Debra Cartwright is an artist interested in depicting the relationship between the black female body and American medical history. She uses paint and mixed media to explore selfhood and her own positioning as the daughter of a gynecologist. Themes around her work include re-embodiment, myth creation, violence, theft and intimacy. She explores a critical understanding of the past while also proposing an examination of the present American healthcare system.
b.1988 Annapolis, Maryland
education
2023 MFA, Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, New Brunswick, NJ
2012 AA, Communication Design, Parsons School of Design
2010 BA, Art History, University of Virginia
solo exhibitions
2023 Phantasmic Figures, BODE Projects, Berlin, Germany
group exhibitions
2023 AXA Art Prize, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
2023 Take Home a Nude, Sotheby’s, New York, NY
2023 EXPO Chicago, Fridman Gallery, New York, NY
2023 Playback, Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY
2023 forMAH Gallery, New York, NY
2022 Breaking Down the Sun, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2021 Operation Varsity Blues, Allouche Gallery, NY
2020 I Miss You Terribly When You’re Away, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2020 Young Artists: One, Fridman Gallery, New York, NY
2020 Black Voices / Black Microcosm, CFHILL, Stockholm, Sweden
panels
2023 "Taking Space: Reflections on the Creative Experience" Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
2017 “Managing a Creative Life’ CultureCon, New York, NY
2017 “Women Running in the Creative Field”, New York University, New York, NY
grants and residencies
2023 Montclair Art Museum AACC Founders Fellowship Recipient
2020-23 Rutgers University, Full-Tuition Scholarship
2023 Rutgers Residency
teaching experience
2023 Part Time Lecturer, Painting IA, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2023 Instructor, Rutger’s Community Arts, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2023 Part Time Lecture, Painting IB, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2021 Teaching Assistant to John Yau, Seminar of Contemporary Art, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2022 Part Time Lecture, Painting IB, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2021 Part Time Lecturer, Drawing Fundamentals, Rutgers University, New Brunswick,, NJ
2021 Part Time Lecturer, Painting I. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2021 Part Time Lecture, Painting IB, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
2020 Teaching Assistant to Marc Handleman, Painting II, Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ
email: debra@debracartwright.com