b. 1966
Lives and works in Portland, OR
Solo Exhibitions
2020
Jet, StudiOffice, San Francisco, CA
2015
The Children’s Hour, [2nd Floor Projects], San Francisco, CA
2014
D-L Alvarez and Eileen Maxson, Artadia Gallery, New York, NY
2013
The Unforgiving Minute, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
2012
D-L Alvarez: MATRIX 243, Berkley Art Museum, Berkley, CA
2011
Galeria Casado Santapau, Madrid, Spain
2009
Dusty Hayes, 2nd Floor Projects, San Francisco, CA
2008
Dead Leafs, Galeria Casado Santapau, Madrid, Spain
2007
Parents' Day, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
DIG, with Wayne Smith, Derek Eller Gallery (project room), New York, NY
2006
Casper, (with Matthew Lutz-Kinoy), A +B Arratiabeer, Berlin, Germany,
2005
rise, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
Ice, Glue, Berlin, Germany
2004
Beausoleil, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
2002
The Road to Hell Less Traveled, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
2000
Sculpture Garden, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
1999
Chorus, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998
Knights Gathering Flowers, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
Dust, Th.e (Theoretical Events), Naples, Italy
1995
Dandylion, Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, CA
A Shepherd and His Flock, London Projects, London, UK
1994
Night of the Hunter, Kiki, San Francisco, CA
1990
Political Stance, (installation documenting performance), ATA, San Francisco, CA
1989
Elvis Clocked, Les Indes Galantes, Paris, France
Group Exhibitions
2021
Ghosts of Future Pasts, Portland International Film Festival, OR
The Bumpy Road, Helen’s Costume, Portland OR
2020
The Party’s Over, Grant Wahlquist Gallery, Portland, Maine
The de Young Open, de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
Peace, Delaplane, San Francisco, CA
Coloring, Exile, Vienna, Austria
2019
Strange, Berkeley Art Museum, CA
Tales of the City, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, CA
Ties, Tales, and Traces, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
Queer California: Untold Stories, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
2017
Drawings from the Collection: 1980 to Today, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
2016
Subject To Capital, Henry Street Settlement/Abrons Arts Center, New York, NY
Tight Ass: Labor Intensive Drawing and Realism, curated by Brett Reichman, CB1 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015
FLÖHE, der Volkspark Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2014
Ephemera As Evidence, La Mama Galleria, NY, NY
2013
Ballet of Heads, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
Snapshot Poetics Now, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
Everything Out There, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012
The Visitor Owl, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Up Against It, Munch, New York, NY
Panorama, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Stage Presence: Theatricality in Art and Media, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Drawn from Photography, The DePaul University Art Museum, Chicago, IL
Joe/ Brains/Lamar, CCS Bard Library and Archives, New York, NY
2011
The Air We Breathe, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
View of Outer Space From an Aquarium, crated by Billy Miller, Famous Accountants, NY, NY
The Weaklings, curated by Dennis Cooper, Five Years, London, UK
Deutsche Show, Divus, Prague, Czech Republic
Drawn from Photography, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Breaking Ranks, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
Unpunished, curated by Nayland Blake, Sue Scott Gallery, New York, NY
2010
The Pencil Show, Foxy Production, New York, NY
Hauntology, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
Lost Horizon, Exile, Berlin, Germany
Massenbeschleuniger, Galerie Lorenz, Frankfurt, Germany
When the Rabbit Taught the Eagle a Lesson, Participant, Inc., New York, NY
Paper Awesome, Baer Ridgeway, San Francisco, CA
2009
Zeigen, Temporare Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany
First Service, Das Schwules Museum, Berlin, Germany
Access All Areas, Max Hetzler, Berlin, Germany
Galaxy: A Hundred or So Stars Visible to the Naked Eye, University of California, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkelely, CA
2008
Passageworks: Contemporary Art From The Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
The Proof Is In the Pudding, Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA
Face Forward, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York, NY
2007
Freehand, Arratia Beer, Berlin, Germany
NeoIntegrity, curated by Keith Mayerson, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
noh interior, Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa
Pussy Pussy Hello Hello, Glue, Berlin, Germany
2006
Momento Mori, Mireille Mosler, Ltd., New York, NY
Summer Group Exhibition, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
Twice Drawn, The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY
Inaugural Group Exhibition, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
2005
Looking at Words: The Formal Presence of Text in Modern and Contemporary Works on Paper, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY
Drawings from The Modern, 1975-2005, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
me myself and i, gutleut 15, Frankfurt, Germany
2004
Ordinary Travellers: D-L Alvarez / Rainer Kamlah, Laura Mars Group, Berlin, Germany
Impact- New Mural Projects, P.P.O.W., New York, NY
On Paper, Nicole Klagsbrun, New York, NY
Birdspace: A Post-Audubon Artists Aviary, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
2003
Drawings, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
Back in Black, Cohen Leslie & Browne, New York, NY
20 Years 20 Artists, The Lab, San Francisco, CA
Queer Space, Boogie Woogie Kiosk, Dresden, Germany
2002
Drawings 2002, New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ
Landscape, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
2001
Contemporary Utopia, Museum of Art Arsenais, Gallery Noass, Latvia
Fresh.The Altoids Collection, The New Museum, New York, NY
Made in California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Bestiary, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
Human/Nature, Caren Golden Fine Art, New York, NY
Sightings, curated by Jeffrey Walkowiak, Center for Curatorial Studies Museum, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
1998
El Campo, Berlin Bienale, Berlin, Germany
Imaginary Friend, Rupert Goldsworthy, New York, NY
Chicklet, John Begruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Agenda, Debs & Co., New York, NY
Pay-per-View, Caren Golden Fine Art, New York, NY
Canary, Theoretical Environments, Naples, Italy
1997
Stuttered Landscape, MIX Experimental Film and Video Festival, NY
Works on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
Scene of the Crime, Hammer Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
D-L Alvarez and Ruby Neri, New Works, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA
Selections Winter, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
1996
SECA Award: D-L Alvarez, Anne Appleby, Barry McGee, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Wooster (in-home installation), 3580 Jackson, San Francisco, CA; 2/96
1995
Fabricators, Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Wild Side, LACE, Los Angeles, CA
Drawing the 20th Century, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
El Corazon Mi Dio un Salto, Galeria de la Raza, San Francisco, CA
In a Different Light, University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
1994
Rooms for the Dead, Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Introductions, Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Bong, Alleged, New York, NY
Sick Joke, Kiki, San Francisco, CA
1993
Dress Code, Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
CaCa, Kiki, San Francisco, CA
1992
Situation, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA
1990
Broken, The LAB, San Francisco, CA
1989
What's Wrong With This Picture?, Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Curatorial Work
2009
Psychometry (II), Arratia Beer, Berlin, Germany
Psychometry (I), Exile, Berlin, Germany
2003
Hand Drawn Maps, Derek Eller Gallery, NY
1996
Sublingual, A Different Light, San Francisco, CA
Spirograph, MIX Experimental Film and Video Festival, New York, NY
1994
Tiny Shoes, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA
1992
Carrie Mae Weems, (Adeline Kent Award) Walter Mcbean Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1990
Liquid Eyeliner, Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Performative Installations
1997
What I Was Wearing (for Bay Area Now), Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
1996
Hot Wheels (for Home Boy Beautiful), Highways, Los Angeles, CA
1994
Mousy, Line, Basel, Switzerland
Narrow Rooms, Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Red Asphalt, The LAB, San Francisco, CA
1989
Blue Collar, Green Apple, San Francisco, CA
Slate, Uncle Bert's, San Francisco, CA
Blight Spirit, Uncle Bert's, San Francisco, CA
Airport Whore, Orly, Paris, France
Comic Body, Hotel Paris, France
Work Ethic, 2017 Sonora, Stockton, CA
1988
The Advantages of Fluid Exchange, Warfield, San Francisco, CA
Narrow Rooms, A Different Light, San Francisco, CA
Stewart's Position, Media & Best Western, San Francisco,CA
Political Stance, Operation Concern & St. Paul Hotel, San Francisco, CA
1987
South, New Orleans Youth Hostel, New Orleans, Louisiana
Manual Alphabet, Sutro Bathes, San Francisco,CA
1986
Deaf Romantic, STUD, San Francisco, CA
Walk w/Dave, 2017 Sonora, Stockton, CA
Bibliography
2012
Bastianello, Samuele and Kai Nødland. "Artist Feature #15: D-L Alvarez,” TheWitnessZine 28 Feb 2012. Print.
2011
Rosenberg, Karen. "Authorship or Translation? Notes Toward Redefining Creativity,” The New York Times 24 Feb 2011. Print.
Gilman, Claire. "Drawn from Photography Drawing Papers, Vol. 96. New York," The Drawing Center, 2011. Print.
2010
Gilman, Claire. "Marking Politics: Drawing as Translation in Recent Art,” Art Journal Spring/Summer 2010. Print.
2008
Vogel, Traci. "Time in a Bottle,” San Francisco Weekly 9-15 Jul. 2008. Print.
2007
McClister, Nell. “D-L Alvarez,” BOMB Magazine Editor’s choice Fall 2007: 14. Print.
Cotter, Holland. “When the Curator Is Also an Artist, Go Ahead, Expect Surprises,” The New York Times. 9 Aug. 2007. Print.
Kurchanova, Natasha. "D-L Alvarez,” Flash Art 12 Nov. 2007. Print.
2005
Harris, Jane. “D-L Alvarez rise,” Time Out New York 10-16 Nov. 2005. Print.
Kantor, Jordan. "Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing," London: Phaidon, 2005. Print.
2004
Johnson, Ken. “Impact - New Mural Projects,” The New York Times 30 Jul. 2004: E35. Print.
Levin, Kim. “D-L Alvarez,” The Village Voice 3-9 Mar. 2004: 92. Print.
2002
Bischoff, Dan. “Drawings 2002,” The Star-Ledger 11-17 Oct 2002: 26. Print. O
Levin, Kim. "D-L Alvarez,” The Village Voice 1 May 2002. Print.
Mahoney, Robert. “Landscape,” Time Out New York 21-28 Feb. 2002: 51. Print.
2001
Chambers, Christopher. "A Curiously Strong Collection,” Flash Art Mar/Apr. 2001: 44. Print.
2000
Vogel, Carol. "Gift to New Museum,” The New York Times 29 Sep. 2000: E28. Print.
Richard, Francis. "D-L Alvarez,” Artforum Sep. 2000: 179-80. Print.
Cotter, Holl Uand. "D-L Alvarez,” The New York Times 12 May 2000: E36. Print.
"Goings on About Town,” The New Yorker 15 May 2000: 20. Print.
Levin, Kim. "D-L Alvarez,” The Village Voice 9 May 2000: 106-107. Print.
1999
Turner, Grady T. “Talk," World Art Summer 1999. Print.
Harris, Jane. "D-L Alvarez,” Art in America Jul. 1999. Print.
Jana, Reena. "D-L Alvarez,” Frieze Sep/Oct. 1999: 111. Print.
Shottenkirk, Dina. "Letter from New York,” C Feb/Apr. 1999: 46. Print.
Turner, Grady T. "D-L Alvarez,” Flash Art Mar/Apr. 1999: 111. Print.
1998
Johnson, Ken. "D-L Alvarez,” The New York Times 11 Dec. 1998. Print.
Levin, Kim. "D-L Alvarez,” The Village Voice 22 Dec 1998: 80. Print.
1997
Cotter, Holland. "Selections Winter ’97," The New York Times 24 Jan. 1997: C29. Print. Bonnetti, David. San Francisco Examiner 30 May 1997: D2. Print.
Roche, Harry. The San Francisco Bay Guardian Jun. 1997. Print.
Pritikin, Renny and Rene de Guzman. Bay Area Now. San Francisco: Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Gardens, 1997. Print.
1995
Baker, Kenneth. "Sculptors Share Material Vision in Fabricators,” San Francisco Chronicle 12 Sep. 1995. Print.
Bonetti, David. "Art's Ugly Ducklings: Yerba Buena Showcases Quest for Beauty in Junk With a Very '90s Twist,” San Francisco Examiner 15 Jul. 1995. Print.
Lewallen, Constance M. and Renny Pritikin. Fabricators: New Bay Area Sculpture. San Francisco: Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Gardens, 1995. Print.
Roche, Harry. "Critic's Choice: Art ‘Fabricators," San Francisco Bay Guardian 13 Sep. 1995: 87. Print.
Topiary, Samuael. "Imaginary Places & Other Objects of Unattainable Desire,” San Francisco Weekly 15 Sep. 1995. Print.
Bonnetti, David. "A Quest For Beauty in Junk,” San Francisco Examiner 29 Sep. 1995: C10. Print.
1994
Friedman, Robert . "D-L Alvarez at Jack Hanley Gallery,” Artweek 4 Aug. 1994: 18. Print. Friedman, Robert. "Chewed up, spat out at Jack Hanley Gallery,” Bay Area Reporter 14 Jul. 1994. Print.
Bonnetti, David . "A New Round of Introductions,” San Francisco Examiner 15 Jul. 1994: C19. Print.
Helfand, Glen. "Sympathy for the devil,” SF Weekly 6 Apr. 1994: 19. Print.
1993
Schlagel, Anthony. "Five Writers I've Come Across,” Exile, Vol 1, No 3. Summer 1993. Print.
Bonnetti, David. “Broken...," San Francisco Examiner 8 Oct. 1993: D19. Print.
1991
Karr, John F. "Furthering the Queer Juggernaut,” Perform 21 Feb. 1991. Print.
Selected Public Collections
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
University Art Museum of Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC
New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX