Heather Capen

Overview
Heather Capen

"My paintings reflect my interest in the built environment, and the interplay between city life, nature and infrastructure. My work is greatly influenced by my career as a landscape architect, where I learned to appreciate the overlap of history, topography, cultures, and industry that occurs in an urban environment. Responding to certain sites that might otherwise be overlooked, whether industrial areas, old streetcars, or the urban street, I want to capture the appeal and life of these settings with the vibrancy of colors that is my foundation. My paintings are a reflection on the underlying beauty of the places we see, and often don’t see, in our world." - Heather Capen

 

Born in Wayzata, Minnesota, Capen has had a passion for painting and drawing since she was a young girl. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Colorado College, with a focus on landscape painting. She received her Master’s in Landscape Architecture in 2000 from the University of California, Berkeley. She has studied painting at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts through the Cleveland Institute of Art, in Lacoste, France, at the Marchutz School of Art in Aix-en-Provence, France, and at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California where she is currently based.

 

After working for 8 years as a successful landscape architect, Heather decided to get back to her roots and focus exclusively on her painting. She had her debut solo show, “Reuse, Recycle, Refurbish”, at 625 Sutter St Gallery, San Francisco, California, and numerous group exhibitions including “Transitional Landscapes” and “Northern California Landscapes and Cityscpapes” at Robert Allen Fine Art in Sausalito, California; “California Realists” at Art Zone 461 in San Francisco; multiple shows at Studio Gallery in San Francisco; “Urban Landscape” at 688 Gallery in San Francisco; and “Vernissage” at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts, Lacoste, France.  She has been pictured in the San Francisco Chronicle and is in the 2012 and 2011 American Art Collector. She has shown her work in France, Colorado, Connecticut, California and New Mexico. She was selected for the deYoung Open 2023 and 2023 Salon at the Triton Museum Exhibition. She is represented at Maybaum Gallery in San Francisco, Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, and Robert Allen Fine Art in Sausalito, California. 

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Works
Exhibitions
Biography
Heather Capen

Education

2000 University of California, Berkeley, Masters of Landscape Architecture, Berkeley, CA
1994 Colorado College, Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art, CO
1993 The Marchutz School of Art (through Institute for American Universities), Aix-en-Provence, France
1992 Cleveland Institute of Art L’Ecole des Beaux Arts, Lacoste, France

 

Solo and Two Person Shows

2022 Rain or Shine, Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2019 Urban Light, Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2015 Wayne Jiang and Heather Capen: New Paintings, STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2011 Reuse, Recycle, Refurbish, 625 Sutter Street Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Two Painters, Tedda Hughes Gallery, San Francisco, CA

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024 Landscapes: Four Perspectives at Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA.

2023 Tiny, Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2023

2023 The deYoung Open, the deYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA

2023 Salon at the Triton Museum Exhibition, San Jose, CA

2018 Formal Dimension, Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2018 Landscapes and Cityscapes: Works on Canvas, Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA

2018 Art Market SF, Maybaum Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2016 HOT, Gallery Citi, Burlingame, CA
2016 Plus One, STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 Nourish, Napa Valley Museum, Napa, CA
2015 Delicious, STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 Abstract Landscapes and Cityscapes, Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA
2014 City Streets, STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 Urbana, Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA
2014 San Francisco Cityscapes and Landscapes, Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA
2014 Art for Aids Fundraiser, Live Auction Juried Selection, San Francisco, CA
2013 Storytellers, Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA
2013 Landscapes/ Cityscapes, Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA
2012 Transitional Landscapes, Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA
2012 Art for Aids Fundraiser, Juried Selection, San Francisco, CA
2012 Northern California Landscapes & Cityscapes, Robert Allen Fine Art, Sausalito, CA
2012 ArtSpan’s Benefit Auction, Nominated Selection, SOMArts Cultural Center,
San Francisco, CA
2012 California Realists, Juried Selection, ArtZone 461, San Francisco, CA
2011 Tiny, STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2011 Industry is In, Zonal, San Francisco, CA
2011 The Cannery Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2011 Art for Aids Fundraiser, Juried Selection, San Francisco, CA
2010 City Streets: Urban Views of the Bay Area and Beyond, STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Delicious, STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Marin Open Studios Preview Show, Marin Arts Gallery, San Rafael, CA
2010 Urban Landscape, 688 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 City Subject 2010: San Francsico Urban Studies, Back to the Picture Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Artist Xchange Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 ARTdeezine’s 4th Annual ARTasting Event, San Francisco, CA
2009 ArtSpan Group Show, SomArts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Locals, Studio 333, Sausalito, CA
2009 Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
1994 Senior Art Show, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
1993 Spring Show, The Marchutz School, Aix-en-Provence, France
1992 Vernissage, L’Ecole des Beaux Arts, Lacoste, France

 

Awards

2011 Creative Capacity Fund Grant

 

Press

2019 American Art Collector, Upcoming Show Preview, Maybaum Gallery, September Issue.

2012 American Art Collector, published by Alcove Books. Juried selection.

2011 American Art Collector, published by Alcove Books. Juried selection.
2008 San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 17, 2008. Open Studios Feature by Kim Komenich

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