Gregory Grenon

Artist Works

I Thought I Was At The Theater - 2010
28 x 40 inches Oil on glass

Artist Bio

Click HERE to see Gregory Grenon speaking about his work.

Gregory Grenon paints emotionally charged portraits in oil on glass.  Strong dark lines set off his brilliantly hued compositions. Before encasing his paintings in found frames, mirrors, or windows, Grenon flips the glass around and thus presents the viewer with the reverse image. The result is a richly layered plain of tones across a pristine, luminous surface. Grenon’s subjects are primarily women expressing emotions ranging from vulnerability, sadness, and apprehension to confidence, strength, and resolve. Grenon’s paintings express a powerful range of emotions on his behalf.  They also serve as a platform to remind viewers of the significance and powerful profile of women.  As he states, “I want to feel the freedom or lack of freedom of being a woman… My paintings are me talking through women, speaking up for women.”

Gregory Grenon lives and works in Portland, Oregon.  His work is featured in galleries throughout the country and has been exhibited at the Museum of Northwest Art, WA, Paris Gibson Square Museum, MT, Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Canada, Bellevue Art Museum, WA, Rockford Art Museum, IL, Tacoma Art Museum, WA, and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, OR.  Grenon has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship in Painting in addition to multiple residencies in the Pacific Northwest.

AWARDS
Vivian and Gordon Gilkey Center for the Print Commissioned Print, 1999
AirTouch Cellular Commissioned Print 1998
Seattle Art Fair Commissioned Print, 1996
Beaverton Arts Commission, Best of Show, Painting 1995
National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship, Painting 1992
Oregon Arts Commission Individual Fellowship Award, 1984-85
State Fair All Oregon Art Annual Painting Prize, 1982

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2005 "Horses and Heroes," Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
"Appearance," Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
2004 "Understand What Is Going On," William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
"Extreme Probity," Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
"The Perfect Compromise," Heller Gallery, New York, NY
"Anything that Suits Me," Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
2003 "Ball, Bat and Glove," Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
"Baseball is Second Only to Death," Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
"Extreme Company," William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2002 Heller Gallery, New York, New York
"Confidence," Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
"Looking Glass Writing," William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
"Intentions/Intrusions," Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
2000 "CHARACTER: standing, sitting, prone," Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
"Heads Up," Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA
1999 "New American Landscape," Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
"Other Americans," William Traver Gallery, Seattle WA
1998 "Learning To Fly," Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID
"Memories and Regrets, Fits, Fears, Anguishes, Nightmares, Angers, and Neuroses,"
William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
"Translucence," a retrospective, Paris Gibson Square Museum, Great Falls, MT
1997 "Descriptive Mentality," Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
1996 "Making Pictures," Rena Haveson Gallery, Pittsburg, PA
"Reflexions et Sensations," William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
"Disorder in the Dress, (The Bad Girls are Back)," Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
"Emotion, Beauty," Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID
1995 "dirtywhitegirls," William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
"New Paintings," Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
1994 "We Are Not Here To Kill You," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
"First Lessons In Life," Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
"Everything Unknown Is Grand," Gasperi Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1993 "The Unidentified Woman," William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
"Emotion Precedes Thought," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
1992 "Deep Dark Motives," Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
"The Woman Club," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
"As Far As It Goes," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York, NY
"About Relationships," William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
1991 "Line, Color, Emotion," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
"Moments," Gasperi Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1990 "It"s Against the Rules," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York, NY
"Simple Views," Esther Saks Gallery, Chicago, IL
"Women on Women in Women," William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
"Women as a Second Language," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
1989 "Certain Things," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York, NY
1988 "White Women," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
"Recent Work," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York, NY
"Paintings and Screens," Traver Sutton Gallery, Seattle, WA
1987 Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York, NY
1986 "Traveling Show and Growing Up," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
1986-82 The Fountain Gallery of Art, Portland, OR
1986-83 Traver-Sutton Gallery, Seattle, WA
1984 "Documents Northwest: The PONCHO Series," Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Donnally/Hayes Gallery, Seattle, WA
1979 Gallery 299, Portland State University, Portland, OR

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2005 Second Annual World Glass Exhibition, William Traver Gallery, Tacoma, WA
"ART," Kirkland Art Center, Kirkland, WA Curated by Deborah Paine
"Simply Red," Mark Woolley Gallery, Portland, OR
ArtSlate Biennial, Condon, OR
2004 "Build Wisely," Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
2003 "Medium Rare," Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
"fresh," Heller Gallery, New York, NY
Summer Group Show, Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID
ArtSlate, Condon, OR
"Glass America, Red, White and Blue," Heller Gallery, New York, NY
Summer Group Show, Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
"Northwest Notables," Mirror Pond Gallery, Bend, OR
2001 COCA NW Annual, Seattle, WA
"Glass America," Heller Gallery, NYC, NY,
ArtSlate 2001 Invitational-Invitational, Condon, OR juror Henry Sayre
"Perspective and Perception," L& B Viewing Room, Portland, OR
"The Glass Canvas," Heller Gallery, NYC, NY
"Husbands and Wives," Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
"Celebrating Northwest Women," Rouge River College, OR
2000 "Whole/Hole," L&B Viewing Room, Portland, OR
"Open Walls," Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
1999 Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
Bassett Auditorium, Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, NM
William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
Ann Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID
ArtSpace-Lima, Lima, OH
1998 "Return to Belltown," William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
Prints and Drawings, Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
1997 "Summer Group Show', Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, OR
"for/by/about women," Morgan Mendelson contemporary glass gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
1996 "The Mane Event," Ann Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID
"Introduction," Sandy Carson Gallery, Denver, CO
"Husbands and Wives," Ralleigh Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
"The Tool Show," PICA, Portland, OR
"Fences Project, One Year Later," Froelick Adelhart Gallery, Portland, OR
"The Box," Bona Keane Decorative Arts, Portland, OR
1995 Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR
Washington Park "Fences Project," Tri-Met"s Westside MAX and
The Regional Arts and Cultural Council, Portland, OR (Collaboration with Mary Josephson)
1995 "The Land," Biennial Exhibition, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
"Dresses," Jamison Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
Women"s Art Triennial, Maude Kerns Center, Eugene, OR
1994 "Inaugural Exhibition in Our New Space," Esther Saks Gallery, Chicago, IL
1994 Pacific Northwest Annual," Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA
"Public Encounters," Bush Barn Art Center, Salem, OR
1993 "Showcase "93," Beaverton Arts Commission, Beaverton, OR
1992 "Art Cologne "92," Cologne, Germany, courtesy Lafayette-Parke Gallery, NY & SF
"The Human Condition," Spokane Center Gallery, Eastern Washington Gallery, Spokane, WA
"On A Small Scale," Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
1992 "Faces: Group Invitational Exhibit," Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
"Recent Works By Selected Gallery Artists," Esther Saks Fine Art, Ltd., Chicago, IL
"Sign of the Cross," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
"Spirit of the West: A Celebration of the Arts," West One Bank, Traveling Exhibition (Oregon,
Idaho and Washington); Kristin M. Poole, Curator
1991 "Art Cologne "92', Cologne, Germany, courtesy Lafayette-Parke Gallery, NY & SF
1991 Oregon Biennial, Oregon Art Institute, Portland, OR
"Sum of the Parts', Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York, NY
"The Art of the Print, Rembrandt to Warhol, Acquisitions from the Gordon
Gilkey Curatorial Years," Portland Art Museum, Oregon Art Institute, Portland, OR
"Outside Boston," Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
"PDX - CVO," Fairbanks Gallery, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
1990 "Contemporary West Coast Sculpture," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, Portland, OR
"Artquake," Portland, OR, Juried by Peter Plagens.
"Face, Figures, Gestures and Signs," Oregon Art Institute, Portland, OR
"Portraits of Women," Gasperi Gallery, New Orleans, LA
"The Art of the Contemporary Triptych," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York, NY
1989 Oregon Biennial, Oregon Art Institute, Portland, OR
"Artquake," Portland, OR, Juried by Mary Beebe
"Face to Face," Esther Saks Gallery, Chicago, IL
"Sum of the Parts," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York, NY
"Face to Face," Esther Saks Gallery, Chicago, IL
"Sum of the Parts," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York, NY 
"Small Works," Esther Saks Gallery, Chicago, IL
1988 "Oregon Art Print Exhibition," Amerika Haus, Stuttgart, Germany
"Northwest Expressionism," Museum of Art, Washington State University, Pullium, WA
"Northwest Expressionism," Schneider Museum, Ashland, OR
"Body Hell," Jamison/Thomas Gallery, New York, NY
"Artquake," Portland, OR Juried by Patterson Sims.
1987 "Northwest Expressionism," Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
"Northwest "87," Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
"Oregon, Washington Juried Exhibition of Art," Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale, WA
1986 "Tenth Annual Small Works," New York University, New York, NY
"The Small Works Show," B.A.C.A., Juried by Geno Rodriguez, Brooklyn, New York, NY
"Ninth Annual Exhibition," University of California, Los Angeles Printmaking
Society, Greenwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Wright Art Gallery.
"Art in the Mayor"s Office, City Hall, Portland, OR
1985 "Portland Painting Now," Marylhurst College, Portland, OR
"Figuration; New Image," The Fountain Gallery, Portland, OR
"Oregon Biennial," Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
1984 "The City as Collector," Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
"Sapporo-Portland Goodwill Print Exhibition," Portland State University, Portland, Or & Sapporo, Japan
"Erotics "84," Northwest Artists Workshop, Portland, OR
1984 "Coast Show," Public Image, New York, NY
"Artquake," juried show, Portland, OR
1983 Oregon Biennial, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
"Small Work"s National "83', Zaner Gallery, Rochester, NY
"Selected Works of Contemporary Art From The Permanent Collection," Portland Art Museum
"Art Since Century Twenty-One', Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle, WA
"Los Angeles Print Society Invitational," El Camino College, Torrance, CA
"Big as Life," Marylhurst Education Center, Marylhurst, OR
"North Light Editions Print Show," Gallery 867, Salem, OR
"Small Works National "83," Zaner Gallery, Rochester, NY
1982 "Artworks: Seattle," Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle Center, Seattle, WA
The Fountain Fine Arts, Inc., Seattle, Wa.
"Northwest Prints "82," Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
"Printmaker"s Annual," Mt. Hood Community College, Gresham, OR
"Works on Paper," Wentz Gallery, Portland, OR
1981 "Oregon Bienniale," Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
"Artquake," Portland, OR
"Summer Invitational, 10 Pacific Northwest Artists," Blackfish Gallery, Portland, OR
"20th Anniversary Group Show," The Fountain Gallery of Art, Portland, OR
1980 "Works on Paper," Wentz Gallery, Portland, OR
1973 "The Forsythe Saga," Forsythe Building, Detroit, MI

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
New York Public Library, NYC, NY
Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK
Seattle Art Museum
Oregon Arts Commission
Harsh Investment, Portland, OR
Metropolitan Arts Commission, Portland, OR
Seattle Arts Commission, Seattle WA
Portland Art Museum, Permanent Collection, Portland, OR
Washington Arts Commission
MicroSoft Corporation
Boise Art Museum
Boly/Welch, Portland, OR
Claremont Hotel, Oakland, CA
Lannan Foundation, Palm Beach, FL
Oregon Health Sciences Univ., Portland, OR
Phias, Schmidt, Westerdahl, Portland, OR
Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA