Preetika Rajgariah Preetika Rajgariah is a multidisciplinary artist whose works examine the complicated intersections of cultural + queer identity, nostalgia, and capitalist consumption while referencing her traditional upbringing as an Indian born, Texas raised American. She has been in residence at the Momentary, Oxbow, ACRE, Vermont Studio Center, and the School of Visual Arts NYC, and she has exhibited and performed in spaces such as Material Art Fair in Mexico City, Untitled Miami Basel, the Asia Society Texas Center, Roots & Culture and the Donnelley Foundation in Chicago, the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts and SOMArts in San Francisco, Women & Their Work in Austin, and Diverseworks Houston. She received her MFA from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and currently lives and works in Houston, TX. Education2018 MFA, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL2008 BFA, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX2007 Summer Study Abroad Program, Syracuse University, Florence, Italy Residencies2026 McColl Center, Charlotte, NC2025 Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX2024 Stove Works, Chattanooga, TNGolden Foundation, New Berlin, NY2023 The Momentary at Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, AK2021 Asia Society of Texas, Houston, TX2020 Galveston Artist Residency, Galveston, TX2018 Oxbow, Saugatuck, MI2018 ACRE, Steuben, WI2014 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT2010 School of Visual Arts, New York, NY Solo Exhibitions2026 Golden Hour, Galveston Art Center, Galveston, TX2025 Possibilities of a Garden, Erin Cluley Gallery, Dallas, TXperpetual practice, Louisiana Tech University School of Design, Ruston, LADowntown Digital Art Billboard, Reverb Hotel, Atlanta, GA (curator: Lauren Jackson Harris)2024 Significant & Tiny, Bill Arning Exhibitions, Solo booth EXPO Art Fair, Chicago, IL2023 Between Frustration & Fulfillment, Unit London, UK (Kelsey Corbett)your potential self is infinite, Public Tent Installation commission, Moody Center for the Arts,Rice University, Houston, TX (Molly Everett)Flame and Fortune, Bill Arning Exhibitions, Material Fair, Mexico City, Mexico2022 Servicing Self, Bill Arning Exhibitions Hudson Valley, NYPleasure Tense, Bill Arning Exhibitions, Houston, TX2021 have, have knots, performance at Untitled Art Fair, Miami Art Basel, FLMade for Export, performance at Asia Society, Houston, TX2019 Wild Wild Country, Women & Their Work, Austin, TXEntangled, Art League Houston, TXi ain’t sari, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX2017 Star Spangled, Women’s Resource Center, Champaign, IL2016 So Exotic, Lightbox Gallery, Champaign, ILIntersections, Figure One Gallery, Champaign, IL2015 Migrating Identities, Art League of Houston, Houston, TX Group Exhibitions2025 Dance of Resistance, Center for Visual Art, MSU Denver, CO (curator: Cecily Cullen)Between Lines and Faces, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX (Phillip Townsend)10000 Flowers Bloom: Sources of Self Regard, Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver, CA (Nya Lewis)Made in Paint, The Sam & Adele Golden Foundation, New Berlin, NY (Jim Walsh)2024 Body Freedom for Every(Body), Project for Empty Space, traveling exhibition (Jasmine Wahi)Space City: Art in the Age of Artemis, Asia Society of TX, (Owen Duffy)I Came to See You, McClain Gallery, Houston, TX (Helene Schlumberger)Like Share Subscribe, Rajiv Menon Contemporary, Los Angeles, CAStop & Stare, UTA Artist Space, Atlanta, GA (Genevieve Gaignard)2023 Item Number, Rajiv Menon Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA (Rajiv Menon)Presence in the Pause: Interiority and its Radical Immanence (Rachel Adams), Bemis, NEPede Fete, TwoDykesandaKnife, Sanman Studios, Houston, TX, (Erika Mei Chua)2022 Add on Art, Houston Arts Alliance, (commission)LETTO, performance work for Autumn Knight, Rome, Italy (2 person)Grow Our Souls, SOMArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA (Melissa Wang)Threads Bare, Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, TX (Jacqueline McGilvray)2021 Equi/table: Visionary Futures: Two Dykes and a Knife, DiverseWorks, Houston, TX (AshleyDeHoyos)res.o.lu.tion, National Geographic expedition ship (commission)Carriers: The Body as a Site of Danger and Desire. Blaffer Gallery, Houston, TX (Tyler Blackwell)2020 On the Surface, The MAC, Dallas, TX (Consuelo Gutierrez)2019 Chew with Your Mouth Open, TwoDykesAndaKnife, Jonathan Hopson Gallery, Houston, TXIndian American Indian, Flats Presents, Houston, TX (Emily Peacock)Jagah// Jadoo, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco, CAThreshing Whispers, Neidorff Art Gallery, San Antonio, TX (Jessica Halonen)2018 Let the Fancy, UIS Visual Art Gallery, Springfield, IL (Allison Lacher)An Undoing, Roots & Culture, Chicago, IL (2 person)Sari Not Sorry, Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, ILMaMA: Women in the Arts, The Union, Houston, TX (India Lovejoy)2017 A Sag, Harbored, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL (Scott Speh)20th International Open, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, ILBetween the Sky and the Earth, Roots & Culture, Chicago, IL (Sharmyn Cruz Rivera)2016 Pattern Recognition, Fort Gondo, St.Louis, MO (Jessica Baran)Temporary Proportions, CV Lloyd Gallery, Champaign, ILSpace & Weight, South Studios, Champaign, IL2013 American Painting Today, Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, MI (Tami Miller)Disturbance of Distance, Box 13, Houston, TX (Kimberly Aubuchon)2012 The Power of Paint, Avis Frank Gallery, Houston, TX4th Annual Juried Exhibition, Archway Gallery, Houston, TX2011 Gambol, Finalist, The Art League, Houston, TXThe Sketchbook Project, Art House, Brooklyn, NY2010 5th Annual Artist Trading Card Exhibition, Richmond Art Gallery, British Columbia2008 Thought for Food, Trinity University Art Gallery, San Antonio, TX Professional Experience2025 Artist talk + MFA studio visits, Louisiana Tech University School of Design, Ruston, LAVisiting Artist Talk, Metropolitan State University Center for Visual Arts, Denver, CO2024 Artist Studio Visit, Glassell Studio School BLOCK Program (Francesca Fuchs), Houston, TXBonhams Auction, Modern + Contemporary South Asian art, London, UK2023 Artist Talk, Foundations II (Leila Weefur), Stanford University, Berkeley, CAArtist Talk, Art + Design Lecture Series Ceramics (Jennifer Ling Datchuk), TX State UniversityPanel Discussion: Transnational Asian Identity, (Alden Sager) CAMH, Houston, TX2022 Artist Talk, Professional Practices (Holly Veselka), Texas State UniversityArtist Studio Visit, Glassell Studio School BLOCK Program (Francesca Fuchs), Houston, TXPanel Discussion, Grow Our Souls (Dr. Susette Min), SOMArts, San Francisco, CAVisiting Artist Talk, Arts in Houston, University of Houston, TX2021 Artist Feature, Pride Month Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX (virtual)Artist Talk, Texas Talks Art (Ashley DeHoyos), Diverseworks, Houston, TX (virtual)Artist Interview , Carriers: Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, TX (virtual)2020 Journal Contributor, Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism, Vol. 192019 Panel Discussion Talk About + Interview, Women and Their Work, Austin, TXPanel Discussion I ain’t sari, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TXArtist Talk + Studio Visits, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX Awards + Publications2025 In a culture of fear, every art show feels like a dangerous act. Ray Rinaldi. The Denver Post.The Big Show, Juror’s Award, Lawndale Art Center.2024 Dredging the Sea. Alyssa Ortega Coppelman. Oxford American Southern Art Issue.2023 The Art of Being Alone, Together. Nancy Zastudil. Hyperallergic.Traveling Somewhere Warm in our Minds. Chenoa Baker. Sixty from Center.2022 Preetika Rajgariah: Servicing Self. KK Kozik. The Brooklyn Rail.Critics’ Pick Houston. Salome Kokoladze. ArtForum Magazine.2021 Artadia Houston AwardeeIdea Fund Round 14 AwardeePreetika Rajgariah’s Acts of Reclamation. Amarie Gipson. Houstonia Magazine.2018 Texas Studio: Preetika Rajgariah. Emily Hynds. Arts and Culture Texas.Home to Self: An Interview with Preetika Rajgariah, Tempestt Hazel. Sixty From Center.OPP Interviews Preetika Rajgariah, Stacia Yeapanis. OtherPeoplesPixels.2012 New American Paintings, No. 102, Western Issue. (Juror: Bill Arning)