Melissa Joseph is a New York based artist. Her work considers themes of memory,
family history, and the politics of how we occupy spaces. She intentionally alludes
to the labors of women as well as experiences as a first generation American
and the unique juxtapositions of diasporic life. Her work has been shown at the
Brooklyn Museum, Delaware Contemporary, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art,
MOCA Arlington, ICA San Francisco, and List Gallery at Swarthmore College. She
has been featured in Hyperallergic, Art Forum, Artnet, Artnews, New American
Paintings, WNYC, Le Monde, Vogue, CNN, Whitewall, Family Style, and participated
in residencies including Artpace, Dieu Donné Workspace Residency, The Textile
Arts Center, BRIC, Fountainhead, the Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts, the
Museum of Arts and Design, Greenwich House Pottery, the Dora Maar Cultural
Center and Cove Park. She is the recipient of the 2025 UOVO Prize by the
Brooklyn Museum, the 2025 Eden Art Foundation Artists Now Award, and a regular
contributor to BOMB Magazine.
Education
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), Master of Fine Arts
Rhode Island School of Design (RISO), Master of Arts in Teaching
Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), Associate of Applied Sciences
New York University (NYU), Bachelor of Arts
Solo Exhibitions
2026
Heft, Sim Smith, London, UK
2025
Tender, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, USA
No Words, Soy Capitan, Berlin, Germany
2024
Margot Samel x Liste Art Fair, Art Basel, Switzerland
A Wide Action is not a Width, Artpace San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
Art Production Fund Art in Focus, Rockefeller Center, New York, NY, USA
2023
Irish Exit, Margot Samel, New York, NY, USA
Waymark, Independent Art Fair x REGULARNORMAL, New York, NY, USA
List Gallery at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, USA
2021
NADA Art Fair x REGULARNORMAL, Miami, FL, USA
REGULARNORMAL, Née, New York, NY, USA
2019
42nd Annual Wind Challenge Exhibition: Tharavadu, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2018
Sisters Not Twins, Growlery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
Like Cold, Rizq Art Initiative x Kochi Biennale Collateral Exhibition, Kochi, India
The Power of Small Things, Soy Capitan, Berlin, Germany
Non-Residency, Jaipur Centre for Art with Rajiv Menon Contemporary, Jaipur India
Gathering, Cooper Cole, Toronto, Canada
00:00:01, Public Gallery, London, UK
Pulp Memories, Praise Shadows, Boston, MA, USA
2024
The Hardest Love We Carry, Charles Moffett X Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL, USA
Poetics of Dimensions, ICA San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Brooklyn Artists Show, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, USA
In and Out, Night Gallery x Rachel Uffner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Recent Acquisitions Exhibition, ICA Miami, Miami, FL, USA
2023
Poetics of Dimensions, UBS x ARTNOIR x Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL, USA
Memory is the Seamstress, British Textile Biennial, Whitaker Museum, Lancashire UK
Green Art Gallery, Dubai UAE
Genius Loci, Charles Moffett, New York, NY, USA
A Study in Form (Chapter One), James Fuentes, New York, NY, USA
Crisis of Image, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, Arlington, VA, USA
Captive Rest, Frieze Art F air x REGULARNORMAL, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2022
Wonder Women II, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles CA, USA
Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Wonder Women, Jeffrey Deitch, New York, NY, USA
Felt Experience, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, VT, USA
Last Call, Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal, Canada
Hues, Hannah Traore Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2021
Hereditary, Swivel Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Illusions and Other Protective Spells, Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Once Removed, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA, USA
Diasporic Rhizome, South Asia Institute Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
2020
The Privilege of Getting Together, REGULARNORMAL, New York, NY, USA
2019
Held Dear, PAFA Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA (with Chelsea Nader)
78th Annual Juried Exhibition, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Postscript: Notions on Contemporary Craft, The Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE, USA
2018
lmmaterielle Hautungen, Lite Haus Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2017
76th Annual Juried Exhibition, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Residencies and Fellowships
2026
Cove Park Residency, Scotland, UK (supported by Sim Smith)
Dora Maar House and Cultural Center, Menerbes France
2025
Greenwich House Pottery Artist in Residence, New York, NY, USA
2024
Artpace, San Antonio, TX, USA
2023
Museum of Arts and Design Artist in Residence, New York, NY, USA
2022
Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT, USA
2021
Fountainhead, Miami, FL, USA
DieuDonne Workspace Residency, Brooklyn, NY, USA
2020
BRIClab Video Artist in Residence, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Textile Arts Center AIR Cycle 11, Brooklyn, NY, USA
2019
Chautauqua School of Art Residency, Chautauqua, NY, USA
Publications
2025
Wonder Women, Kathy Huang for Jeffrey Deitch (Rizzoli Books)
2024
New Women’s Work, Angelik Vizcarrando Laboy (Smith Street Books/Rizzoli Books)
2023
Apogee Journal I Issue 18
Conflicting Truths Exhibition Catalog, Edited by Tess Wei (Swarthmore College)
2021
New American Paintings, No. 156 MFA Annual
Zyzzyva, No. 121
Venti journal, Vol. 2 Issue 1: Inhale/ Exhale
2020
ArtMaze Magazine, Issue 20
Maake Magazine, Issue 11
Hopper Prize Finalist
2019
New American Paintings, No. 140 Northeast Issue
Friend of the Artist, Volume 9
Awards
2025
UOVO Brooklyn Museum Prize
The Eden Arts Foundation Artist Now Award
2024
Artsy Vanguard 2025
2023
Marjorie H eilrnan Visiting Artist, Swarthmore College
2022
Windgate Foundation Scholar, Archie Bray Foundation
2020
BRIC Media Arts Fellowship
2018
PAFA Alumni Trust Award
Selected Press
2025
Hyperallergic by Jen Samet, Beer with a Painter Melissa Joseph
Observer by Elisa Carrollo, Melissa Joseph Scales Up Poignancy in Public Spaces With ‘Tender’
All Arts by Britt Stigler, How art changed Melissa Joseph
Art Daily, The Brooklyn Museum Awards UOVO Prize to Melissa Joseph
2024
Artsy by Maxwell Rabb, 70 artists announced for The Artsy Vanguard 2025
Artsy by Olivia Horn, The Artsy Vanguard 2025: Melissa Joseph
Wall Street Journal by Brian P. Kelly, The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition Review: A Borough’s Blazing Creativity
Family Style by Meka Boyle, For Kerala
Southwest Contemporary by Gabriella Angeleti, Melissa Joseph Reimagines Artpace Residency as Large-Scale Love Letter to San Antonio, Texas
ARTnews by Devorah Lauter, The Best Booths at Liste, from Felted Tableaux to Dystopic Drawings of Stately Museums
Financial Times by Melanie Gerlis, Art Basel big-ticket sales banish ‘doom porn’ warnings
Artnet by Annikka Olsen, Melissa Joseph Has Captivated the Art World With an Unlikely Medium – Felting
Whitewall by Eliza Jordan, Melissa Joseph’s First Public Artwork is at Rockefeller Center
2023
Artforum by Max Lakin, Max Lakin on Melissa Joseph
Artillery by Annabel Keenan, EDGES AND PLURALITIES - Melissa Joseph Brings Craft Into the Future
Artsy by Maxwell Rabb, How Melissa Joseph’s Revived Memories Redefine Textiles
W NYC by Alison Stewart, Art You Can See: Melissa Joseph’s ‘Irish Exit’
VOGUE by Grace Edquist, Artist Melissa Joseph Imbues Material With Memory
Cultured by Sadaf Padder, Artist Melissa Joseph Uses an Unsung Medium-Felt-to Explore Big Ideas
2022
Le Monde by Marie-Salomé Peyronnel, Melissa Joseph, weaving and mixing
CNN by Ann Binlot, Tired of being ‘fetishized and invisible,’ Asian artists are changing the narrative
La Presse by Eric Clement, New York invites itself to Montreal
2021
Artnet by Julia Halperin, Looking for the Next Big Thing? Here Are 6 Exciting Artists to Watch From Miami Art Week 2021
Hyperallergic by Billie Anania, Melissa Joseph’s Felted Tributes to Family Archives
Art Writing
2026
Bomb Magazine: Alison Saar
2025
Bomb Magazine: Jesse Krimes
Bomb Magazine: Guerilla Girls
Bomb Magazine: Bony Ramirez
2024
Bomb Magazine: Bernadette Despujols
2023
Bomb Magazine: Sahana Ramakrishnan
Bomb Magazine: Sa’dia Rehman
2022
Bomb Magazine: Miguel Angel Payano Jr.
2021
Bomb Magazine: Anne Minich
Bomb Magazine: Kenny Rivero