of Fame, Reframing Herstory, DAC, Denver, CO 2021 Juried exhibition, Black & White Winter, R Gallery, Boulder, CO
2021 Juried exhibition, Spot On #2, D'Art Gallery, Santa Fe Arts District, Denver, CO; Juror: Dr. Gwen Chanzit, curator emerita of modern art and the Herbert Bayer Collection and Archive at the Denver Art Museum.
2021 Group exhibition, WEAR ORANGE : Art Exhibit Against Gun Violence, Doris Madsen Gallery, Easthampton City, MA
2021 Juried exhibition, Art Against Racism: Memorial.Monument.Movement, (permanent archive) Visual Culture Gallery, New Jersey
2021 Juried exhibition, Wreck - oning, Cade Gallery, AACC, Arnold, MD
2021 Juried exhibition, Beautiful Possibilities, Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor, WI; Juror: Elizabeth Meissner-Gigstead, Executive Director of the Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, WI
2021 Juried exhibition, Viral Influence: Art in the Time of Coronavirus, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
2021 Juried exhibition, All Abstract, 311 Gallery, Raleigh, NC
2021Juried exhibition, Love... or Something like It 2021, Core New Art Space, Denver CO
2021 Curator, group exhibition, Beyond the Surface, WCACO Member Exhibition, Core New Art Space, Denver CO
2020 Juried exhibition, Checking In: A Call for Civic Connection, Redline Main Gallery, Redline Contemporary Art Center, Denver, CO
2020 Juried exhibition, Minimalism, ShockBoxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, CA
2020 Juried exhibition, Old Myths, New Stories, Curtis Center for the Arts, Greenwood Village, CO
2020 Juried exhibition, Political Discord, Las Lagunas Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2020 Juried exhibition, Holy Moly, 2020! / The Year 'Til Now, Niza Knoll Gallery, Denver, CO
2020 Juried exhibition, The Aqua Show 2020, Core New Art Space, Lakewood, CO
2020 Member exhibition, Small Works Exhibit, WCA-CO, 40 Arts West District, Denver, CO
2020 Juried exhibition, Meaning In Abstraction, R Gallery, Boulder, CO
2020 Juried exhibition, Spot On, D'Art Gallery, Santa Fe Arts District, Denver, CO; Juror: Michael Paglia, art historian, art critic for Westword Magazine and writer with essays on the visual arts published in Art News, Architecture, Art Ltd., Modernism, Art & Auction and Sculpture Magazine
2020 Juried exhibition, The New Vanguard: Explorations into the New Contemporary, Keep Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2020 Group exhibition, Underwater, fooLPRoof Contemporary Art Gallery, RiNo, Denver, CO
2019 Juried exhibition, POP - The Power of Pink, New Studio of Visual Arts, Jupiter, FL
2019 Juried exhibition, Gateway to the Imagination 2019 Farmington Museum, Farmington, NM; Juror: Julie Sasse, Chief Curator, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Curator of Latin American Art at the Tucson Museum of Art
2019 Group exhibition, Take Notice, 6th Annual Benefit for Menaul's Artist-in Residence Program, Luanem Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2019 Juried exhibition, 2019 Contemporary Art Survey, The Lincoln Center, Ft. Collins, CO
2019 Juried exhibition, No Creative Boundaries -- Anything Goes, 2nd Annual Juried Exhibition, Museum of Encaustic Art (MEA), Santa Fe, NM
2018 Group exhibition, Open House, Denver Art Company and Lewis Art Consulting, Denver, CO 2018 Juried exhibition, Bees and Wax, Tubac Center of the Arts, Tubac, AZ
2018 Group exhibition, Visions in Color, OnyxSwan Gallery, Old Town Albuquerque, NM
2017 Group exhibition, It's A Joint Thang, Fine Art Framers & Nest, Santa Fe, NM
2017 Group exhibition, Tincture, Winning Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2017 Group exhibition, My Garden, Real or Imaginary, Art Gallery 606, Albuquerque, NM 2017 Juried exhibition, COLOR THEORY—Contemporary Abstraction, Perry and Carlson Gallery, Mount Vernon, WA 2017 Juried exhibition, Women's Work: A Celebration of Women & Creativity, Ghostwolf Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 2017 Group exhibition, The Eighth Annual Peoples Art Show, 5G Gallery at the Factory, Albuquerque, NM 2017 Group exhibition, Flame Annual Valentine's Show, Downtown Contemporary Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2014 Group exhibition, The Fifth Annual Peoples Art Show, 5G Gallery at the Factory, Albuquerque, NM 2012 Group exhibition, hangovers: a collaborative event showcasing new and emerging talent, Framing Concepts Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
PUBLIC ART
2023 Mural, Speak Her Name, Salida, CO
2022 Mural, Celebrating Colorado Women Artists, Colorado Women's Day, Denver, CO 2020 Mural, Togetherness, Colorado Mills Mall Mural Project "All Together Now" Lakewood, CO 2020 Mural, Homage to Jean B. Smith, Santa Fe Arts District, Denver, CO
2020 Group installation, MSU Denver Center for the Visual Art: The Walls Between Us, The Art In The Everyday Community Quilt Project participant, ArtNauts Group Exhibition, Center for Visual Art, Santa Fe Art District, Denver, CO 2017 Group installation, Rise and Try to Imagine the Galaxies, Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum, Albuquerque, NM and Spaceport America, Truth or Consequences, NM
AWARDS
2026 Honorable Mention award, "63rd Annual Juried Exhibition," Masur Museum, Monroe, LA 2025 Honorable Mention award, "New York, I Love You," Agora Gallery, NY, NY
2024 Honorable Mention award, "40th Annual Best of Colorado", Depot Art Gallery, Littleton, CO 2022 Honorable Mention award, "Celebrating Color," RIWS, Pawtucket, RI 2016 Winner, Blick's Pantone Color of the Year Art Challenge
PRESS/BIBLIOGRAPHY
. 10th Annual Living Mark, Exhibition Book, Verum Ultimatum Gallery, Portland, OR, published 2023 TRUTH, Exhibition Book, Blo Back Gallery, Pueblo, CO, published 2023
. SeeMe, self-portrait exhibition catalog, Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA, published August 2022
. 9th Annual Abstract Sanctuary Exhibition Booklet, Verum Ultimatum Art Gallery, Portland, OR, published March 2022
. VoyageLA: Life & Work with Carol Bivins, http://voyagela.com/interview/life-work-carol-bivins-denver/, April 28, 2021
. From Babe Walls to Detour, Colorado’s Biggest and Boldest Art Moments of 2020, Denver Post, https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/12/27/fine-arts-coronavirus/250979/, December 2020
. Artsy Magazine: Minimalism, ShockBoxx Gallery, Hermosa Beach, CA, https://www.artsy.net/artwork/carol-bivins- not-always-the-way, November 2020
. Old Myths, New Stories, Art Book, Curtis Center of the Arts, Littleton, CO, published December, 2020
. She Votes 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment, Commemorative Art Book developed by Bonnie Smith, SCWCA, September 2020
. Artists in Captivity 2020: Women's Caucus for Art, Colorado Chapter, Art Book, published August, 2020
. Featured Artist in online critique group sponsored by Xanadu Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ July 2020. The link for the broadcast is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpV1eSoYddI
. Featured in photoLA 2020, Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, CA: a collection of portraits of LA Artists and Others by fine art photographer Jeffrey Sklan, February 2020
GALLERIES
Viridian Artists, New York, NY
Blo Back Gallery, Pueblo, CO D'art 360 Gallery, Denver, CO Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
COLLECTIONS
Private collections across the U.S. and the United Kingdom