Natalie Wadlington (b. 1992) is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Born in Modesto, California, she completed her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in May of 2020.
Her practice consists of paintings based in story-telling and figuration. They are specific metaphors which communicate larger, archetypal narratives of love, conflict, and misunderstanding, specifically in our relationship to animals. In the paintings, characters come together in symbolic scenes which mirror our own complex struggles for mutual understanding.
Wadlington has exhibited both nationally and internationally, including a solo exhibition at The Dallas Contemporary Art Museum. She has been an artist in residence at Ox Bow School of Art, Arrowmont, The CCC at CSU Long Beach, and High Desert Test Sites. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA, The Beth DeWoody Collection, The Bentata Family Collection, The Weissman Family Art Collection, The Dan and Jennifer Gilbert Collection, and The Today Art Museum in Beijing, CH.
Born in Modesto, CA
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
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EDUCATION
2020
Master in Fine Art, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2017
Bachelor in Fine Arts, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA
2014
Associate's Degree in Fine Art, Modesto Junior College, Modesto, CA
SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
[Forthcoming], Richard Heller, Los Angeles, CA
2024
Pollards, Library Street Collective, Detroit MI
2023
Close to the Ground, ShopHouse, Hong Kong, HK
2022
Front Yards, Back Yards, Albertz Benda, NYC, NY
Places That Grow, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX
2021
Pooled, Library Street Collective, Detroit MI
Backyards, Louis Buhl & Co., Detroit, MI
Anatomy, Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI
2018
Other People's Problems, Epekel Gallery, Merced, CA
2017
Conflicts, Tri-Chromatic Gallery, Modesto, CA
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
XXS, County Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
2024
Expo Chicago, Library Street Collective, Chicago, IL
When it Rains, I Pour, Rusha & Co., Los Angeles, LA
Dog Breath, Stop Gap, Columbia, MO
2023
Untitled Art Fair, Library Street Collective, Miami Beach, FL
Ephemeral Pleasures, Richard Heller, Los Angeles, LA
Do You See Us, Albertz Benda, Los Angeles, LA
2022
Untitled Art Fair, Library Street Collective, Miami Beach, FL
It Takes a Village, Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI
Gala and Art Auction, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, MI
Unseen Threads, Martha’s Contemporary, Austin, TX
2021
Spiritual Advisory: Part Deux, Greenpointe Terminal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Fragmented Bodies, Albertz Benda Gallery, NYC, NY
POST, Wasserman Projects, Detroit, MI
Fragmented Bodies, Albertz Benda Gallery, NYC, NY
2020
Unit London, London, UK
Young Dreams, Aout Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
AXA Art Prize Annual Juried Exhibition, New York Academy of Fine Art, NY
We Used to Gather, Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI
Un/Feeling, Feminist Art Museum, Online Curatorial Platform
Rapid Response Fundraiser, Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, MI
Willing the Season, Far x Wide, Brooklyn, NY
Cranbrook Academy of Art Scholarship Exhibition, DAM gallery, Detroit, MI
CrossRoads, River House Arts, Toledo, OH
Online Exhibition Show #63: Hoarders House, Field Projects, New York, NY
2019
Memory Matters, Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield, MI
While Supplies Last, Bellevue Arts Museum, Seattle, WA
2018
Happy/Sad Show, ForumGallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield, MI
2017
Summer Group Show, Art Space on Main, Turlock, CA
Penumbra Art Show, University Art Gallery, Turlock, CA
2016
From the Trenches, Mistlin Gallery, Modesto CA
RESIDENCIES
2024
High Dessert Test Sites, Joshua Tree, CA
2023
Center for Contemporary Ceramics at CSULB, Long Beach, CA
2021
Arrowmont School of Fine Art, Gatlinburg, TN
2020
Anderson Ranch, Snowmass Village, CO
2019
Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist Residency, Fellowship, Saugatak, MI
SELECTED PRESS
2023
From Kimsooja to Shubigi Rao: Here are 7 female artists in Hong Kong to look out for this art month – Tatler
2022
Natalie Wadlington: Places that Grow at the Dallas Contemporary — Glasstire
Natalie Wadlington: Front Yards, Back Yards —- White Hot
Natalie Wadlington’s wide-eyed charming characters paint a picture of our love of pets — Creative Boom
Art Dirt: Discussing Recent Exhibitions about America — Glasstire Podcast
Natalie Wadlington’s Domestic Explorations Come to Albertz Benda, NY — Wide Walls
I Have Seen the Future — Field Pod Podcast
2021
Natalie Wadlington: Pooled — Whitewall
Library Street Collective Gets into the studio Practice of Natalie Wadlington — Juztapose
Elephant’s Pick of October’s Essential Artists — Holly Black, Louise Benson, and Emily Steer for Elephant
Pooled | In Conversation with Natalie Wadlington and Gina Beavers — Olivia Novato for Flaunt
Natalie Wadlington Meditates on the Power Struggle Between Man and Nature in "Pooled" — HYPEBEAST
Natalie Wadlington’s 'Pooled' explores fragility and crisis through bold and whimsical paintings — Metro Times
Natalie Wadlington’s Backyards at Louis Buhl & Co. — Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art
Charming paintings by Natalie Wadlington of wide-eyed characters connecting with nature — Creative Boom
2020
Painting, Conceptually Speaking — Barbed Magazine, Detroit, MI
Oyedrum Volume 1 — Oye Drum Magazine, New York, NY
2019
New American Paintings — No. 141 Annual MFA issue
AWARDS / GRANTS / SCHOLARSHIPS
2020
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts Full Fund Scholarship, Gatlinburg, TN
Anderson Ranch Sculpture Scholarship, Snowmass Village, CO
Mercedes Benz Financial Services Emerging Artist Award, Troy, MI
Detroit Artist Market First Place Award, Detroit Artist Market, Detroit, MI
2019
Second Year Merit Scholarship, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield, MI
2018
First Year Merit Scholarship, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield, MI
2017
Provost Outstanding Student Achiever Award, Provost Office, Turlock, CA
SERSCA Mini Grant, Office of Research and Sponsor Programs Turlock, CA
2016
Al Barre Memorial Scholarship, Kiwanis Club, Turlock, CA
© 2014–2023 Natalie Wadlington