ABOUT

BIO

Aili Schmeltz is a sculptor and painter that splits her time in between Los Angeles and the High Desert of California. Her work is informed by environmental, philosophical, and architectural histories of the American West. Current series of works include CA Women, mixed media textile paintings that honor women of California who have furthered equality and justice in a wide range of communities, and a series of Cairn ceramic sculptures which use modular building and historic architectural languages to create futuristic monument/ relics.

Schmeltz studied at UCLA, earned her MFA from the University of Arizona, and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. She has exhibited nationally at galleries such as The Landing Gallery, Johansson Projects, Edward Cella Art and Architecture, and Commonwealth and Council in California, Ortega y Gasset Projects and Friedman Benda in New York, Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson; and internationally in cities such as Berlin, Tokyo, Barcelona, London, and Zurich. Schmeltz has been awarded grants such as the Pollock Krasner Grant, California Community Foundation Grant, and Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant. Residencies attended include The Archie Bray Foundation, Bemis Center, Sculpture Center, Vermont Studio Center, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica (Venice, Italy), Espronceda Center for Art and Culture (Barcelona), Takt Kunstprojektraum (Berlin), and Babayan Cultural House (Cappadocia, Turkey).

EDUCATION

2021 Joshua Tree Foundation for Arts and Ecology – Permaculture Design Certificate – Joshua Tree, CA
2014 University of California, Los Angeles Extension – Advanced Web & Interactive Design Certificate – Los Angeles, CA
2003 University of Arizona – Master of Fine Arts – Sculpture – Tucson, AZ
1997 Kansas City Art Institute – Bachelor of Fine Arts – Printmaking & Painting – Kansas City, MO

SOLO & TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2024 Johansson Projects – Light Echoes – Solo Exhibition – Oakland, CA
2022 Johansson Projects – Receiver – Two person (alongside Katy Stone) – Oakland, CA
2022 Boxo Projects – Experiments in Transformation – Two person (alongside Edie Fake) – Joshua Tree, CA
2021 The Landing Gallery – Evenfall – Project Room – Los Angeles, CA
2021 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Solo Exhibition – Sewn Constructions – Los Angeles, CA
2020 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Survival Strategies – Online Solo Exhibition
2020 Art Los Angeles Contemporary – with Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Two person (alongside Amir Zaki) – Los Angeles, CA
2019 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – A Future Perfect – Los Angeles, CA
2018 BKB Art + Design – Object/Window – Palm Springs, CA
2018 Jaus – Fixed Flux – Two person exhibition (alongside Jason Manley) – Los Angeles, CA
2017 Espronceda Center for Art and Culture – You’re A Tourist in My Town – Barcelona, Spain
2015 Eastside International – Time, Time, Form – Two person (alongside Ian Pines) – Curated by Manual History Machines – Los Angeles, CA
2013 Commonwealth & Council – site specific permanent Installation, Portal – Los Angeles, CA
2013 Project Room Gallery, Grand Central Art Center, California State University Fullerton – Crosscut - Santa Ana, CA
2013 Prescott College Art Gallery – Tomorrowland – Prescott, AZ
2011 Museum of Contemporary Art – Tomorrowland – Tucson, AZ
2010 Greenleaf Gallery, Whittier College – La Fuente de la Vida – Whittier, CA
2008 Locust Projects – The Magic City – Miami, FL
2008 Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts – Gods Eye – Omaha, NE
2008 Gardiner Art Gallery, Oklahoma State University – Storm Tracking – Stillwater, OK
2006 Tilt Gallery and Project Space – Comfort Food – Portland, OR

AWARDS AND RESIDENCY PROGRAMS

2022 The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts – Summer Resident, Windgate Scholar – Helena, MT
2021 Otis College of Art and Design – Part Time Faculty Professional Development Grant – Los Angeles, CA
2019 Vermont Studio Center – Residency + Grant – Johnson, VT
2017 Scuola Internazionale di Grafica Venezia – Residency – Venice, Italy
2017 Espronceda Center for Art and Culture – Residency – Barcelona, Spain
2013 California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Arts – Los Angeles, CA
2011 Foundation For Contemporary Arts – Grant – New York, NY
2011 Center For Cultural Innovation – Creative Capacity Fund Grant – San Francisco, CA
2011 Babayan Cultural House – Residency – Cappadocia, Turkey
2010 Durfee Foundation – Artist Resource for Completion Grant – Los Angeles, CA
2009 Pollock-Krasner Foundation – Grant – New York, NY
2009 Takt Kunstprojektraum – Residency – Berlin, Germany
2008 Bemis Center For Contemporary Arts – Residency – Omaha, NE
2006 Arizona Commission of the Arts – Professional Development Grant – Pheonix, AZ
2005 Sculpture Space – Residency – Utica, NY

SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 Museum of Art and History – Formation – Lancaster, CA
2023 The Landing Gallery – Painted, Fired Clay – Los Angeles, CA
2023 Vama Gallery, Los Angeles City College – This Archipelago – Los Angeles, CA
2023 California Governor's Mansion – Eureka! Creativity in the Golden State – Sacramento, CA – *catalogue
2023 Sarah Brook Gallery – Earth Room – Curated by Clay CA and Blumenfield Projects – Los Angeles, CA
2023 Tamarisk Country Club – Art at Tamarisk – Curated by Rochelle Steiner – Rancho Mirage, CA
2023 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Transcendent Voices – Los Angeles, CA
2022 Haines Gallery – Social Abstraction – San Francisco, CA
2022 Bray Warehouse Gallery – Resident Artists Exhibition – Helena, MT
2022 Ortega y Gasset Projects – Flat File 2022 – Brooklyn, NY
2022 The Brand Library and Art Center – Mapping the Sublime – Glendale, CA
2022 The Ekru Project – Shifting Instinct – Kansas City, MO
2021 Luis De Jesus Los Angeles – The Barnsdall Art Park Olive Grove Restoration Initiative Exhibition – Los Angeles, CA
2021 Ladies' Room – Garden – Curated by Annie Wharton – Los Angeles, CA
2020 AMP Art Gallery, Los Angeles Mission College – Surroundings – Sylmar, CA
2019 Sarasota Art Museum – Color. Theory. & B/W – Sarasota, FL
2019 Odd Ark LA – A Store Show – Los Angeles, CA
2019 Utah Museum of Contemporary Art – Shady Acres – Salt Lake City, UT
2019 Boxo Projects – Joshua Treenial – Joshua Tree, CA
2019 Other Places Art Fair with Barker Hanger – San Pedro, CA
2018 Edward Cella Art + Architecture – Vernacular Environments Part II – Los Angeles, CA
2018 Fellows of Contemporary Art – SPACE + LAND – Curated by Chelsea Dean – Los Angeles, CA
2018 BKB Design – Outline – Curated by Brian Bosworth – Palm Springs, CA
2018 Odd Ark LA – An Art Den – With Barker Hanger (a project by artist Hayley Barker) – Los Angeles, CA
2017 Pasadena Museum of California Art – Interstitial – Curated by John O’Brien – Pasadena, CA
2016 Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market presented by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND) – Los Angeles, CA
2016 Titanik Gallery – Lazy Susan – Turku, Finland
2015 ACME. – Works of Paper II – Los Angeles, CA
2015 Fellows of Contemporary Art – 6H to HB; Contemporary Drawing in Los Angeles – Curated by Sydney Croskery – Los Angeles, CA
2014 Friedman Benda Gallery – Apocryphal Times – New York, NY
2014 Ichibeicho Gallery – From The Dust Returns – Curated by Kio Griffith – Tokyo, Japan
2014 Gallery MC – Contemporary Abstraction – New York, NY
2014 Universidad de Guanajuato – Esferas – León, Mexico
2014 The Hoxton Gallery – Up and Coming – London, UK
2014 LA Art Book Fair, MOCA Geffen – Feminist Dossiers, with WCCW (Women’s Center for Creative Work) – Los Angeles, CA
2014 Centro Cultural Atarazanas - Una Casa Como Yo - Veracruz, Mexico
2013 Galeria La Miscelanea, Universidad Del Arte – Una Casa como Yo: Asuntos Domésticos – Puebla, Mexico
2012 Zatoka Sztuki – Projekt Papier – Curator: Gosia Wojas – Sopot, Poland
2012 High Desert Test Sites – Postcard Project 2012 – Joshua Tree, CA
2012 Cerritos College Art Gallery – Architectural Deinforcement: Constructing Disaster and Decay – Los Angeles, CA
2012 Jardin De Las Esculturas – Una Casa como Yo: Asuntos Domésticos – Xalapa, Mexico
2011 El Bauhaus Gallery – Una Casa Como Yo: Asuntos Domésticos – Monterrey, Mexico
2011 Asihlquaiss Offspace – Anonyme Zeichner Archiv – Zurich, Switzerland
2010 Golden Parachutes Gallery – Flat File – Berlin, Germany
2010 Museum of Contemporary Art – MADE in Tucson/BORN in Tucson/LIVE in Tucson – Tucson, AZ
2010 Jen Bekman Gallery – New Topographies – New York, NY
2009 Gallery Satori – Invisible Duck Tape – New York, NY
2009 Liste Basel – Anonymous Drawings no.9 Archive – Basel, Switzerland
2009 Freie Universitat Berlin – Anonymous Drawings no.9 Archive – Berlin, Germany
2009 Lumenhouse Gallery – Abstractions and Contractions – Brooklyn, NY
2008 Kreuzberg/Bethanien – Anonymous Drawings no.9 – Berlin, Germany
2008 Jen Bekman Gallery – X Marks the Spot – New York, NY
2008 Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock – Drawing Los Angeles – Los Angeles, CA

SELECT PRESS

2024 Roth, David M – Aili Schmeltz at Johansson Projects – review – Square Cylinder – April 23
2023 Black, Kent – Art Club – Desert Magazine – Feb 17
2022 Abstract Alchemy Two High Desert artists use abstraction to explore real change – Palm Springs Life Staff Report – March 29
2022 Daniels, Melissa – Vast but Limited: Local Artists Explore the History and Justice of Desert Land Use With Intersect Palm Springs’ ‘Zzyzx Redux’ – Coachella Valley Independent – January 20
2021 Biller, Steven – This is How Art Heals – Palm Springs Life – April 6
2020 Massé, Marie-Madeleine – L'Art du fil (The Art of Thread) – Éditions Alternatives – October 15
2019 New American Paintings – Pacific Coast Edition #139 – Curated by Nancy Lim
2019 Zeiba, Drew – Artist Explores Ideology of California’s Built Environment – The Architects Newspaper – May 22
2019 Nys Drambot, Shana – Paradise:: Parallax in the High Desert at the Joshua Treenial – LA Weekly – April 9
2019 Cheng, Scarlet – Coming: Joshua Treenial 2019 – Artillery Magazine – April 11
2019 Blonquist, Maddie – Defining Suburbia: Two Perspectives at UMOCA – 15 Bytes – February 13
2018 DiMichele, David – Skulpturengarten; Infinitely Malleable Sculptural Practices – Artillery Magazine –October 25
2018 Gipe, Lawrence – Aili Schmeltz and Jason Manley at Jaus – Art and Cake – July 22
2018 Ogletree, Kelsey – 9 Art Galleries That Double as Airbnbs – Architectural Digest – Sept 4
2018 Laura Drouet & Olivier Lacrouts – Los Angeles. The “Vernacular Environment” exhibition explores the meandres of space – Domus – July 6
2018 Brady, Sasha – You Can Rent This Art Gallery in Mojave Desert on Airbnb – Lonely Planet – September 29
2018 Biller, Steven – Vive La Résistance; A High Desert exhibition is an artistic response to the border wall – Palm Springs Life Magazine – April 30
2018 Scharkey, Kristin – Make Art, Make Home – Desert Magazine – March
2017 Stevens, Anise – Pasadena Museum of California Art: Interstitial – Artillery Magazine – July 26
2017 Burks, Megan – Desert Love, The Original Tiny Homes, and Joan Didion’s West – Range Podcast: Stories of the New American West – July 11
2017 Frank, Peter – Pasadena Museum of California Art: Interstitial, Craft and Folk Art Museum: Material as Metaphor – Fabrik Magazine – June 19
2017 Heitzman, Lorraine – Interstitial at the Pasadena Museum of California Art; The Meaning In-Between – Art and Cake – April 28
2017 Treilhard, Marieke – The Art of In-Between – Modern Magazine – March 16
2016 Silver, Emily – Interview with Aili Schmeltz – Curate Joshua Tree – October 19
2014 Griffith, Kio – Eight LA Artists to Know – Fabrik Magazine – June 20
2013 Dawson, Jeseca – Aili Schmeltz, Baldwin Hills – Otis College of Art and Design, Freeway Studies: Studio Visits with L.A. Artists – October 30
2013 Spotlight on Summer 2013 Painting Faculty: Aili Schmeltz – May 3 – Anderson Ranch Arts Center Blog –Aspen, CO
2013 Belio Magazine – Aili Schmeltz, Recycled Utopias – April 19 – Madrid, Spain
2013 20 x 200– A Jen Bekman Project – Crystaline Bunker print edition – January 10 – New York, NY
2012 Juxtapoz Magazine – The Conceptual Works of Aili Schmeltz – December 29
2012 Laylin, Tafline – Save the Cave Dwellers of Cappadocia – Green Prophet; Environmental News of the Middle East – May 22
2012 20 x 200 – A Jen Bekman Project – Urban Storm limited print edition – January 10 – New York, NY
2012 Saxon, Sarah – Q&A With Artist Aili Schmeltz – msbehaved.com – June 7
2011 Regan, Margaret – The ‘Good Life’ – Tucson Weekly – May 5
2011 Douer, Irana –Ruby: Otherworldliness – Gestalten Publishers – April 15
2010 Drennen, Craig – ‘Paint Misbehavin’ – Build Up – exhibition catalogue essay – Washington State University Gallery
2010 Volume – exhibition catalogue – Los Angeles, CA
2010 Hernández Casas, David – ‘Overlapping Narratives’ – La Fuente de la Vida – catalogue – Los Angeles, CA / Monterrey, Mexico
2010 NY Arts Magazine – ‘Best of the West Coast’- Nov/Dec. issue – New York, NY
2008 Sinclair, Aimee – Interview with Aili Schmeltz, Magic City – Miami Art Review – February 9
2007 Ethnography of No Place – catalogue – Rosenburg Gallery – Baltimore, MD
20 x 200– A Jen Bekman Project – ‘Radar’ limited edition – November 13 – New York, NY

COMMISSION PROJECTS

2023 Google – Painting Project – Mountain View, CA
2021 Atlanta Beltline – Disc Portal – Public Art Sculpture Project – Atlanta, GA
2021 Boxo Projects – Disc Portal – Permanent Outdoor Sculpture Commission – Joshua Tree, CA
2019 Oracle – Sculptural Installation Project – Redwood City, CA
2017 Facebook – Sculptural Installation Project for the World Economic Forum – Davos, Switzerland
2015 Google – Sculptural Installation Project for the Google Analytic Conference – San Francisco, CA
2015 Merck – Sculptural Installation Project – San Francisco, CA

ETC
2014–2020 Outpost Projects – Artist Run Project Space – Founder & Curator
2011–2015 Los Angeles Art Resource – Online artist resource – Co-Founder, Editor
2007 Gemini G.E.L – Printmaking Technician Assistant