BIOGRAPHY
Naomi Kawanishi Reis makes 2D works using everyday materials of paper, fabric, blades, and brushes. This takes the form of murals, paintings, and drawings that focus on idealized spaces—the utopian architecture of modernism, conservatory gardens, and recently, still lifes from living rooms and dining tables. She has exhibited at Youkobo Art Space (Tokyo), Mixed Greens, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Wave Hill (NY), among others. In 2018 she received a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant, and was a 2015 NYFA Finalist in Painting. Residencies that have supported her work include Yaddo, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, and the Lower East Side Printshop. A founding member of artist-run gallery Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY (2012), in 2015 she co-founded the collective AN/OTHER NY: a nomadic workspace for Asian art practioners to gather through reading groups, workshops, and public events. She received an MFA from the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Transcultural Identity at Hamilton College. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.


NAOMI KAWANISHI REIS リース直美
b. Shiga, Japan. Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY

SOLO AND TW-PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2021 Wild Flowers & Fever Dreams, Naomi Kawanishi Reis and Christopher Edward Rodriguez, Transmitter, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Mirror Room, Standard Space, Sharon, CT
2017 A Walk Around the Sun, Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo, Japan
2015 Paradise Constructed, Mixed Greens, New York, NY
2014 Planted, Windows Project, Mixed Greens, New York, NY 
2013 Borrowed Landscapes, the Horticultural Society of New York Project Space, New York, NY, curated by Chris Murtha
Unnatural Selection, Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY, Brooklyn, NY    
2011 Inside Out, Swig Arts Center, Mariboe Gallery, Hightstown, NJ

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Still, Life - まだ、生きてます, Asuka Hishiki, Sakiko Kurita and Naomi Reis @KCUA Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
2020 Neo-Orientalist Redux, SPRING BREAK 2020, Room 1116, Atlantic Production Center, New York, NY
Returning to the Source, Wave Hill House, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY
2019 Decade, AHL Foundation at SFA Projects, New York, NY, curated by Sun You
2018 Safe Imagination is Boring, Furman Gallery, New York Asian Film Festival at Walter Reade Theater, New York, NY
Cabin Fever, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA
2017 Point of Entry, Scotty gallery, Berlin, Germany
Stairgazing, Contemporary Art Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ
Collage Collaborations, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, New York, NY 
2016 Fabulous You, Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY, Brooklyn, NY
Garden Week, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA
Solitary Refinement, 2015 NYFA Fellowship finalists, New York Foundation for the Arts, Brooklyn, NY, curated by David Terry 
Nature, The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ; curated by Wes Sherman
2015 Once Removed, Room 218, Artist-Run at the Satellite Show, Miami Beach, FL
Natural States, Dowd Fine Arts Center, State University of New York College at Cortland, Cortland, NY
This Dust II, GSL Projekt, Berlin, Germany
2014 Back to Eden, the Museum of Biblical Art, New York, NY (catalogue); curated by Jennifer Scanlan
Prickly, Tender and Steamy, Glyndor Gallery, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY (catalogue) 
New Visions: Crown Heights Artists, Five Myles, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Carl E. Hazelwood and Hanne Tierney
2013 American Beauty, Susan Inglett Gallery, New York, NY, curated by William Villalongo
We Are Still Here: Art in the Bronx, Andrew Freeman House, Wave Hill Armory Arts Week, Bronx, NY 
New Prints 2013/Winter, International Print Center, New York, NY
2012 Everything Is Not All There Is, Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY, curated by Nicole Caruth
First Contact, Field Projects, New York, NY; curated by Jacob Rhodes
2011 No Land, Kunsthalle Galapagos, Brooklyn, NY, curated by J. McKim, G. Kazer, E. Hougen, L. Schell Dickens
2010 BAM Next Wave Art, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Dan Cameron
2009 Vertical Gardens, Exit Art, New York, NY (catalogue), curated by Jeanette Ingberman, Herb Tam, Lauren Rosati

AWARDS / RESIDENCIES
2018 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant
2017 Youkobo Art Space Artist in Residency Program, Tokyo, Japan
2015 NYFA Artist Fellowship Finalist, Painting
Yaddo Residency, Saratoga Springs, NY
2014 Jentel Residency, Banner, WY
2013 Wave Hill Winter Workspace Residency, Bronx, NY
2011  Lower East Side Printshop Keyholder Residency, New York, NY
2011 Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop SIP Fellowship, New York, NY
2010 NYFA “Artists as Entrepreneurs” Program, Brooklyn, NY
2005 Millay Colony Residency Award, Austerlitz, NY
2005 Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Creative Fellow
2004 Vermont Studio Center Scholarship Award, Johnson, VT

CURATORIAL PROJECTS, LECTURES, WORKSHOPS
2021 Pratt Institute, Guest Critic: Senior Drawing class (Professor Fay Ku), April 21
2020 Borrowed Landscapes: artistic practice as space making; featured speaker for the Anderson Lecture Series at
              the School of Visual Arts, Penn State College School of Arts and Architecture, Sept. 28
2019 No Place Like, Field Projects, New York, NY; group exhibition juried and curated by AN/OTHER NY
2018 Curators in Conversation: AN/OTHER NY, Museum of Chinese in America, New York, NY, Aug. 2 (in conjunction with On Whiteness, an exhibition organized by the Racial Imaginary Institute at The Kitchen)  
Behind-the-Scenes with Curators (Howie Chen/Andrew Lampert, Andrew Rebatta, Karen Wong, moderated by Stephanie Tung), co-organized with AN/OTHER NY and the Asian American Arts Alliance at CUE Foundation, NY, NY, March 6
2017 Collage Collaborations workshops at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, New York, NY, April 2 & April 7
JPEG Slam, organized with AN/OTHER NY at the Asian American Arts Alliance, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 7
x≈y: An Act of Translation, Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY, Brooklyn, NY; co-curated with Andrew Prayzner
Leadership Camp participant, Asia Art Archive in America, Brooklyn, NY
2016 Field Studies, Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY, Brooklyn, NY; co-curated with Andrew Prayzner
2015  Made in U.S.A./Some Parts Imported at Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY, Brooklyn, NY (catalogue); co-curated with Heidi Lau
Co-founder, AN/OTHER NY, Brooklyn, NY
Visiting artist, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 9
Artist talk at Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY, Nov. 24
Artist talk at Trestle gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 10
Panel discussion ”The Artist's Experience: What a Visual Arts Administrator Should Know,”  NYU Graduate School of Visual Arts Administration, Sept. 25
2014 Visiting artist, Sheridan Collage, Sheridan, WY, Sept. 30 
Moderated Art21/Cue Foundation Book Club #2, NY, NY, June 26
“Planting the Seed: Garden as Symbol in Contemporary Art,” discussion with Back to Eden curator Jennifer Scanlan and artist Lina Puerta, the Museum of Biblical Art, NY, NY, Aug. 24
2013 Co-organized inaugural Flat File program 2014, Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY, Brooklyn, NY
Winter Workspace: Visualizing the Imaginary Workshop Instructor, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY, March 4
Winter Workspace:  Collaborative Drawing Workshop Instructor, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY, March 9
2012 Founding member/Assistant Director, Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY, Brooklyn, NY
Creative Nonfiction, co-curated with a team of 7 at Kunsthalle Galapagos, Brooklyn, NY, August 23
2011 The Artist Life in New York, NYFA panel discussion at Pratt Institute, Feb. 1
NYFA “Strategic Planning for Artists” Program at the Pratt Institute, co-organizer, Spring 2011
Presentation of Recent Work, artist lecture, Swig Arts Center, Hightstown, NJ, Jan. 14
2005 Visual Studies, Teaching Assistant, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
2004 2D-Design, Teaching Assistant, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2018 “Joan Mitchell Foundation Names 2018 Grant Recipients,” Artforum, December 12, 2018
"Joan Mitchell Foundation Names Recipients of 2018 Painters & Sculptors Grants,” Artnews, Dec. 12, 2018
2016 Soligno, Matilde. “Art Tour NY | Bushwick Galleries, Summer 2016,” Droste Effect, July 27
2015 Voon, Claire. "At Pulse Miami Beach, Plants, Plants Everywhere," hyperallergic.com, Dec. 2
Allenchy, Alex. "Naomi Reis Reconstructed Paradise, One Leaf at a Time," artsy.net, Sept. 25 
Keh, Pei-Ru. “Wall Space: Brooklyn Artists Think Big With Mural Project,” Wallpaper Magazine, Aug. 17
“10 Murals Transform a Brooklyn Neighborhood Into a Public Art Haven,” Huffington Post, Aug. 17
“Artists Create 820-Foot-Long Mural on Pacific Park Brooklyn Construction Wall,” NY1, Aug. 16
Chae, Julie. “Made in USA/Some Parts Imported at Tiger Strikes Asteroid New York,” theagoraculture.com, Aug. 4
Sutton, Benjamin. “Artworks Cobbled Together From Immigrant Experiences,” hyperallergic.com, July 30
Farley, Michael Anthony, and Kirsch, Corinna. “This Week’s Must-See Art Events: Brooklyn Is America Too,” artfcity.com, June 29
Ryzik, Melena. “10 Murals in Brooklyn to Spruce Up Construction Site,” The New York Times, July 20
Budds, Diana. “Modern World,” Dwell magazine, June, p.33
Kaiser, Renee. “This Dust,” thisistomorrow.com, March 18
2014 Johnson, Paddy. “Pulse Continues to Make Strides,” ArtFCity, Dec. 6
Kropp, Emily. “Pulse: Ink and Paper Obsessive Tendencies,” Whitewall, Dec. 6
Mor, Ricardo. “Art Basel: Pulse Launches 10th Year With Move to the Beach,” Miami Herald, Dec. 5
Martinez, Alanna. “A Tour of Pulse Miami Beach: Glowing Books and Camouflaged Art,” New York Observer, Dec. 5
Sutton, Benjamin. “Making Cents of Exchange Rates Bushwick,” hyperallergic.com, Oct 27
Johnson, Ken. “A Garden Divine: Beware of Snake,” The New York Times, July 17
Sutton, Benjamin. “Yes, More Brooklyn Gallerists You Need to Know,” artnetnews.com, March 5
2013   Singer, Jill. “Excerpt: Magazine. Wilder Quarterly, Spring 2013,” sightunseen.com, June 22
Sutton, Benjamin. “10 Must-Visit Studios, 10 Must-See Exhibitions, and More at Bushwick Open Studios,” blogs.artinfo.com, May 30
Galgiani, Allison. “5 Extraordinary Art Openings This Weekend,” bushwickdaily.com, May 17
2011 Tsui, Bonnie. “Art in Residence: The James New York,” phaidon.com, Feb 28
Klanten, R. et al. “My Green City,” Gestalten, Berlin, pp.158-159
“The Gravity Neutral Space Between,” Juxtapoz Magazine blog, May 13
2010 New American Paintings #86. Juror: Monica Ramirez-Montagut, curator of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
2009 Vertical Gardens Exhibition Catalogue, Exit Art
“Sunday Arts News for 5/3/09,” 1:25 min - 2:05 min, Channel 13: Sunday Art News, May 3
Dawson, Gloria. “The Past, Present and Future of Green Roofs and Vertical Gardens,” thedailygreen.com
Björk, Johanna. “Vertical Gardens,” www.goodlifer.com/2009/03/vertical-gardens, March 30
Indresik, Scott. “This Place Does Not Exist: Naomi Reis and the Architecture of Utopia,” Anthem Magazine, Jan/Feb, pp. 44-45
Padgitt-Coles, Camilla. “March 28 - Vertical Gardens Opening at Exit Art,” Arthur Magazine, March 26 
2008 Grawe, Sam. “Theme Attic: Bauhaus,” Dwell Magazine, December
(cover image) Canarium One, Canarium Books, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Weng, Sasha. City Adventure: Naomi Reis, dpi Magazine Taiwan, July, pp. 83-87
Kim, Na-ring. World Artists, ElleGirl Korea, July, p.98
2005 Hill, Lori. “First Friday Focus: The Ice Box,” City Paper Philadelphia, May 5-11, p.43
New American Paintings, Mid-Atlantic Edition, April; Juror: Jonathan Binstock, Curator of Contemporary Art, The Corcoran Museum of Art

COLLECTIONS
Credit Suisse, New York, NY
Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
Ford Foundation, New York, NY
James Hotel, New York, NY
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY
New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY

EDUCATION
2005   MFA, Fine Arts, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
1997   BA, Transcultural Identity, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
1993   Doshisha Senior High School/Osaka International High School, Japan