Alyson Shotz
Temporal Shift

Alyson Shotz was born in Glendale, Arizona (1964) and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She received a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence (1987), and an MFA from the University of Washington, Seattle (1991). Known for manipulating natural and synthetic materials to investigate modes of perception, experiential boundaries, and natural/scientific phenomena, Shotz often uses small parts to create large-scale sculptural objects that explore space, often through the transformative implementation or capture of light.

Shotz was named an Arts Institute Research Fellow in 2014–2015 and a Sterling Visiting Scholar in 2021 at Stanford University. She was also the Happy and Bob Doran Artist in Residence at Yale University Art Gallery from 2005–2006. Shotz is the recipient of numerous awards and acknowledgments including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 1999 and 2010; a Saint-Gaudens Memorial Fellowship in 2007; and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in 2004. The artist’s work is included in the current exhibition “The Line of Wit” (through January 16, 2022) at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and has been featured in group exhibitions such as “Art & Space” (2017–2018) at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; “Pattern: Follow the Rules” (2013–2014) at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, Lansing; “Light and Landscape” (2012) at Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY; “The More Things Change” (2010–2011) at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; “Contemplating the Void” (2010) and “The Shapes of Space” (2007) at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and “Living Color” (2009) at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. Shotz has also been celebrated with solo exhibitions at the Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC (2019); The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY (2014–2015); the Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN (2012); Espace Louis Vuitton, Tokyo (2011); the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH (2010); and the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX (2010–2011 and 2017–2018), among others. Shotz’s work is included in numerous collections, such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; and the Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN.