Ann Craven

(American, born 1967)

Ann Craven is a contemporary American painter known for her lush depictions of the moon, birds, and multi-colored stripes. Craven’s use of serial motifs belies her interest in ephemeral moments, seasonal cycles, and the changeable qualities of painting. “I think that the conceptual part of my work is going to always be this sort of list-making, and the more emotional will always be the paint, it’s my blood, it’s my heart, it’s my soul, I can’t deny that,” she has said. Born in 1967 in Boston, MA, she received her BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1986 and her MFA from Columbia University in 1993. She notably served as an artist assistant to Alex Katz, whose work influenced her own. Much of Craven’s practice revolves around painting en plein air, in this way she has captured the moon on hundreds of nights over the years. The artist currently lives and works in New York, NY with her husband the artist Peter Halley. Today, her works are held in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, among others.