Maayan Strauss is an artist based in New York. Her multidisciplinary artistic practice examines infrastructure, labor, and mundane facilities and reflects on the nature and condition of artistic production. She holds an MFA in photography from Yale University (2012) and a B. Arch. from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem (2008).
Her recent project The Service Room was realized as part of the Session program Recess. Recent solo exhibitions include Seven Sinks at Andrea Meislin Gallery and I Love The Way You Use This at Louis B. James Gallery in New York. She is the founder and director of Container Artist Residency, an international artist residency that invites artists to travel internationally onboard cargo ships through partnerships with commercial shipping lines. She also founded Sushi Bar Gallery in Brooklyn; and serves as an editor at Art Handler, a magazine dedicated to the behind-the-scenes practices of the art world.
Education:
Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT, MFA, Photography, 2012 Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, IL, B.Arch, 2008 Utrecht School of Arts, Holland (Exchange studies ), 2005-6
Solo Shows and Independent Projects:
“The Service Room”, Recess, New York, September-October 2017
“Container Artist Residency”, itinerant, 2014-present, ongoing. Founder and Director of an artist residency program onboard commercial container ships. The first edition of the project, Container Artist Residency 01, was launched with an open call in October 2015, in partnership with ZIM Integrated Shipping Services. Seven artists were selected by the curator of the first edition, Prem Krishnamurthy and a jury of curators Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Niels Van Tomme, and Xiaoyu Weng and completed their respective journeys in spring-summer 2016. The next edition of the residency will be announced in late 2017.
“Creative Operational Solutions”, Para Site, Hong Kong, December 2016. (Conceiver, Organizer and Artist of group exhibition featuring artworks produced during the first edition of Container Artist Residency. The exhibition was curated by Prem Krishnamurthy and Cosmin Costinas.)
“I Love the Way You Use This ”, solo show at Louis B. James Gallery, New York, May 2015
“Seven Sinks”, solo show Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York, February 2015
“Container with View”, outdoor installation at Art Lot, New York, June 2014
“A-Z Body of Work”, Sushi Bar Gallery, New York, February 2014 (Curator of group exhibition featuring Tamar Ettun, Clynton Lowry, Trevor Tweeten and Felix R. Cid).
“Street Scenes”, Yale Cabaret. New Haven CT, Nov 2011 (conceiver and co-director of performance piece with Colin Mannex).
"Sweethearts", solo project at "Fresh paint Art Fair" Tel-Aviv, March 2009
"The New & Bad", a series of exhibitions at Maayan Magazine’s art gallery, Tel-Aviv 2007-2008 (co-curator with Joshua Simon and Roy Arad).
"Doron", group show at Minshar school gallery, Tel-Aviv May 2006 (co-curator with
Joshua Simon and Roy Arad).
"Land Cruiser", video installation at Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, June 2007
"On the Way to IKEA", solo show at Givon Gallery, Tel-Aviv May 2003
Selected group shows:
“Art Work: An Exploration of Labor”, Love Apple Art Space, Ghent, New York, July 2017
“VIP (Vacant Intellectual Property)”, Inert Gallery, New York, Dec 2015
“World Wide Storefront”, Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York, Oct 2014
“Breakwater”, Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture in Shenzhen, China, 2013
(with Rafi Segal and Yonatan Cohen)
"Group Portrait", Edgar Varela Gallery LA, September 2012
MFA Thesis Show, Yale School of Art Gallery, May 2012
"Popaganda", Wizo Academy of Design, Dec 2011"Correspondences", Yaffo 23, Jerusalem, Oct 2010
"Artist at Work", LEFT BANK, Tel-Aviv, May 2009
"Internazionale!", LEFT BANK, Tel-Aviv, September 2008
"Treasure", GDK Gallery, Berlin, October 2008
"Family", "Mix-Art Festival", Rishon Le-Zion, April 2008
"Dead End", Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel-Aviv, February 2008
"The Rear", The Herzeliya Biennial of Contemporary Art, September 2007
"Guests", Kav-16 gallery, Tel-Aviv, April 2006
"Mini Israel", Israel Museum, Jerusalem, March-May 2006
"Seduction", 'Comme Ill Faut' gallery, Tel-Aviv, March 2006
"Conflicted”, Menier gallery, London, September 2005
"Uniform Ltd", Senate Gallery, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, June 2004
"Sharon", Kalisher Gallery (CCA), Tel-Aviv, May-June 2004
"Imagine-Artists for Co-Existence", Rosenfeld gallery, Tel-Aviv, March 2002
"It All Begins at Home", 'Comme Ill Faut' gallery, Tel-Aviv, March 2002
"Where are the Children?", Givon gallery, Tel-Aviv, December 2001
Architecture work experience:
2012 – 2014 - James Turrell studio New York, lead installation designer
2010 - Erez Ella Architecture Studio, Tel Aviv, architect
2008 - 2009 - Yehoshua Gutman Architects (Gutman Assif), Tel-Aviv, architect
2006 - 2007 - Nagar-Meron Architects, Tel-Aviv, Intern
Selected Press:
CNN Style, All at sea: Stowaway artists turn life on the ocean into art, Adam White, February 13 2017:https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/the-container-artists-shipping-themselves-around-the-world/index.html
Frieze, Postcard from Hong Kong, by Pablo Larios, February 01 2017:https://frieze.com/article/postcard-hong-kong
Blouin Artinfo: 5 Must See Gallery Shows, review by Scott Indrisek, May 2015
Artnet News: The Daily Pic: At Andrea Meislin, Maayan Strauss Plumbs the Depths of Duchamp's "Fountain", review by Blake Gopnic, February 2015
Blouin Artinfo: Maayan Strauss Parodies Kitchen Design Through Sculpture, review by Anna Kats
Artfuse: Maayan Strauss: Seven Sinks at Andrea Meislin Gallery by Daniel Gaus
Blouin Artinfo: Meet the Architect Who Wants to Put Artist Studios on Cargo Ships, Interview by Anna Kats
Hyperallergic: An Artist Residency Aboard a Cargo Ship by Laura C. Mallonee
BBC World Service: photographs and interview in The Cultural Frontline
Wallpaper Magazine: Precious cargo: the Container Artist Residency program sets sail, by Daniel Scheffler, March 2016
The Art Newspaper: Artist residency programme takes to the high seas, by Gareth Harris, Feb 2016
Flash Art: Prem Krishnamurthy on Container Artist Residency, by Laura McLean‐Ferris, February 2016
The Creators Project: 7 Artists Hit the High Seas for a Shipping Container Artist Residency by Antwaun Sargent, February 2016
Blouin ARTINFO, by Scott Indrisek, February 2016:http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2016/02/23/residency-on-a-boat-announces-first-artists-to-sail/
Artnet News, by Cait Munro, February 2016: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/container-artist-residency-inaugural-recipients-432266
Blouin ARTINFO, by Scott Indrisek, October 2015: http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2015/10/02/container-artist-residency-offers-studios-on-the-high-seas/
Artnet News, by Brian Boucher, September 2015:https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artist-residency-container-ship-335979
Blouin ARTINFO, interview by Anna Kats, October 2014: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1056946/meet-the-architect-who-wants-to-put-artist-studios-on-cargo
Sushi Bar Gallery Reviews (Gallery Founder and Director 2014-present)
Hyperallergic, review by Benjamin Sutton, March 2015:http://hyperallergic.com/187661/tightly-bound-and-bursting-with-texture/
Hyperallergic, review by Claire Voon, June 2014:http://hyperallergic.com/134157/in-a-brooklyn-gallery-yale-meets-instagram/
Art Handler Magazine (Managing and Contributing Editor 2014-15)
Art Handler, Interview with Cristina Covucci, Issue 1, November 2015:http://art-handler.com/magazine/interview-with-cristina-covucci
Art Handler, NADA and Frieze, NY: Installation, Deinstallation, Issue 1, July 2015:http://art-handler.com/magazine/nada-ny-2014
Street Scenes Reviews (Conceiver and Co-Director)
The New Haven Review, November 10 2011, “Victim Missives”:http://www.newhavenreview.com/index.php/2011/11/victim-missives/
Yale Daily News, November 11, 2011, “To the Yale Community [Fill in the Blanks Yourself]”:http://yaledailynews.com/weekend/2011/11/11/to-the-yale-community-fill-in-the-blanks-yourself/
The Daily Nut Meg, September 12, 2012, “Play by Ear”:http://dailynutmeg.com/2012/09/26/this-yale-cabaret-play-by-ear/
New Haven Theater Jerk, November 12, 2011, “The Street Scenes Review”:http://scribblers.us/nhtj/?p=2015
Works in print:
Volume, Urban Border, Issue no.39, April 2014
The New & the Bad, Art magazine, Issue no. 3 2012
The New & the Bad, Art magazine, Issue no. 2 2011
The New & the Bad, Art magazine, Issue no. 1, 2009
Hamidrasha Magazine, Feminism and Israeli Art, Issue no. 10, May 2007
Mini Israel, Exhibition Catalog, Israel Museum, 2006
Maayan Magazine for Poetry Art and Ideas, Issue no. 2, winter 2006
Maayan Magazine for Poetry Art and Ideas, Issue no. 1, 2005
Hamidrasha Magazine, Education, Issue no. 7, June 2004
Hamidrasha Magazine, War, Issue no. 6, 2003