Dragana Crnjak

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Born in 1977 in former Yugoslavia, Dragana Crnjak received her M.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. She is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is primarily based in the medium of painting and processes of drawing. She is a recipient of Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards in visual art for 2008, 2011, 2015, Research Professorship from Youngstown State University, and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship in drawing. She had taught art at University of Virginia and The Cleveland Institute of Art. She is currently Associate Professor at Youngstown State University, Ohio, teaching painting and drawing.

Born 1977 Bosnia

Education

2004
MFA in Painting and Printmaking,
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

2002
BFA, major in painting and minor in printmaking, Myers School of Art, University of Akron, OH

1995-97
Private Art School, Belgrade, Yugoslavia,

1990-91
Art School, Sarajevo, Bosnia

Select Solo Exhibitions

2018
Fields and Folds, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2017
As If Staying, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

2016
Tacit Aligning, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Tacit Aligning, M Gallery, Youngston, OH

2014
Webs and Roads, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond VA

2013
Spaces, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
New Work, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI

2011
The Day It Rained Silver, 1st Exhibition, New Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts/New Building, Grand Rapids, MI
One to Another, ROY B GIV Gallery, Columbus, OH

2010
Dust, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA

2009
Recent Paintings, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2008
Slow Reveal, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
Tilt, Mount Union College Art gallery, Alliance, OH
Villages, Kent State University Trumbull Campus Gallery, OH

2007
New Work on Paper, Gallery at Porter, Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MA
What I Talk about When I Talk About Love, Kathryn Markel Gallery, New York, NY

2006
Houses and New Events, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2005
Dwellings, Off Grounds Gallery, Charlottesville, VA

2004
Prints and Works on Paper, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA
Graduate Students Thesis Show, Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA

2002
Departure, Project Gallery & Upper Floor Gallery, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH

2000
LandEscape, Millworks Gallery, Akron, OH
Blooming, Project Gallery, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH
Meeting, Project Gallery, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH (Two-person exhibition with Jelena Ilic)
The House, Atrium Gallery, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH

Select Group Exhibitions

2018
Frameworks, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH
Immersion, Biennial Faculty Exhibition, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown, OH

2016
Domesticity of Abandonment, SPACE Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
Touch: Between Image and Surface, Emily Davis Gallery, Myers School of Art, University of Akron, Akron OH

2014
Chroma(A)Chroma, Furlong Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie ,Wa

2013
Charcoal, Skidmore College Art gallery, Saratoga Springs, NJ
Float, Proximity gallery, Cleveland, OH; two-person exhibition with Mark Keffer
Poetics of Pattern, Riffe Gallery, Columbus, OH
Concerning Line, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2012
Haze, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond VA
Premio Cube, Curro & Poncho Gallery at Guadalajara, Mexico

2011
Multiple Propositions: A Look At Contemporary Drawing, Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN

2010
Summer Selection, Kathryn Markel gallery, New York, NY
Faculty Show, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown, OH

2009
Painting Now, The Butler Institute for American Art, Trumbull, OH
Monumental Idea in a Miniature Book, traveling exhibit, opened at Southern Graphic Council Conference at Columbia College, Chicago, IL
Flash Forward, Spaces Gallery, Cleveland, OH

2008
A Friend Indeed: Contemporary Art and the Academy, American University’s mid-Atlantic MFA Invitational, Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC
Small Claims, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA

2007
Drawing Invitational, School of Art Galleries, Kent State University, Kent, OH
8 Hour Project, Bowman and Penelec Galleries, Allegheny College, Allegheny, PA
Faculty Biannual Show, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH

2006
Drawing No Conclusions, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI
Village/New Drawing Installation, Nightingale Gallery, Eastern Oregon
University, La Grande, OR Three-person exhibit
Coming Home, Emily Davis Gallery, Myers School of Art, University of Akron, OH

2005
Katrina Show, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA. Group Exhibition
Drawing, Tradition and Innovation, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
Radius 250, Artspace, Richmond, VA.  Group exhibition curated by John Ravenal, curator of modern and contemporary art at Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond, VA
Double Chin, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York, NY.  Group exhibition
Show Girls, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA.  Group exhibition
Red, White, Blue, Portfolio Exchange, Southern Graphic Conference, Corcoran School of Art and Design, Washington, D.C.

2004
Earth, Clark Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
The UVA faculty exhibition Lucky 13, ADA Gallery, Richmond, VA
Graduate Students Thesis Show, Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA
Ray’s Casserole, Art Space, Richmond, VA. Group exhibition

2003
Graduate Student Show, FAB Gallery, VCU School of Arts, Richmond, VA.
Drawing International V, Period Gallery, Lincoln, NE. Web ExhibitionToss-Up, Orange Door Gallery, Richmond, VA. Group exhibition
Squeeze, FAB Gallery, VCU School of Arts, Richmond, VA. Group exhibition
To the Capital City! Hopkins Hall Gallery, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

2000
National Drawing + Print Exhibition, Bloomingdale Museum, Bloomingdale, IL. Group- juried
The View 2000, Rosewood Art Center, Kettering, OH. Juried
Impressions, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ. Juried
19th Woman Artists A Celebration, YMCA, Youngstown, OH. Juried
Works on Paper, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown, OH. Juried

Grants and Awards

2015
Individual Excellence Award, Ohio Arts Council, Columbus, OH

2012
Research Professorship Award, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH
University Research Council Grant, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH
Professional Development Award, College of Fine and Performing Arts, Youngstown, OH

2011
Individual Excellence Award/Visual Art, Ohio Arts Council, Columbus, OH

2008
Individual Excellence Award, Ohio Arts Council, Columbus, OH
Inclusion into International Drawing Annual in Print, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

2007
First Place, Drawing No Conclusions, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI.  Selected by Dominic Molon, curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

2004
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA
Inclusion into The Slide Registry, Drawing Center, New York, NY

2003
School of Graduate Studies Scholarship, VCU, Richmond, VA
Nomination for Dedalus Foundation Fellowship, Painting and Printmaking Department, VCU, Richmond, VA
Teaching Assistantship, School of Graduate Studies, VCU, Richmond, VA
Phi Kappa Scholarship, School of Graduate Studies, VCU, Richmond, VA

2002
Deborah S. Ferguson Memorial Fund Scholarship, Painting and Printmaking Department, VCU, Richmond, VA
Juror’s Award; Student Juried Show, Emily Davis Gallery, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH
Travel Grant (9 day in Paris), Myers School of Art, Akron, OH
Outstanding Senior Award of Excellence, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH
Graduate School Fellowship, Painting and Printmaking Department, VCU,
Richmond, VA (Travel grant for three weeks at Edinburgh Printmaking Workshop in Scotland)

2001
1st Place; Folk Scholarship Award, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH
Travel Grant (Printmaking Conference of Southern Graphic Council), Myers School of Art, Akron, OH
George W. & Alice M. Kessler Memorial Scholarship, University of Akron, OH
Purchase Award, Americas 200 Paper Works, Minot State University, ND. Juried

2000
Dashielle Travel Grant, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH
Catherine and Harold Folk Award, Myers School of Art, Akron, OH
George W. & Alice Kessler Memorial Scholarship, University of Akron, OH

Professional Activities

2007-11
Gallery coordinator, Bliss Hall Gallery, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH

2006
Assistant Professor in Painting, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH

2005-2006
Adjunct Faculty in Drawing, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH

2005
Visiting Artist, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

2004
Visiting Artist, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Printmaking Assistant, Printmaking Dept., VCU, VA
Printing a limited edition of etchings for Virginia State Library

2003
Adjunct Faculty, Drawing, School of Fine Arts, VCU, Richmond, VA
Teaching Assistant, Drawing, School of Fine Arts, VCU, VA
Printmaking Studio Assistant, School of Fine Arts, VCU, Richmond, VA
Managing intaglio workshop: supplying materials, assisting students with facilities

2002
Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop, Scotland.  Created a body of work using polymer lithography and photopolymer printmaking techniques

The process of painting for me always exists between discovery and contemplation while I seek unexpected perceptual shifts that can trigger new visual thinking. While focusing strongly on the visual presence of the work and the physicality of the mark, I am simultaneously interested in the impalpable.

In the latest body of work I was interested in the process of visual navigation, the experience of looking, perceiving, sensing a painting as an object in a space, a place, an image, a reflection…

Inspired by both natural and virtual worlds, webs suggest systematic yet open-ended structures of navigation, developments, transportation…There is an initial sense of order and preciseness that I am drawn to…however I am simultaneously interested in the interruptions and unexpected turns that almost every painting brings or demands.