Artist Bio Born: 1975, Wilson, Kansas, USA Carl Grauer (he/they) is an artist, a painter, and a teacher. Grauer works within the genres of realism, impressionism, surrealism and narrative art. They have an intense interest in portraiture, the figure, queer history, time, the natural world, ritualism, mortality, and the spiritual realm. Born in rural Kansas, Grauer completed their bachelor's degree in Human Biology from the University of Kansas and their MFA in Medical Illustration from the University of Michigan. They spent two years in London studying figurative and portrait painting with several studios and garnered success showing work both nationally and internationally, most notably for the Hudson Valley Artists 2025: Movement exhibition at the Samuel Dorsky Museum, the Wells Art Contemporary Award in the UK, and exhibiting with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in London. Grauer has also participated in the Constance Saltonstall Artist Residency, Jentel Artist Residency, and the Blue Mountain Artist Residency. Currently, they are working and living in Poughkeepsie, New York and showing with several galleries nationally including Carrie Haddad in Hudson, New York. More about the artist:Carl Grauer grew up in Wilson, Kansas, a town of 800 people. He likes to say he was raised between the “N” and the “S” of Kansas because it was in the absolute middle of the state. After childhood, he completed a degree in human biology and an MFA in medical illustration from the University of Kansas and Michigan, respectively. Eventually finding their way to Brooklyn, New York, he worked in advertising for many years and co-owned a small business offering second-hand goods, antiques, collectibles, and fine art all the while wishing for the courage to make art more seriously. Upon the sudden death of his brother in 2012, they committed a life to an authentic pursuit of making art. Now a practicing artist based in Poughkeepsie, NY in the beautiful Hudson Valley, he primarily works in oil, painting from observation, intuition, and surrealism. Having been originally trained as a medical illustrator, their training was extended continuing education in various representational drawing and painting studios and other practicing artists. He shows work locally, nationally, and internationally, including exhibiting with the Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson, NY, and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in London. Artist Statement NATURAL THRESHOLDS, 2025 Three deaths, all within two years, (my mother, best friend, and childhood art teacher and mentor) became catalysts for exploring emotional thresholds, seeking symbolic encounters in nature, and connections beyond the physical realm in this new series of work, Natural Thresholds. Through personal rituals of renewal, transformation, belief, and observation, I commemorate the journey from sorrow to solace and the celebratory moments where grief transforms into hope. The paintings in Natural Thresholds, framed by circular portals and painted in oil, elicit movement between liminal spaces—between shadow and light, and between the physical and the spiritual. By reframing the mythology of mortality and its transformation, I search to restore a connection by merging the tactile into the celestial. With paintings of objects as humble as a small feather found on a walk or views as vast as a star-scape, the connection between the natural and the spiritual worlds are simultaneously held together when they are diametrically opposed. Reflecting upon this universal longing for harmony, I am reminded of loved ones by all these fleeting moments of beauty. Natural Thresholds explores the interplay between loss and discovery, reminding us that some losses can lead to a greater purpose. This series celebrates the emotional landscapes we navigate in search of meaning and connection—a path where compassion may be found as we move from one shadow to the next and into the light. These are days These are the days you might fill with laughter until you break These days you might feel a shaft of light Make its way across your face And when you do you'll know how it was meant to be See the signs and know their meaning It's true You'll know how it was meant to be Hear the signs and know they're speaking to you, to you -10,000 Maniacs EDUCATIONMaster of Fine Arts, University of MichiganBachelor of Arts, Biology, University of KansasSOLO EXHIBITIONS2022 120 MINUTES, Mildred I. Washington Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY2019 The Lavender Temple of Their Most Fabulous, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY2016 Recollections, Point Gallery, Denver, CO SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS2025 Hudson Valley Artists: Movement, The Samuel Dorksy Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY2024 All Figured Out, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY2023 Qu(i)e(t)er Interiors, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY2023 Window, Table, Mirror, Stairs, Bed, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH2022 Body Beautiful II, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY2021 Fragmented Time and Space, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY2021 TIMELAPSE, Fridman Gallery, Beacon, NY2021 Who Really Cares?, The Samuel Dorksy Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY2021 Sunrise/Sunset, Albany International Airport Gallery, Albany, NY2021 88th Annual HHAA Juried Exhibition, Lyme Art Association, Lyme, CT2021 Up Close and Personal, The Art Effect at the Trolley Barn, Poughkeepsie, NY2020 TIME, Bau Gallery, Beacon, NY2020 INTERIORS, Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, MA2020 Providence Art Club National Juried Show, Providence, RI2020 Margins, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY2019 Body Beautiful II, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY2019 FROM MEMORY, Queen City 15 Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY2018 Lights Up!, Queen City 15, Poughkeepsie, NY2018 Here's Looking at You Kid, The Loft at Liz's, Los Angeles, CA2018 Peculiar Rarities, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY2018 The Other Art Fair, Featured Artist; Los Angeles, CA and Brooklyn, NY2017 Americana, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY2017 Dia Staff Art Show, Matteawan Gallery, Beacon, NY2017 Petit, Emerge Gallery & Art Space, Saugerties, NY2016 Being Her Now: Feminine Identity In The 21st Century, Salisbury University Gallery, Salisbury, MD2016 Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK2016 Annual Non-Members Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY2016 Strange Figurations, Limner Gallery, Hudson, NY2015 Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK2015 The Wells Art Contemporary Awards Shortlist, Wells & Mendip Museum, Wells Somerset, UK2014 SATURNALIA, Sweet ‘Art, London, UK2014 SEAMS, Sweet ‘Art, London, UK2013 SONYA Prelude Exhibition, Free Candy, Brooklyn, NY2012 Recollections, Goose Barnacle, Brooklyn, NY2012 Blue, Rising Arts Gallery, Brooklyn, NY2011 Free Parking Group Show, RePOP, Brooklyn, NY2005 Prodigal Suns, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Opie Gallery, Kansas City, MO2005 Annual Juried Exhibition, Images Gallery, Kansas City, MO2000 Skin Deep, JJ Brookings Gallery, San Francisco, CA2000 MFA Graduate Exhibit, Rackham Galleries, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MIPRESSPBS WMHT AHA! A HOUSE FOR ARTS, "How Artistry, Storytelling & Music Shape the World", Matthew Rogowicz, September 20, 2023ART SPIEL, "Carl Grauer’s “A QU(i)E(t)ER Interior” opens at Carrie Haddad Gallery, Matt Moment, May 5, 2023The Highlands Current, "Memory as a Parallel Dimension", by Alison Rooney, June 28, 2021Queer|Art, "Queer|Art’s Board President Nelson Santos Curates Gallery for 1stDibs Pride Collection", by Rio Sofia, June 15, 2021Passage Arts, "Interview with Jared Spencer", by Reilly Clark, February 2021ABC World News Now, "Amazing Americans", by Will Ganss, July 2020Art Valley, "Carl Grauer: Two Hour Portraits", April 2020Chronogram, "Mortals, Saints, and Myths at Carrie Haddad Gallery", June 2019KU College Stories, "Hawks to Watch: Carl Grauer, Contemporary Artist", May, 2019Poughkeepsie Journal, "'Tickled Pink' artists display their interpretations of color in group exhibit", by Linda Marston-Reid, Feb. 6, 2019High Country News, "The Ascension of Matthew Shepard", by Katherine E. Standefer, Oct. 12, 2018Chronogram, "7 Hudson Valley Contemporary Artists to Watch Out for: Local Gallerists Share The Artists on their Radars", By Chronogram Staff, Aug. 23, 2018Canvas, A Blog by Saatchi Art, "Brooklkyn: Carl Grauer's Two Hour Portraits", by Laura Skudder, Oct. 10, 2018VoyageLA, "Art & Life with Carl Grauer, June 4, 2018Art Aesthetics Magazine, "Q&A: Carl Grauer", by D. S. Graham, May 2017Saatchi Gallery Magazine, "Carl Grauer, Painter", by Emily Catrice, May 2016Creative Mapping, "Best of Moniker & The Other Art Fair", by Marie-Laurence Camara