Jivan Lee is an oil painter based in Taos, NM. He grew up in Woodstock, NY, and studied painting and environmental policy at Bard College. Jivan’s paintings are rhythmic, colorful, textural responses to the Western landscape in its many forms. The heart of his practice is an intensive outdoor painting process that embraces the body’s felt experience as a means for exploring time, change, and the complexities of how humans see and shape the environment. His paintings have been the subject of several solo exhibits throughout the West and featured in The Denver Post, The Albuquerque Journal, Fine Art Connoisseur, Western Art & Architecture, American Art Collector, and Two Coats of Paint among other publications.
The Couse-Sharp Historic Site will present a solo exhibition of Jivan’s work in the summer of 2022. Other recent exhibitions include the Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale in Denver, CO (2017 through 2022); New Regionalisms: Contemporary Art in the Western States, an exhibit curated by art critic Michael Paglia at the McNichols Building in Denver; The Great American Landscape at the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich, CT; and Taos Contemporary at the Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Center for Visual Art.
Jivan was named an Artist to Watch by Fine Art Connoisseur in 2016 and has twice won the Fine Art Connoisseur award for excellence at the Coors Western Art Exhibit. He has also been a finalist for the State of New Mexico’s NM Arts Acclaimed Artist and Large Purchase Award initiatives; a recipient of a solo exhibition award from the Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque, NM; and has had his work featured on the cover of a number of publications. He previously taught art and ecology courses with the University of New Mexico in Taos and his paintings are in corporate and private collections nationally and internationally.