Karen May’s work is almost funerary in nature, seeking to recapture the memories of her past. For more than a half-century May lived with her mother and father and memories of this seemingly idyllic time tend to haunt her work. Her paintings are often depictions of the home they shared. Her sculptures are recreations of her family.
May is also an avid fan of popular music, frequently incorporating lyrics of hit songs and standards into her work.
Over the last several years, she has created and continued a series of detournements, manipulating art exhibition advertisements in art periodicals with ink and marker.
// Karen’s available work //
exhibition history
And Then Some… // NIAD Annex Exhibition // May 2022
DreamForms, curated by Lauren Ari and Julio Del Rio // NIAD Online Exhibition // March 2022
Road to Nowhere // selected by Eric Shiner // NIAD Online Exhibition // January 2021
Another Fine Mess Age: Anthony Grant X NIAD // NIAD Windows 2020
Through My Eyes// organized By Scott Hewicker and Cliff Hengst NIAD Art Center 2020
Good On Paper: Erin McCluskey Wheeler x NIAD // NIAD Art Center 2020
Fiberful // organized By Cynthia Ona Innis NIAD Art Center 2019
A Kind of Movement // organized by Jay Wehnert Portland Art And Learning Studios 2019
Ether Here Nor There: Anthony Grant x NIAD // NIAD Art Center 2019
L’Amérique N’Existe Pas // organized by Matthieu Morin Art Et Marges Museum Brussels 2019
CE x CG X NIAD // Minnesota Street Projects San Francisco 2019
Business Casual // organized By Maria Guzman Capron and Nan Collymore NIAD Art Center May 2019
Hailing From Parts Unknown // organized By Curtis Turner NIAD Art Center 2019
Map It // Museum of Northern California Art (monca) Chico 2019
Books, Man // organized by Mike Monteiro NIAD Art Center 2019
Redefining Contemporary Art // organized by Courtney Eldridge Depot Steamboat Springs 2019
Collective Memory: NIAD // organized by Hannah Mode 2019
Where They Want To Go // organized by Erin McCluskey Wheeler NIAD Art Center 2019
Talking Heads: Figuration From Northern California Ceramicists // Curated organized by Susan Alexander and NIAD Art Center Museum of Northern California Art (monca) Chico 2018
Exquisite Corpse: CG x CE x NIAD // NIAD Art Center 2018
It’s Complicated // organized by Kathleen King NIAD Art Center 2018
Microcosmic // organized by Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh NIAD Art Center 2018
The Genre Leaps // organized by Margaret Tedesco NIAD Art Center 2018
Reinventing History // NIAD Art Center 2018
Can Did // organized By Julio Rodriguez NIAD Art Center 2018
The Witnesses // organized by Cliff Hengst and Scott Hewicker NIAD Art Center 2017
Affinity // organized by Tim Buckwalter Museum of Northern California Art Chico 2017
We Can Do It! 2 // Hurwich Library, Alliant University San Francisco 2017
Collograph // NIAD Art Center 2017, Yali’s Cafe Stanley Hall Berkeley 2017
LA Art Book Fair // White Columns Booth, BFA Press Booth 2017
Creature Feature // organized by John Casey NIAD Art Center 2017
NADA Miami Art Fair // White Columns Booth Miami Florida 2016
Karen May // NIAD Art Center 2016
Curious Weave // organized by Ramekon O’Arwisters NIAD Art Center 2016
Cities In Mind // organized by Kathleen King NIAD Art Center 2016
Party Animals! // organized by Katie Johnson NIAD Art Center 2016
Celebrating A Vision: Art & Disability // SFO Terminal 2 2016
Adventure! // organized By Scott MacLeod NIAD Art Center 2015
Welcome To My World // organized by Chris Ashley NIAD Art Center 2015
Assemble: A NIAD Art Center Project With Nina Zurier // organized by Nina Zurier NIAD Art Center 2015
Musiquarium // NIAD Art Center 2015
City In Motion // NIAD Art Center 2014
Avatar // organized by Justine Frischmann NIAD Art Center 2014
Wild Ones // Women’s Cancer Resource Center Oakland 2014
Local Motion, Part One // Hercules Public Library 2013-14
Where Have All The People Gone? // organized by Amy Miller Village Theatre Art Gallery Danville 2013
Yes To The Dress Pop-Up Shop // organized by Peter Gravener NIAD Art Center 2013
Diamond Dogs Pet Supply Pop-Up Shop // NIAD Art Center 2103
Mud, Honey // NIAD Art Center 2013
Championship Vinyl // NIAD Art Center 2013
A Light That Never Goes Out: Continuing Traditions In Abstraction // NIAD Art Center 2013
publications
Star 82 Review Issue 10.1, edited by Alisa Golden // March 2022
Karen May: Let it be a book // TUTTO Publishers // 2021
Karen May, BFA Press 2016
press
The Editorial Magazine: Nurturing Independence Through Artistic Development (July 27, 2020)
The September Issues: Revisionism (2019, Fall)
Artsy: 9 Artists To Watch At NADA Miami (2017, December)
Nat. Brut: I, Too, Like Purple (May 2017)
Artsy: NADA’s Emerging Art Community Thrives Amid Turbulent Times (2016, December)
San Francisco Chronicle: “City In Motion”: NIAD Artists Create Urban Environment (2014, May)
San Francisco Chronicle: ‘Avatar’: Exhibition At NIAD Art Center (2014, January)
San Ramon Valley Times: Disabled Artists Work On Display (2013, September)
San Francisco Chronicle: NIAD Art Center’s Gifts Of Artistic Ability (2012, December)