Aleah Chapin
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Aleah Chapin (born March 11, 1986) is an American painter whose direct portrayals of the human form have expanded the conversation around western culture’s representations of the body in art. Described by Eric Fischl as “the best and most disturbing painter of flesh alive today,” Chapin’s work has explored aging, gender and beauty, influenced in part by her upbringing on
Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington stat ...
. Chapin holds a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts and an MFA from the New York Academy of Art. She has attended residencies at the Leipzig International Art Program (Germany) and MacDowell (United States). Chapin has exhibited both nationally and internationally at places such as Flowers Gallery (New York, London, Hong Kong), The Belvedere Museum (Austria), and the National Portrait Gallery (London). She has been a recipient of the Promising Young Painters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (New York), the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (Canada), a Postgraduate Fellowship from the New York Academy of Art, and won the 2012 BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery (London). Her work has been published extensively in print and online, and she is a subject in the BBC documentary titled “Portrait of an Artist”. Aleah Chapin lives and works in Seattle, WA.


Biography

Born in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
, Chapin grew up on
Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington stat ...
, Washington. She studied at the
Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) was a Private college, private art school, art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914 by music teacher Nellie Cornish. The college's main campus is in the Denny Triangle, Seattle, Denny Triangle ...
, before studying for her Masters at the
New York Academy of Art The New York Academy of Art is a private art university in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City. The academy offers a Master of Fine Arts degree with a focus on technical training and critical discourse, as well as a post-baccalaureate Cer ...
(NYAA). She was a postgraduate fellow of the Academy. While still completing her postgraduate course, Chapin entered the London
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...
's 2012
BP Portrait Award The BP Portrait Award was an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world, and is reputedly ...
exhibition. She beat 2,100 international entries to win first prize for her work ''Auntie'', a painting of a naked middle-aged woman. The prize included £25,000 and a £4000 painting commission to be added to the National Gallery's collection. She was the first female American artist to win the award. Chapin has painted a series of
nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and no ...
portraits, of women from her home area, whom she describes as "aunties". She paints in
oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturat ...
, using photographs of the subjects as a source. She describes her award winning painting, ''Auntie'', as "a map of her journey through life" with a "personification of strength through an unguarded and accepting presence". Chapin says this work "examines my personal history through the people who have shaped it. On our bodies is left a map of our journey through life. The process of painting these women allowed me a glimpse of that journey and brought me into the present moment of our shared history." Her first solo exhibition, ''Aunties Project'', at the Flowers Gallery, New York, ran from January to February 2013. Daniel Maidman, reviewing the exhibition for the ''
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
'' described her paintings as technically proficient, recognisably NYAA schooled, but marked out by Chapin's vision as she painted "badass naked older women" whose "age and wounds... tell a story". He described ''Steps'', her 2012 painting of a group of 'aunties' as "probably Chapin's most ambitious painting to date", expressing a cartoonish self-confidence similar to the paintings of
Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...
. At least one critic has not received Chapin's works well,
Brian Sewell Brian Alfred Christopher Bushell Sewell (; 15 July 1931 – 19 September 2015) was an English art critic. He wrote for the ''Evening Standard'' and had an acerbic view of conceptual art and the Turner Prize. ''The Guardian'' described him as ...
called her piece which won the 2012 BP Award a "repellent…a grotesque medical record". Chapin describes her work as "examin ngmy personal history through the people who have shaped it. On our bodies is left a map of our journey through life. The process of painting these women allowed me a glimpse of that journey and brought me into the present moment of our shared history."


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapin, Aleah 1986 births Painters from Seattle BP Portrait Award winners Cornish College of the Arts alumni Living people New York Academy of Art alumni