Christian Rex van Minnen
Born in 1980, Providence, RI
Lives and works in Santa Cruz, CA
Christian Rex van Minnen's skillfully rendered paintings blur the line between beauty and the grotesque in a searing critique of contemporary society.
"Van Minnen paints like an old master, layering and glazing so that his oils on panel seem to be illuminated from within. Details have been rendered with such fidelity that his paintings seem to be more real than the real thing." David Pagel, Los Angeles Times
From the Artist:
"I use an indirect painting approach, utilizing a division of labour, many layers and glazes. I really love seeing what oil paint as a material can do, just as long as it is in service of something other than itself. I am drawn to the older, traditional ways of working with oil paint. It's from the methods and materials of the great schools and masters where I continue to learn how to think about paint, about luminosity, mixing colour with light, creating that strange atmosphere." - Elephant Magazine
Christian Rex van Minnen was born in Providence, RI in 1980 and received his BA from Regis University, Denver in 2002. He has exhibited throughout the US and internationally and was awarded an Artist-in-Residence at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Aspen, CO (Fall, 2017).
Recent solo exhibitions include "Mourning Wood in Liminal Dawn,"at Richard Heller Gallery, Los Angeles and "Enantiodromia" at Gallery Poulsen in Copenhagen, Denmark. Recent two-person and group exhibitions include "In Heaven, Everything is Fine," a two-person show with Aaron Johnson at Ross+Kramer Gallery, New York; "Chum Chum Rubby Dubby," a two-person show with Aaron Johnson at AISHONANZUKA, Hong Kong; and "Juxtapoz x Superflat," co-curated by Takashi Murakami & Evan Pricco at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.
Public Collections include: Denver Art Museum, Djurhuus Collection, The Christine & Andy Hall Collection, Colección Solo, and the Richard B. Sachs Collection. van Minnen currently lives and works in Santa Cruz, CA.
New work by van Minnen will be exhibited at Richard Heller Gallery's booth, D03, at Art Brussels April 25-28, 2019.
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2002 BA, Regis University
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2018
UNTITLED, ART, Richard Heller Gallery, Miami, FL2017
Mourning Wood in Liminal Dawn, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA2016
Enantiodromia, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark2015
Golden Memes, Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO2014
Glazed and Confused, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark2013
Welsh Rats, Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO2012
Fever Dream, Copro Gallery, Los Angeles, CA2011
Rainbow Blight, Bert Green Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA2010
Neo-Grotesque, Roq la Rue Gallery, Seattle, WASelected Two-Person Exhibitions
2019
In Heaven, Everything is Fine, a two-person show with Aaron Johnson at Ross+Kramer Gallery, New York, NY2018
Chum Chum Rubby Dubby, a two-person show with Aaron Johnson at AISHONANZUKA, Hong Kong -
2019
Art Brussels, Richard Heller Gallery, Brussels, BEArt Los Angeles Contemporary (ALAC), Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2018
UNTITLED, ART, Richard Heller Gallery, Miami, FLEXPO Chicago, Richard Heller Gallery, Chicago, IL
Immersion, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Dallas Art Fair, Richard Heller Gallery, Dallas, TX
2017
UNTITLED, ART, Richard Heller Gallery, Miami Beach, FLEXPO Chicago, Richard Heller Gallery, Chicago, IL
Dallas Art Fair, Richard Heller Gallery, Dallas, TX
Beheaded, Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
con-figuration, Postmasters, New York, NY
2016
UNTITLED, ART, Richard Heller Gallery, Miami Beach, FLEXPO Chicago, Richard Heller Gallery, Chicago, IL
Juxtapoz x Superflat, co-curated by Takashi Murakami and Evan Pricco (Juxtapoz Magazine), Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Juxtapoz x Superflat, co-curated by Takashi Murakami and Evan Pricco (Juxtapoz Magazine), Pivot Art + Culture Center, Seattle, WA
Dallas Art Fair, Richard Heller Gallery, Dallas, TX
2015
Objects Installation, Denver Art Museum, Denver, COHEY! 3, Halle St Pierre, Paris, FR
The Copenhagen Interpretation, Lodge Gallery, NY, NY
Jokes of Nature, Redline Arts, Denver, CO
All Types of Characters, Joshua Liner Gallery, NY, NY
Pulse NYC, Gallery Poulsen, NY, NY
2014
Heat! Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, DKAnnual Art Auction, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO
Winter Group Show, Jonathan Levine Gallery, NY, NY
Ducks, Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013
Messin’ With The Masters, Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZThe Gallery Poulsen 10 Years Anniversary Show, Copenhagen, Denmark
Beinart Collective 2013 Group Show, Copro Gallery, LA, CA
Varnish 10th Anniversary Show, Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
The Wild Bunch, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark
2012
Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Robischon Gallery, Denver, COUnnatural History, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, England
Against the Grain, Mark Moore Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
SWAB Contemporary Art Fair, Represented by MiTO Contemporary, Barcelona, Spain
2011
Cute and Creepy, Florida State Univ. Museum of Fine Art,Tallahassee, FLDon’t Wake Daddy VI, Feinkunst Kruger, Hamburg, Germany
Dark Water, Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
What would we wish for in the future?, Biologiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Another Roadside Attraction, ISE Cultural Foundation, New York, New York
2010
Ripe, Seattle Pacific Arts Center, Seattle, WAAnother Roadside Attraction, ISE Cultural Foundation, New York, NY
New Realisms, MiTO Contemporary, Barcelona, Spain
2009
OCHO: Numero Atomico Global Group Show, ROJO Artspace, Barcelona, Spain15th Annual Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
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Juxtapoz Magazine, Vol. 159, San Francisco, CA
Lodown, Mystery Issue, Berlin, Germany
The Wild, WTF Issue, NY, NY
Joia Magazine, Vol. 36, Santiago, Chile
Hi-Fructose, Vol. 25, Ouch Factory Yum Club, Richmond, CA
Hey! Modern Art and Pop Culture Mag., Ankama Editions, Paris, France
Cute and Creepy Exhibition Catalog, Florida State U MoFA, Tallahassee, FL
Playboy Magazine, November 2010, Playboy Inc., Chicago, IL
Beautiful/Decay Book 4, Feral Children Publishing, Los Angeles, CA
Direct Art Magazine, Vol., 17 Slowart Publishing, NY
Cartilagine, Vol. 0, Milan, Italy
Empty Magazine, Issue #15 (Cover), Design is Kinky Publishing, Australia
ROJO OCHO: Numero Atomico, ROJO Publishing, Barcelona, Spain
Direct Art Magazine Vol. 15, Slowart Publishing, NY
Look de Book, Issue #2 Vol. 1, Barcelona, Spain
Metamorphosis II, Beinart Publishing Co. New Brunswick, Australia
SELECTED PRESS
2019
Devon Preston, This Artist Paints Disturbing Face-Tatted Subjects, Inked, July 11, 20192018
David Pagel, Van Minnen: To Cut Out the Cracks int he Patriarchal Society, Gallery Magazine, China, January2017
David Pagel, Christian Rex van Minnen's modern tales of male domination, painted like an old master, LA Times, November 25, 2017Evan Pricco, Christian Rex van Minnen In Mourning and Rebirth, Juxtapoz, November
Rosalind Duguid, Christian Rex van Minnen on Horror, Humour and Light, Elephant, October 31
Jacob Hicks, “Christian Rex van Minnen in Conversation with Jacob Hicks,” QuantumArtReview, February 4
2016
Diana Shi, “Opposites Attract in a Surreal and Terrifying Art Show,” The Creators Project, October 2Nina Azzarello, “christian rex van minnen's paintings are brutal, beautiful and bizarre,” Design Boom, February 22
2015
Nastia Voynovskaya, “Studio Visit: Christian Rex van Minnen Breaks Down His Layered Oil Painting Process,” Hi Fructose, June 8Helena Celdrán, “Christian van Minnen: retratos y bodegones de belleza repulsiva,” 20 minutos, February 17
2014
“CHRISTIAN REX VAN MINNEN INSTALLS GIANT BILLBOARD IN NY FOR THE ARTHA PROJECT,” Upper Playground, November 22Julie Antolick Winters, “Interview: Christian Rex van Minnen,” Bein Art Gallery, November 13
Marco Annunziata and Kate Messinger, “RUDE BOYS: Christian Rex van Minnen,” The Wild Magazine, April 1
2013
Meghan MacRae, “Fever Dream...Christian Rex van Minnen,” CVLT NATION, May 27Russ Crest, “Made With Color Presents: The Grotesque Paintings Of Christian Rex van Minnen,”
Beautiful/Decay, March 27
Marina Galperina, “Artist’s Notebook: Christian Rex van Minnen,” Animal, March 25
2008
Meighan O’Toole, “Q&A WITH CHRISTIAN REX VAN MINNEN,” My Love for You Blog, November 3 -
2011
Artist in Residence, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO -
2015
Featured in @Large: Creators at Work TV Documentary Series, Redbull Production Studios, NYC -
Denver Art Museum
Djurhuus Collection
Colecciōn Solo
Richard B. Sachs Collection