Born 1981 in Washington, DC
MFA, Visual Arts, University of California, San Diego, CA, 2006
BFA, Visual Arts & Creative Writing, Brown University, Providence, RI, 2003
Lives and works in San Francisco, CA
Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2023
Treasury, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, CA
My Powerful Wish, Broadway Gallery, New York, NY
2020
Reverberation, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1, Brooklyn, NY [organized by Public Art Fund]
Core Reflections, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
2019
Agora, Ribordy Thetaz, Geneva, Switzerland
Davina Semo and Deborah Remington, Parts & Labor Beacon, Beacon, NY
Precarious Hardware, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, CA
ALL THE WORLD, Marlborough Contemporary, New York, NY
2017
PHANTOM RINGER, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, CA
2016
FUBAR, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, NY
SILK FLOSS, ribordy contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
2015
WHERE LIFE IS HAPPENING, Lyles & King, New York, NY
APPROACH OR ENTER, CAPITAL, San Francisco, CA
HOLDING THE BAG, Rawson Projects, New York, NY
2014
STAY UP, ribordy contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
RUDER FORMS SURVIVE, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, NY
2013
White Flag Library, St. Louis, MO
2012
Miami – 70 NW 20th Street, Shoot the Lobster, Miami, FL
PACING LIKE A TIGER, Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2011
WE BEGIN WITH THE NOISE, Martos Gallery, New York, NY
BEFORE SHIFTING TO THE BLACKNESS, Rawson Projects, New York, NY
Group Exhibitions
2023
A Growing Season, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, CA
The Sky’s the Limit, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
The Long Century: Beginners, Dunes, Portland, ME
Mystics of the World Unite, Sevil Dolmaci, Istanbul
Throughline, Bureau, New York, NY
Cardinal Index, House of Seiko, San Francisco, CA
2022
The Heavy Light Show, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
off-kilter, Michael Benevento, Los Angeles, CA
Drum Listens to Heart, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA
Gentle Content, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Strange Attractors, The Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Art, Vol. 3: Lost in Space, APALAZZOGALLERY, Brescia, Italy
JC Gallery, London, UK
Looking Back / The 12th White Columns Annual, White Columns, New York, NY
Transparency & Opacity, St. Joseph’s Art Foundation, San Francisco, CA
2021
Sharing A (S)hell, Rebecca Camacho Presents, San Francisco, CA
New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century, UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
We Are Here, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, CA
2020
Accrochage, Ribordy Thetaz, Geneva, Switzerland
Homage to a Circle, Jessica Silverman and Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
Conversational Spirits, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, CA
2019
A Doorknob or a Duck, Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA
APPENDIX, curated by Todd von Ammon, Marlborough Contemporary, New York, NY
RISE, Ribordy Thetaz, Geneva, Switzerland
Primary Directives, Marlborough Contemporary, London, England
Show Me as I Want to Be Seen, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
2018
100 Sculptures, Anonymous Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico
Horizon Lines, Jessica Silverman at 288 Pacific, San Francisco, CA
An Art Exhibition, The Midwestern Society for Arts & Crafts, Detroit, MI
Kinship, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, CA
Something (you can’t see, on the other side, of the wall from this side) casts a shadow, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
2017
B(L)ACK, ribordy contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
Strange Attractors, Redling Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
An idea of a boundary, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
TOUCHPIECE, Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Split, Grin Gallery, Providence, RI
No Boundaries, Marlborough Gallery, New York, NY
Thanks, It’s A Wig, In Limbo, New York, NY
ONLY Small Paintings, Fortnight Institute, New York, NY
2016
SMS SOS, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, NY
BLACK STANDARD, CAPITAL at Minnesota Street Projects, San Francisco, CA
Vitreous Humor, Kansas Gallery, New York, NY
2015
Brunch Over Troubled Water, Marlborough Chelsea at Plutschow Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
The Inaugural, Lyles & King, New York, NY
Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in Mirror), Mitterand+Cramer, Geneva, Switzerland
Mixed Doubles, organized by Ryan Steadman, New York, NY
David Flaugher and Davina Semo, U.S. Blues, Brooklyn, NY
2014
CEMETERIUM, Regina Rex at Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL
Broadway Morey Boogie, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, NY
Invitation, ribordy contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
Stars and Stripes: American Art of the 21st Century from the Goldberg Collection, Bathurst
Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, Australia
About Sculpture #1, Galerie Rolando Anselmi, Berlin, Germany
Aaron Bobrow, Daniel Lefcourt, Davina Semo, Andrea Rosen Gallery 2, New York, NY
2013
XOXO, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
LAT. 41° 7′ N., LONG. 72° 19′ W, organized by Bob Nickas, Martos Gallery summer location, East Marion, NY
Rock Art & the X-ray Style, organized by Ryan Foerster, 425 Oceanview Ave Brooklyn, New York, NY
Hair and Skin, organized by Isaac Lyles, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
XSTRACTION, The Hole, 312 Bowery, New York, NY
The Wall, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, NY
Diamonds, Diamonds, Curated by Daniel Feinberg, Gallery Diet, Miami, FL
Montsalvat, Bureau, New York, NY
Beyond the Object, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy
But the Clouds, Room East, New York, NY
Twenty Days Later, Nicole Klagsburn, New York, NY
2012
Group Show, ribordy contemporary, Geneva, Switzerland
Weights & Measures, Eleven Rivington, New York, NY
Time, after Time, Ronchini Gallery, London, UK
Marseilles-10 bis rue des Quatre Vents, Shoot the Lobster, Marseille, France
Creature From the Blue Lagoon, Organized by Bob Nickas, Martos Gallery Summer Location, Bridgehampton, NY
Sweet Distemper, Organized by Isaac Lyles, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY
Everything’s Alright Forever, Curated by Gabriel Rolt in collaboration with Paradise Row, Paradise Row, London, UK
B-OUT, Curated by Scott Hug, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
Side Show, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York, NY
Home Again, Again, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2011
SUMMERSHOW, Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam, Netherlands
The 2011 Bridgehampton Biennial, Organized by Bob Nickas, Bridgehampton, NY
We Regret To Inform You There Is Currently No Space Or Place For Abstract Painting, Martos
Gallery, New York, NY
Borderline, Pablo’s Birthday Gallery, New York, NY
2010
HELL, NO!, curated by David Louis Fierman and RJ Supa at The Covenant of Saint Cecilia, New York, NY
2up poster project, collaboration with Colleen Asper, PPOW, New York, NY
Everything in Moderation, selected by Melissa Hopson, 106 Green, New York, NY
Bibliography
2022
Ni, Nicky. “Confined Explosions: A Review of Gentle Content at Rhona Hoffman.” New City Art. August 5, 2022.
2021
White, Katie. “Studio Visit: Artist Davina Semo on the Lure of a Ringing Bell and Why She Always Looks Forward to Mondays.” Artnet news. January 13, 2021.
2020
Scott, Andrea K. “Spring Art Preview”, The New Yorker, February 9, 2020.
2019
Tashjian, Rachel. “The Coolest New Gallery Is Your Local Celine Store,” Genius Is Born Crazy, October 8, 2019
Needham, Alex. “Hedi Slimane gets Creative at Celine,” The Guardian, September 27, 2019
Wyma, Chole. “Deborah Remington and Davina Semo,” Artforum, September 20, 2019
Heinrich, Will. “Critic’s Notebook: Summer Art Trek: Gallery Hopping in the Hudson Valley.” The New York Times, August 8, 2019
Desmarais, Charles. “In the galleries this spring: Art that seeks to define itself,” SF Chronicle, March 15, 2019
Dillon, Noah. “A Part of the Main: Davina Semo at Marlborough Contemporary,” artcritical, February 26, 2019
Hotchkiss, Sarah, “‘Beneath This Mask, Another Mask’: Identity is Unfixed in CJM’s ‘Show Me,’” KQED Arts, February 12, 2019
Desmarais, Charles, “’Show Me As I Want to be Seen’ examines artistic and gender identity,” SF Chronicle, February 7, 2019
Bury, Louis, “Rocks, Waste, and Water,” Hyperallergic, February 2, 2019
Miller, Robert Nager, “The many selves of gender-bending artist and Nazi resister Claude Cahun.” The Jewish News of Northern California, February 01, 2019
Choi, Jinny, “Art Review: Davina Semo, ALL THE WORLD, Marlborough Contemporary, January 17, 2019
2018
Desmarais, Charles, “SFMOMA announces 2019 finalists for prestigious SECA Award,” SF Chronicle, December 14, 2018
Hotchkiss, Sarah, “A Sparse Exhibition for a Crowded City at SOMArts,” KQED Arts, July 31, 2018
Thackara, Tess, “These 20 Female Artists Are Pushing Sculpture Forward,” artsy, July 30, 2018
2016
Fernandes, Colin, “Black Flag: CAPITAL at Minnesota Street Project,” artcritical, April 19, 2016
2015
Baker, R.C., “Heroic Trinity: From Concrete to Comics” The Village Voice, November 3, 2015 Russo, Emmalea, “Concrete, Leather, Light, Glass: Davina Semo at Lyles & King,” artcritical.com, October 23, 2015
Fernandes, Colin L., “APPROACH OR ENTER,” Art Practical, September 27, 2015
Indrisek, Scott, “In The Studio: Davina Semo,” Blouin Artinfo, July 13, 2015
Dillon, Noah, “Davina Semo,” The Brooklyn Rail, March 5, 2015
2014
Indrisek, Scott, “Marlborough Chelsea Puts the Boogie in Broadway,”Blouin Artinfo, September 24, 2014
Corsaro, Michelangelo, “South likes: Invitation at Ribordy Contemporary, Geneva,” South As A State Of Mind, June 9, 2014
Suffenplan, Helder, “Interview with Davina Semo,” Scentury, February 14, 2014
Murakami, Nicole, “Meeting Parallels in Parallelograms: Davina Semo’s ‘Ruder Forms Survive,'” Whitewall, February 5, 2014
Smith, Roberta, “Davina Semo: Ruder Forms Survive,” The New York Times, January 23, 2014 “Goings on about town: Art; Davina Semo,” New Yorker, February 10, 2014
Indrisek, Scott, “Introducing: Davina Semo, in NYC Show, Faces the Industrial Void,” Modern Painters, January 2014
Elizalde, Molly, “Davina Semo’s Survival Instincts,” Interview Magazine, January 2014
2013
Grayson, Kathy, “Davina Semo,” I-D Magazine, Winter 2013 Issue
“Portfolio”, Journal Magazine 33
“Featured Artist: Davina Semo,” Sculpture Center Tumblr
Rosenberg, Karen, “Wry to Whimsical, a Summer Eden for Improvisers,” The New York Times, July 18, 2013
Heinrich, Will, “Hair and Skin’ at Derek Eller”, New York Observer, July 17, 2013
Farago, Jason, ”…but the clouds…” – Critics Pick, Artforum.com, February 2013
2012
Nickas, Bob, ”X Marks the Rot”, Mousse, October 2012
Bronner, Julian Elias, “Sweet Distemper” – Critics Pick, Artforum.com, August 2012
Russeth, Andrew and Michael H. Miller, “East End? It’s Only Beginning! At Last, the Hamptons Is Attracting Edgy Art to Match Its Glitzy Collectors,” GalleristNY, 8 August 2012
Sutton, Ben. “Martos Gallery Makes for the Hamptons, Filling a Collector’s Beach House With High-Priced Hipster Art.” Artinfo, 3 August 2012
Rosenberg, Karen. “Check Out the Gallery in the Freezer: ‘Creature From the Blue Lagoon,’ in Bridgehampton.” The New York Times, 2 August 2012
Russeth, Andrew – “The Boys (and Girls) of Summer: ‘Context Message’ at Zach Feuer and ‘Side Show’ at Greene Naftali,” New York Observer, 31 July 2012
“Sweet Distemper” New Yorker, 30 July 2012
Potts, Daniel, “Everything’s Alright Forever at Paradise Row, London.” Aesthetica Blog, 26 July 2012 Ekker, Jan Pieter, “Rusty Chains Seem Like A Soft Wall Tapestry.” Rescensie Parool, 16 March 2012
2011
Gomez, Enrico, “Before Shifting to the Blackness” Wagmag, 20 October 2011
Rosenburg, Karen. “All Nooks, Crannies, Bedrooms and Trees Are Backdrops for Art”, New York Times, 8 July 2011
Ruble, Casey, “We Regret To…” Art in America, 1 September 2011
Miller, Michael, “Learning From Bridgehampton” New York Observer, 12 July 2011
N, Linnert, “Don’t Miss – New York: “We Regret To Inform You…” At Martos Gallery Through June 18″, Art Observed, 16 June 2011
Buter, Susan. “Part I: Seeing Silver,” Two Coats of Paint, 9 June 2011
Grants and Awards
2019
Finalist, SECA Award, SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA
2017
Finalist, Artadia’s San Francisco Awards, San Francisco, CA
2005
University of California Institute for Research in the Arts, Demonstration Grant, UC San Diego
2003
Russell Grant, UC San Diego, 2003
Ann Belsky Moranis Award, Brown University
Public Collections
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC
