Andrew Venell is a visual artist and psychotherapist in Chicago. Recent works have appeared in TIMBER, force / fields anthology and Petrichor. He is the author of the collage comic book “Male Tears,” the early internet hyperfiction “BuyOrBeware.com” and a video game called “Live Disasters.” His multimedia artworks have been exhibited in galleries, museums and new media festivals worldwide. He holds a B.A. in Art-Semiotics from Brown University, an M.F.A. in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute, and an M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Northeastern Illinois University.
Education
M.A., Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Northeastern Illinois University
M.F.A., New Genres, San Francisco Art Institute
B.A., Art Semiotics, Brown University (Honors)
Awards / Honors / Residencies
- 3rd Street Studios Residency, San Francisco Art Institute (2016-2017)
- Artist in Residence, KALA Art Institute, Berkeley, CA (2007)
- Capstone Award for Distinction in Creative Writing, Brown University, Providence, RI (2001)
Selected Exhibitions
2021
- “Andrew Venell: Personal Inventories,” Angelica Kauffman Gallery, The Waste Shed, Chicago, IL
2020
- “Drowned Neon Rose,” Winter Juried Show, I Like Your Work, curated by Kirstin Lamb
2017
- “9to5tv,” GSU CUBE, Atlanta, GA
- “Pain/2,” USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
2013
- “Sustenance,” Rare Device, San Francisco, CA
2012
- Print Portfolio Exhibition, Lost Coast Culture Machine, Fort Bragg, CA. Curated by Anne Beck & Dietmar Krumrey.
2011
- “Give & Take II,” PS Squared Gallery, Belfast, Ireland. Curated by Tonya McMullan.
- “Give & Take,” Lost Coast Culture Machine, Fort Bragg, CA. Curated by Tonya McMullan & Anne Beck.
2010
- 14th Annual VIDEOMEDEJA Video Festival, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia
- “CologneOFF VI”, 6th Cologne International Videoart Festival
- “SOURCE CODING” at Quare, for or-bits.com, London, England
- ON-LOOKING for or-bits.com, curated by Marialaura Ghidini
2009
- DKE Toys Custom Yoka Show at Designer Con, Los Angeles, CA
- “Left to Chance,” Firehouse 13 Gallery, Providence, RI, curated by Alexandra Chemla
- Faculty Art Show, ASUC Art Studio Gallery, University of California, Berkeley
- “HTML Color Codes,” Rhizome.org at The New Museum, curated by Carolyn Kane
2007
- “Artists Go Lightly,” Temporary Autonomous Museum, San Francisco, CA
- “Psychedelia,” Futuresonic 2007, London, UK
- “The Pushpin Show,” ASUC Art Studio Gallery, University of California, Berkeley
- “Americans in Peril,” Gold Robot Records, Space Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005
- “Observatori 05 Festival of Artistic Investigation,” Museo de las Ciencias, Valencia, Spain
- “Netopticon,” No-Org.net, Jerusalem, Israel
2004
- “Solutions for Modern Living,” Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY
- “Live Disasters,” San Francisco Art Institute MFA Show, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
2003
- “3rd St. Inside and Out,” SWELL Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2002
- “Crowd Pleasers,” SWELL Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
- “Crowd Pleasers,” The Kuvataideakatemia, Helsinki, Finland
- “Digital Commons,” Version 02 Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
- “Net.Art Open,” Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Publications
- “Austerity” and “Other People’s Heaven” in TIMBER Journal, Summer 2021
- “Dry Memories” in Field/Work Anthology, Perennial Press, 2021
- “Site-Specific Sadnesses” in Petrichor Journal #12, Fall 2019
- “Male Tears” in The Strange Attractor, December 2018
- “Male Tears” in Average Art #12, July 2017
- “NaOH Soap Lye” in Clerestory, Spring 2000
- The Spread, Spring 1999
- “Scuttlebug’s Search for the Meaning of Life,” in The College Hill Independent, Fall 1998
Teaching & Speaking
- Visiting Teaching Artist, The Poetry Foundation, Workshop on Visual Poetry (June 2022)
- Guest Lecture, Art & Design Senior Seminar, Bethel University (November 2020)
- Guest Lecture, History & Theory of Contemporary Art, San Francisco Art Institute (February 2019)
- Guest Lecture, Department of Art and Technology, San Francisco Art Institute (March 2013)
- Workshop, School of Education, University of San Francisco (Fall 2008)
- Guest Lecture, Technology and Integrated Media Environment, Cleveland Institute of Art (April 2007)
- Guest Lecture, Department of Art & Art History, Hartwick College (March 2007)
- Instructor, ASUC Art Studio, University of California at Berkeley (2004-2010)
- Adjunct Instructor, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Online Division (2005-2008)
- Instructor, Berkeley Language Center, University of California at Berkeley (2005)
- Instructor, Berkeley Youth Radio, Berkeley, CA (2005)
- Graduate Teaching Assistant, San Francisco Art Institute (2003-2004)
Essays & Curation
- “On Visual Poetry,” PoetryFoundation.org, September 2022
- “Dériving An Imaginary City: Virtual Psychogeographies,” curated by Andrew Venell, ArtMicroPatronage 2011
- “Nature As A Text: Complexity theory and the Modernist eye in Maggie Leininger’s ‘Text/ile,’” The Present Group, Issue 7, 2008
- “Worlds In Collision,” Carlos Villa and Andrew Venell, Asia Pacific: Perspectives, Special Issue:
Philippine Studies and the Centennial of the Diaspora: Vol. VI, May 2006
Press / Catalogs
- “Gifting Shock,” Tonya McMullan, The Visual Artist’s News Sheet, May-June 2011
- “Observatori 05 Festival of Artistic Investigation,” Exhibition catalog
- “The Mall of the Future: An Exercise in E-Metafiction,” Mike Gianelloni, Word Circuits, December 2003
- “Version02, Festival Cultura Digitale Radicale,” Neural.it, April 2002