ANNA U DAVIS

SELECTED CURRICULUM VITAE

EDUCATION

2002
B.A. in Studio Arts, Painting, summa cum laude
University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC

1995
Studies in Practical Philosophy
Lund University, Lund, Sweden

RESIDENCIES

2026–2027
International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), New York, NY
December 2026–May 2027

2023
Swatch Art Peace Hotel Virtual Residency, Shanghai, China

2011
WIP Gallery Residency, Artisphere, Arlington, VA

GRANTS & AWARDS

2021, 2015
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, NY

2024–2026, 2013–2022, 2011
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Artist Fellowship, Washington, DC

2026, 2021–2023, 2019
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Project Grant, Washington, DC

2023
Show Award, (Not) Strictly Painting 14, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
Curated by Tim Brown

2023
Finalist, Helen Frankenthaler Residency at ISCP

2022, 2021
Finalist, Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant

2020
Show Award, SHIFT Online Exhibition, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
Curated by Henry L. Thaggert

2013
Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Emergency Grant, New York, NY

2006
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Young Artist Program, Washington, DC

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025
Walkalong, Dacha Loft, Washington, DC

2024
And Still We Rise, IA&A at Hillyer, Washington, DC
Road to Recovery, Brentwood Arts Exchange, Brentwood, MD

2023
Reality Check, Davis Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

2022
Reality Check: The Work of Anna U Davis, IA&A at Hillyer, Washington, DC

2021
Reality Check, Swedish American Museum, Chicago, IL

2019
Take It Personal, Bredgade Kunsthandel, Copenhagen, Denmark
Two-person exhibition with Ola Kalnins

2018
Frocasian: Moving Beyond Social Constructs, Artist Proof, Washington, DC
Damsels in Distress, Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, MD

2017–2018
Witnesses, House of Sweden, Washington, DC

2016
Anna U Davis: Going Big @ Dacha, Dacha Loft, Washington, DC

2012
Pop-up, Gallery at Bloombars, Washington, DC

2011
A Work in Progress, WIP Gallery at Artisphere, Arlington, VA

2010
The Dance Before the Kill, Long View Gallery, Washington, DC

2009
Bull’s-Eye, Long View Gallery, Washington, DC

2008
New Work, Hillyer Art Space, Washington, DC

2006
Sashimi Me, Studio One Eight, Washington, DC

2004
Frocasians, Gallery Neptune, Bethesda, MD

2003
New Work, Aroma, Washington, DC

2002
Untitled, Gallery 42, Washington, DC

2001
10 × 12, Kramerbooks, Washington, DC

1997
New Work, Galleri Ariman, Lund, Sweden
New Work, Mejeriet Gallery, Lund, Sweden

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026
Rendering the Invisible, Artists & Makers Studios, Rockville, MD
Summer Exhibition, Davis Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Women’s+ 10xTEN, Faultline Gallery, Oakland, CA

2025
Women Artists of the DMV, Athenaeum, Alexandria, VA
State of the Arts Night, Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building, Washington, DC

2024
ArtVilnius ’24, Davis Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania
Democracy in the Crossfire: Art, Identity, and Resilience, IA&A at Hillyer, Washington, DC
A Toast to the Boogie: Art in the Name of Funkadelic, 200 I Street Galleries, Washington, DC
KunstRAI Amsterdam, Davis Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Art Herning, Davis Gallery, Herning, Denmark
Legacy: Civil Rights at 60, 200 I Street Galleries, Washington, DC

2023
(Not) Strictly Painting 14, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
The Swatch Art Peace Hotel: Love Is Love, BaseCamp, Istituto Sant’Eugenio, Locarno, Switzerland
Pulse 2023, IA&A at Hillyer, Washington, DC

2022
Body Language: Contemporary Approaches to Figuration, Brentwood Arts Exchange, Brentwood, MD
Women of the Pandemic, Katara Cultural Village, Doha, Qatar
Fragile Beauty, 200 I Street Galleries, Washington, DC
Invasion, IA&A at Hillyer, Washington, DC
Vinterudstillingen 2022, Davis Gallery, Denmark

2021
Creativity in Quarantine: Women of the Pandemic, Qatar America Institute for Culture, Washington, DC

2020
Latela Curatorial x Artsy: Women in the Arts, Materiality: In the Flesh
SHIFT Online Exhibition, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA

2019
Building Bridges: The Politics of Love, Identity and Race II, Galería Carmen Montilla, 13th Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba
Curated by Myrtis Bedolla and Ana Joa

Where Have We Been, Center for the Arts Gallery, Towson University, Towson, MD

2018
More or Less, Hemphill, Washington, DC
Curated by Molly Ruppert

2017
Oh Say, Can You See? Émigré Artists in America, Charles Krause/Reporting Fine Art, Washington, DC

2016
Consumption: Food as Paradox, Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, MD

2015
These Mirrors Are Not Boxes, VisArts, Rockville, MD
Curated by Kayleigh N. Bryant-Greenwell

2014
Emergence: International Artists to Watch, Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, MD

2013
Untitled, Gallery OneTwentyEight, New York, NY
Holiday Popsicle, Gallery OneTwentyEight, New York, NY
Curated by Kazuko Miyamoto

2010
Synergy, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Party Crashers: Comic Book Culture Invades the Art World, Artisphere, Arlington, VA
Curated by Cynthia Connolly

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Collection, Washington, DC

Swatch Art Peace Hotel Collection, Shanghai, China

The Dorothy Lichtenstein Collection, New York, NY

The Barlow Gilotty Collection, Washington, DC

GCH Endowment to Promote Quality Early Childhood Education, Washington, DC

Selected private collections in the United States and Europe

SELECTED PUBLIC PROGRAMS & TALKS

2023
Art x Female Empowerment, State of the Arts Night, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC

2018
Featured Speaker, Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walk, House of Sweden, Washington, DC
Artist Talk, Damsels in Distress, Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, MD

2017
Artist Talk with Carolina Falkholt, House of Sweden, Washington, DC
Artist Talk, Road to Recovery, House of Sweden, Washington, DC

2016
Artist Talk, Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, MD

2011
Artist Talk, Artisphere, Arlington, VA

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2024
Balcer, Berenika. “11 Emerging Artists Discovered at ArtVilnius 2024.” Contemporary Lynx, October 31, 2024.

Kelly, Chris. “D.C. Exhibit Celebrates P-Funk’s Artistic Legacy in Chocolate City.” The Washington Post, June 27, 2024.

Jenkins, Mark. “In the Galleries: Transformations in 20th Century Abstraction.” The Washington Post, May 10, 2024.

2023
Schjødt, Inge. “Tidens pointer skåret ud.” Kunstavisen, September 28, 2023.

2022
Jenkins, Mark. “In the Galleries: The Art of Looking Inward to Provoke Societal Change.” The Washington Post, February 11, 2022.

Docter-Loeb, Hannah. “City Lights: Look Inward With Anna U Davis’s Reality Check.” Washington City Paper, February 8, 2022.

Brown, Timothy. “The Personal and Political Art of Anna U Davis.” IA&A at Hillyer, February 2, 2022.

2021
Wavzenek, Tom. “Review: A Dynamic View of Social Justice Issues at the Swedish American Museum.” Third Coast Review, September 4, 2021.

2020
Weiss, Ellyn. “Anna U Davis: An Introduction.” Feminist Studies, vol. 46, no. 1.

Feminist Studies, vol. 46, no. 3, front and back covers.

2018
Capps, Kriston. “At Hemphill Fine Arts, The Past, Present and Future of Abstraction.” Washington City Paper, May 24, 2018.

Weisel, Aden. “A Thousand Paper Cuts.” BmoreArt, April 13, 2018.

Jenkins, Mark. “In the Galleries: Six Artists Go Deep Into the Weeds: Anna U Davis.” The Washington Post, March 1, 2018.

2017
Jenkins, Mark. “In the Galleries: Synthetic Consumer Products Prove to Be a Natural Medium.” The Washington Post, August 3, 2017.

2016
Rudig, Stephanie. “The People Issue: Conversations with 23 of D.C.’s Most Interesting People.” Washington City Paper, December 8, 2016.

Schmelzer, Elise. “Beyond Chemo: Cancer Patients, Survivors Take Up Paintbrushes to Heal.” The Washington Post, July 5, 2016.

2015
Jenkins, Mark. “Anything but Simplicity in These Drawings.” The Washington Post, July 2, 2015.

2010
O’Sullivan, Michael. “Gallery Opening of the Week.” The Washington Post, May 28, 2010.

2008
Farrell, Heather. “Art Speaks Universal Languages: Immigrants Contribute to an Evolving Scene.” The Washington Post, March 20, 2008.

“Anna U Davis.” Juxtapoz, May 5, 2008.

XFUNS Magazine, Taiwan, no. 38, October/November 2008.

SELECTED COMMISSIONS

2024
Jackie: Garden of Earthly Delights, Jackie American Bistro, Washington, DC

2017
Dacha, Dacha Loft, Washington, DC

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

2022
Artist Delegation, Qatar America Institute for Culture, Doha, Qatar

2020
Panelist, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

2017–present
Advisory Board, IA&A at Hillyer, Washington, DC

2013
28th Mayor’s Arts Awards, Judge Panelist, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington, DC

Anna U Davis is represented by Davis Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark.