Overview

Born 1978 in Kimberley, British Columbia, lives and works in Barcelona.

Swaney's work is based on imagination, as an opposition to photography. He intentionally turns to references such as Jean Dubuffet, Art Brut or Outsider Art, and to infinite search channels such as the Internet.

His pieces are full of characters with a naive and symbolic appearance. Human figures made of essential strokes and colours and cut out on flat backgrounds. Simplified faces that Swaney uses with certain irony, as emoticons of today's society, as a window where to contemplate our world.

 

Known for his expressive painting and sculptures, Swaney invites the viewer to inquire about customs, rituals and objects from the perspective of the absurd. Their eagerness to reproduce situations of our daily life causes that, once introduced in the work, they adhere to a surrealist logic that leaves no one indifferent.

Oil, acrylic, gesso and pen on canvas are enough for him to play with contemporary folklore in texts, newspaper clippings and artifacts. The result is multicolored jugs, symmetrical castellets and emoticons full of humor.

Swaney has exhibited his work in galleries and art fairs around the world; from Barcelona to New York, passing through Miami, Toronto, Copenhagen and Brussels.

Works
Biography
SOLO SHOWS | EXPOSICIONES INDIVIDUALES (selection)

 

2023 Jardín de Luz. Delimbo Gallery. Sevilla.
2019 Peanut Butter & Honey Moon, Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels

2018 Here I am, here I am, how do you do? L21, Mallorca, Spain

2017 Ongange Lellow, Gnyp Gallery, Berlin
2016 Papisho, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus
2015 Physiology of Taste, Rafael Pérez Hernando, Madrid

2015 Sculptures & Groceries, Louis 21 – The Envelope, Palma de Mallorca

2014 Subtropics, Krets, Malmö

2014 Hut 1 Paintings 4, Blokker, Madrid
2013 Sleeping Beauty Painter, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus

2013 You just got blogged, me & the curiosity, Barcelona

2013 :•), noestudio, Madrid
2012 Efecto Dubuffet, Mulherin + Pollard, New York

2012 Go West, Escala, Valencia, Spain 2011 Ding Dong , Alice Gallery, Brussels

2012 Ancient Scrolls, Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts, Miami 2010 The Corner, Victor Saavedra, Barcelona
2009 Zulu Voodoo Buddha Guru, Iguapop Gallery, Barcelona

2009 Safari Arc Performance, Locust Projects, Miami
2008 Butler’s Credit, Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Toronto

2008 Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Red Deer, Atelier Gallery, Vancouver

2007 Artifacts from Finland, Iguapop Gallery, Barcelona

2006 Onoffonoffonoff (w/ Human ve collective), Art Firm, Calgary
2004 Spirit in the sky takes rest..., (w/ Human ve collective), The Crying Room, Vancouver

2003 Human ve (w/ Human ve collective), Compound Gallery, Portland

 

GROUP SHOWS | EXPOSICIONES COLECTIVAS (selection)

 

2021

CRYSTAL. Delimbo Gallery, Spain
2020

Then and Now, Allouche Benias Gallery, Athens

The Edge of Chaos, The Newsstand Project, LA

2018

3 person show, Ever Gold Projects, San Francisco

As If A Field Could Become Some Dream, No Place, Columbus, Ohio

Velvet Ropes GIFC, David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen
2017

In Paper We Trust, The Dot Project, London- curated by Sara Clarken & Brigitte Mulholland

Three-way Ticket, Needles And Pens, San Francisco- curated by Pablo de Pinho

21, Left Field Gallery, San Luis Obispo, USA

2016

Grand Opening Show, Allouche Gallery, NY

Itch Under The Skin, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark
GIFC VOL 2-6, David Risley Gallery, Happy Ending, HAIK HQ, Steinsland Berliner, Agnes B’s Gallerie du Jour
Christmas Show, Versace Versace Versace, Miami

2015

Second Show, Eddys Room Gallery, NY
Art Copenhagen w/ Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Denmark Sun Spot, Big Medium Gallery at Canopy, Austin, Texas Summer Mixer, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York

Crossing the Line, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark
Group show – Koelsch Gallery, Houston, Texas
Creative Expressions, organized by Jonathan Rajewski, College for Creative Studies, Detroit Art Herning w/ Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Herning, Denmark

2014

Ingràvid group show curated by Me & the Curiosity, Galería Lola Ventós, Figueres Swab Art Fair w/ me & the curiosity & Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Barcelona Summertimes, Galeria Yusto/Giner, Marbela
Salat, 3 person show, CCA Andratx, Andratx

Arti cilia, Cyan Gallery, Barcelona
Still Life, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus
Just Before Brazil, Alice Gallery, Brussels
Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Curated by Mónica Álvarez Careaga, Galería Astarté, Madrid Lost in Space, curated by Aliceday, Alice Gallery, Brussels

2013

The Hanging (w/ Huskmitnavn), Ruttkowski 68, Cologne
Whole, In Part. Artists' Publications from the MACBA Collections, Musac, Leon Groupshow, Gallery Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm
Swab Art Fair w/ me & the curiosity, Barcelona
Living Video, Demolden, Santander, Spain
Wintershow, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark

2012

Art Copenhagen w/ Alice Gallery and Charlotte Fogh Gallery Paperworld, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark Domesticated Souls, Alice Gallery, Brussels
Blaque Lyte, ADA Gallery, Richmond, USA

Esto no es graf ti, Cicus, Sevilla, Spain

Fun, Riihimäki Art Museum, Riihimäki, Finland

2011

Pulse Miami w/ Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts

BYOB Barcelona, Fundació Met.room
Funky Pretty, Gallery Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm Art Brussels w/ Alice gallery

2010

pintura? cuatro respuestas, Adhoc Galeria, Vigo, Spain
Relationships, Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen
Guasch Coranty Painting Prize exhibition, Centre d’Art Tecla Sala, Barcelona Draw, Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City
Group show, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco
To the road less travelled..., V1 Gallery, Copenhagen

2009

The Pop of Colors, POVevolving Gallery, Los Angeles
Hello My Name Is, Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Los Angeles

2008

SCOPE Miami with Iguapop Gallery
Landscape Portrait Pattern, Hallway Projects, San Francisco
Out of STH, group show at Awangarda BWA, Wroclaw, Poland
White Noise Drawn Together, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen
How Clouds Dream (2 person show), Deluge Contemporary, Victoria, Canada Art Chicago & Art Cologne w/ Galeria Altxerri
SCOPE New York w/ Iguapop Gallery
White Noise, Space 1026, Philadelphia

2007

SCOPE Miami w/ Iguapop Gallery
Slump (2 person show), Galeria Altxerri, San Sebastian, Spain Swab Art Fair w/ Iguapop Gallery, Barcelona

2005

Humble Beginnings, Belkin Satelite, Vancouver

2002

Dollhouse, The Crying Room, Vancouver

It’s a Small World, Gallerie le Deco, Tokyo & Sis Boom Bah, Toronto

Suggestive Line, Belkin Satellite Gallery, Vancouver
2001

Live installation/performance with Human ve, Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver

Residents, Bubble Gallery, Vancouver

 

Residencies

Simcor Residency, Los Angeles - November 2019 CCA Aandratx Residency, Mallorca – June 2014 Noestudio, Madrid, Jan. – Feb. 2013
Fountainhead Residency, Miami, Sept. – Nov. 2008

Exhibitions