CURRICULUM VITAE
Born Los Angeles County, California
SOLO & GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023, 5×5, Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Santa Barbara
2021, East Oakland Collective Fundraiser, Old Crow Tattoo, Oakland
2020, 5×5, Celebrating Ten Years, Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Santa Barbara
2020, Color & Form, Alexandra Ray Art Consulting, San Francisco
2018, Color & Form | Landscapes, Groundswell Art Gallery, Sacramento
2017, Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
2017, Color & Form, elizabeth charles, San Francisco
2017, Color & Form, District, Oakland
2016, Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
2016, Color & Form, Ruby Livingdesign, Menlo Park
2016, Color & Form, District, Oakland
2016, On Paper, District, San Francisco
2016, Color & Form | Abstract Lines, Gump’s, San Francisco
2015, Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
2015, SBFA Annual Art Trunk Show, Stephanie Breitbard Fine Arts, San Francisco
2015, Buddha Faces, Gump’s, San Francisco
2015, Color & Form, Lumina showcase presented by DZINE, San Francisco
2015, Color & Form, Gump’s, San Francisco
2015, Red Light Lit Book Release Party, Velvet Room, Clift Hotel, San Francisco
2015, Grand Opening, Aloft Hotel, Sunnyvale
2014, Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco 2014, Ruby Livingdesign, Mill Valley
2014, Healdsburg Center for the Art, Healdsburg
2014, San Francisco Decorator Showcase, Laura Larkin Study, San Francisco
2014, McEvoy Fine Art, Black and White Group Exhibition, San Francisco
2014, McEvoy Fine Art, San Francisco Design Center’s Third Thursdays Sip and Shop, San Francisco
2013, Third Thursdays, McEvoy Fine Art, The Design Center, San Francisco,
2012, Mitchell Law Group, Privately held exhibition, San Francisco
2012, Decade; Celebrating Ten Years of Art by Michelle Tholen, Privately held exhibition, San Francisco
2012, The 2012 Leukemia & Lymphoma Benefit, Martin Lawrence Galleries, San Francisco
2012, Artopia, Exhibiting SF Weekly Masterminds Grant Finalists, Public Works, San Francisco
2012, First Thursday Art Show, McEvoy Fine Art, The Design Center San Francisco
2011, First Thursday Art Show, McEvoy Fine Art, The Design Center San Francisco
2011, Color & Light, District, San Francisco
2011, Style de Vie, Maserati of San Francisco, Mill Valley
2011, Gump’s Presents La Mer Show, Presented by Gump’s, San Francisco
2010, Color & Light, Coda Jazz Supper Club, San Francisco
2010, Art & Wine, BIN38, San Francisco
2010, Photography a Benefit for UNICEF, Taverna Aventine, San Francisco
2010, SEX sells …a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
2009, Photography a Benefit for UNICEF, Open Studio, San Francisco
2009, Color & Light, Open Studio, San Francisco
2009, Woman-owned business of the year awards presented by
Women’s Initiative for Self Employment, 111 Minna, Gallery, San Francisco
2009, Color & Form, BIN38, San Francisco
2009, Art in the Parc, Parc 55 Hotel, Presented by Delysium, San Francisco
2009, Charcoal Studies Benefiting Earth Island Institute, BIN38, San Francisco
2008, Faces of Indonesia a Benefit to UNICEF, BIN38, San Francisco
2008, Color & Light, BIN38, San Francisco
2007, Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
2007, Color & Light, EO’s Restaurant, San Francisco
2006, Faces of Indonesia a Benefit to UNICEF, Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco
2006, Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
2005, Art for AIDS, San Francisco
2005, Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
2005, Color & Light, U Street, San Francisco
2005, Indonesia Inspired a Benefit to UNICEF, Privately held, San Francisco
2004, Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
2003, Color in Abstract, American Industrial Center, San Francisco
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS FOR RETAIL CURRENT
Saatchi Art
Singulart
The Artling
Bluethumb Art
Boston Art
NY Elizabeth
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS FOR RETAIL PAST
Ruby Livingdesign, Menlo Park, California
Martin Showroom, St. Helena, California
Ruby Livingdesign, San Francisco, California
Groundswell Art Gallery, Sacramento, California
Gump’s, San Francisco, California
Jessie Black, San Francisco, California
Hanson Gallery, Sausalito, California
Ruby Livingdesign, Berkeley, California
Elizabeth Charles, San Francisco, California
Ruby Livingdesign, Mill Valley, California
Saffron and Genevieve, Santa Cruz, California
Stephanie Breitbard Fine Arts, San Francisco, California
McEvoy Fine Art, San Francisco, California
Roche Bobois, San Francisco, California
ParkGate Home, Menlo Park, California
Aloft Hotel, Sunnyvale, California
Healdsburg Center for The Arts, Healdsburg, California
District, San Francisco, California
District, Oakland, California
Hang Art at EO’s, San Francisco, California
Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco, California
111 Minna, San Francisco, California
Martin Lawerence Gallery, San Francisco, California
Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, California
Sense Fine Art, Atherton, California
Busacca Online Gallery
Etsy Online Gallery
SELECT CURATED EXHIBITIONS
2013, W.Ego Journals . Privately held photography exhibition by Dusan Kochol, San Francisco
2011, Japanime …a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
2010, Sex Fiction …a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
2010, SEX sells …a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
PUBLICATION
Featured artist at BlueThumb Art
Publication in San Francisco Times
Publication in Shoutout SoCal
Featured artist in Saatchi Art
Featured artist in the Artling
Publication in California Press
Video Interview with Groundswell Art Gallery: https://youtu.be/hxAsutujSTU
Groundswell Art Gallery, 2018; “Tholen departed her first career as an accountant to explore and nurture her creative desires. She is self-taught and has drawn inspiration from modern artists such as Rothko and Pollock to create her own style.”
Featured in The Culture Trip, 2017; “10 San Francisco Artists You Should Know” – Adriana Jones
Hanson Gallery, 2017; “Reinvent-able spaces explored by themes of memory in relation to nature.”
“The clean and balanced composition of Tholen’s art reflects on the art of Rothko and Pollock in a style of its own.” – Adriana Jones
Featured in Rue Magazine, 2016; “A Dramatic Before and After from Caitlin Flemming and Homepolish”.
Featured in SFC&G Magazine, 2016; “GALLERY Architect Craig Steely’s Modern Vision Revives a Humble 1908 Edwardian in Bernal Heights”.
Featured in 3D Magazine, 2016; San Francisco Design Center.
Featured in LUXE Interiors and Design Magazine, 2015.
Featured in California Home & Design and Jonathan Rachman Design, 2015.
SF weekly’s Jonathan Curiel, 2012;
“Tholen’s landscapes are timeless riffs that almost abstract the horizon – a mix between reflection and refraction.”
“In Walden, Henry David Thoreau waxes eloquent about the lure of nature, including the inspiration he got from light … It’s that sort of natural light that Michelle Tholen captures in her paintings, a light that inspires even as it is presented without sentiment.”
“Her first landscape painting was a chance to recreate “a moment I fell in love with.” The subsequent paintings seem to capture that same momentous feeling. “
7×7, Damion Matthews, 2015;
“Maison Margiela’s Opening Party…joined by leading figures in art and design…artist Michelle Tholen”
Crown Nine, 2012;
“She brings out the ethereal and evokes a sense of place, real or imagined, playing with contrast and emotion without fussing or overworking her pieces.”
Suzannah Scully, 2011;
“When I learned that she was an accountant before becoming an artist, I was blown away.
I can only imagine what guts it took on her part and the self-awareness that she had to follow what fulfilled her.
Her showings absolutely pack a place. Michelle has an incredible following and I can see why. Her art is absolutely stunning.”
Synchronized Chaos, 2011; ” Landscape Art by Michelle Tholen”
RundownSF, 2011;
“Eight photographers bring sex-charged Japanimation to life in a one-night-only group exhibition curated by Michelle Tholen.”
Hablan de ella, 2011;
“San Francisco based artist Michelle Tholen’s color & form series â just stunning!”
Palosverdesblog, 2005;
“Michelle Tholen lines the walls with art reflecting depth, light, peace and mystery”
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
2000, Michelle Tholen, Professional Fine Artist, San Francisco
1997, BS, Accounting, California State University, Hayward
1993, Associate in Art, Ohlone College, Fremont California
ARTIST STATEMENT
Inspired by artists Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock, using color combination abstract lines are the subject. Simple and refined, “Color and Form” gives the middle line meaning, purpose, clarity and focus. The artist creates a lure of light in color suggesting more than color and light found in the spiritual that illumines, fills and enlivens.
Tholen’s landscape paintings are inspiration drawn from Northern California and concepts of JMW Turner. The sustenance of stunning mist laden rivers, lakes, and waterways infused with atmosphere and sense of tranquility. Searching for what she loves and trying to capture its essence by showing how interesting that moment in pursuit of the abstract and the timeless. Hopeful in feeling, they suggest real and imagined, material and ethereal, familiar and foreign places.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Inspired by color, Tholen seeks to create color spaces that match a sensory effect and spectra of light within primary colors.
Self-taught Michelle Tholen learned to paint studying concepts of Rothko and Pollock at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco and New York. The artist grew up in the Northern California and resides in the Oakland hills. Educated and working as an accountant, the artist found fulfillment creating art on the side. Following her passion, “Color & Form” was the first step into the art world. She has created hundreds of works and curated a number of exhibitions through-out the bay area.
Michelle has a garden and enjoys going for walks in the Oakland hills with her family.