In an intensive process, Shannon Finley layers countless translucent layers of acrylic paint in purely geometric shapes on the canvas. In the prismatic-looking surface, which makes the creation process comprehensible, reality disintegrates into a colorful glow like in a kaleidoscope, but is also reminiscent of the technoid world of Metropolis and the coarse pixels of early computer games.
Shannon Finley, born 1974 in Ontario, Canada, lives and works in Berlin. He received his BFA in 1999 from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. His recent museum highlights include the exhibition “Light – Color – Space” at Kunsthaus Kaufbeuren in 2021 and the exhibition “Aftermathematics” at Mies van der Rohe Haus in Berlin in 2023. These exhibitions reflect his ongoing exploration of the relationship between digital and analog art as well as his ability to create complex, layer-based works.
education
2006-08
Master student of Prof. Roger Ackling, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London
2002-04
MFA, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
1996-00
BFA, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada
1998
Study visit, Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main (Class Ayse Erkmen)
public collections
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens (USA)
Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt
selected solo exhibitions
2025
Mutations, Miles McEnery Gallery, New York
2023
Aftermathematics, Mies van der Rohe Haus, Berlin
Aftermathematics, Miles McEnery Gallery, New York
2021
Cascade, Miles McEnery Gallery, New York
Rupprecht Geiger | Shannon Finley: Licht, Farbe, Raum, Kunsthaus Kaufbeuren, Kaufbeuren
2020
End of Line, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago
2016
INTERFERENCE, Carrie Secrist Gallery
Lora Reynolds Gallery
Future Shock, Culture Circle Gallery
2015
Paintings for the Future, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco
2014
Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects
Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, New York
2013
Maruani & Noirhomme Gallery, Brussels
2012
Century Entropy, Bischoff Weiss Gallery, London
2011
Encrypted and Lost, Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin
2010
Specters into Signals, Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin, Germany
Jessica Silverman, San Francisco
selected group exhibitions
2024
All Bangers, All The Time: 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Miles McEnery Gallery, New York
2019
Shall we go, you and I while we can, Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago
2018
Tomorrow’s Dream, Neuer Essener Kunstverein, Essen
2016
Takashi Murakami’s Superflat Collection, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama
Pioneer Lust, Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin
2015
Shifting Optics, Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam
White is the Warmest Color (curated by Jessica Silverman), Hedge Gallery, San Francisco
Neon – From Glowing of Art, Stadtgalerie, Saarbrücken
2014
Neon, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt
Painting Forever!, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin
In the Studio, Kunsthalle Athena, Athen
Photography, Reconstructed (curated by Pavel Vancat), Prague Biennale, Prague
2012
Linie, Fläche, Zeit, Ratskeller, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Berlin
Abstract Confusion, Städtische Galerie Gladbeck, Gladbeck & Kunsthalle Erfurt, Erfurt
Kaleidoscope, C24 Gallery, New York
2011
Abstract Confusion, b05 Kunst- und Kulturzentrum, Montabaur, Germany & Kunstverein Ulm, Ulm
Liquid Space, Nettie Horn Gallery, London
You Are Here: Berlin – Tokyo, Berlin & Tokyo
2010
Konstruktiv!, Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art, Düsseldorf
2009
wasistdas ‘09, Paris
2008
Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen
2007
New Revolutionary Ghosts, Broadway 1602, New York & Los Angeles
Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen
2004
Super Salon, Samson Projects, Boston
2003
Groundswell, White Columns, New York
2002
Underground, Pat Hearn Art Gallery, New York