Celeste Rapone

Celeste Rapone (b. 1985, NJ, USA) fuses material invention, humour, high-low free play, tough art history and resourcefulness with the figure, all in service of detailed 21st-century narratives that prioritise women. Rapone is a 2013 MFA graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago — where she is now an adjunct professor in painting and drawing — and the subject of recent solo exhibitions at Josh Lilley and Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago.

Celeste Rapone lives and works in Chicago.

Education

2013
MFA, School of The Art Institute of Chicago

2007
BFA, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence

Solo Exhibitions

2026
Hyperarousal, Esther Schipper, Berlin, Germany

2025
Some Weather, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY

2024
Big Chess, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL

2023
House Sounds, Josh Lilley, London, England

2022
Nightshade, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY

2021
Controlled Burn, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL

2020
Celeste Rapone and Sarah Peters, Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery, Luxembourg City
Retreat, Josh Lilley, London, England
The Big Dig: Celeste Rapone (Virtual Exhibition)Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL

2019
Behind Face, Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA

2018
Rose Tinted: Celeste Rapone and Justin O’Brien, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York, NY

Group Exhibitions

2026
Printemps 2026, Esther Schipper, Paris, France

2025
Master Class, Secrist | Beach, Chicago, IL
Nothing Is: Sun Ra and Others’ Covers, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL

2024
Hubcap Diamond Star Halo, Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago, IL
Nocturne, Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago, IL

2023
Women on the Verge, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Flesh and Flowers, No Name, Paris, France
Framing the Female Gaze, Lehman College Art Gallery, New York, NY
Aspen Part II, Marianne Boesky Gallery, Aspen, CO
Presence in the Pause: Interiority and its Radical Immanence, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE
Neo Chicago, The Peninsula Chicago, Chicago, IL

2022
Celeste Rapone + Ryan Mosley, Josh Lilley Pop-Up, Los Angeles, CA
A Place for Me: Figurative Painting Now, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA

2021
Wild Frontiers, The Pit, Los Angeles, CA
Time Takes a Cigarette, Josh Lilley, London, England
In Situ, Marianne Boesky Gallery, Aspen, CO

2020
Duo show Sarah Peters - Celeste Rapone, Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

2019
Stains on a Decade, Josh Lilley, London, England
Small Painting, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL

2018
Celeste Rapone and Justin O’Brien, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York, NY
Everlast: Celeste Rapone and Betsy Odom, Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago, IL
Five Propositions, Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA
On Anxiety, Cleve Carney Gallery, Glen Ellyn, IL
Stretching out the Cramp: A Drawing Survey from 2017, Green Door Gallery, Chicago, IL
Women Painting Men, Riverside Arts Center, Riverside, CA

2017
Celeste Rapone and Jenn Smith, Julius Caesar Gallery, Chicago, IL
8, Elizabeth Houston Gallery, New York, NY
Not Knowing, Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
Minds Eye I, Ed Paschke Art Center, Chicago, IL
Layer Cake, Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Close to Me, Roots and Culture, Chicago, IL

2016
Figure It Out, Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, MA
Storytelling, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA

2015
Seven, Elizabeth Houston Gallery New York, NY

2014
Ground Floor: A Biennial Exhibition of New Art For Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
Luminarts Cultural Foundation Visual Arts Exhibition, Union League Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Hoarding, Amassing, and Excess, Northern Illinois Art Museum, DeKalb, IL

2013
Should have gave you my number, Art Amalgamated, New York, NY
American Painting Today: Physical and Visceral,
Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph Union Civic and Arts Foundation Visual Arts Competition, Chicago, IL
MFA Thesis Exhibition, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Severe Style, LeRoy Neiman Center Gallery, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL

2010
I Speak American, The Gallery at Delaware County Community College, Media, PE

2009
Emerging Artists 2009, Limner Gallery, Hudson, NY INPLACE, SOHO20 Chelsea, New York, NY
ATOA (Artists Talk on Art) Winners Exhibition, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY

2008
Rockers and Posers, Brooklyn Artists Gym, Brooklyn, NY

2007
The Last Word, Pierro Gallery of South Orange, South Orange, NJ
RISD Alumni Exhibition, Caelum Gallery, New York, NY RISD Senior Invitational Exhibition, Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI
RISD Illustration Departmental Exhibition, Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI

Public Collections

Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Boston, MA
Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
Jorge M. Perez Collection, Miami, FL, promised gift to Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)
M Woods, Beijing, China 
The START Museum, Shanghai, China
The Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art, Rizhao, China

CV

Click here to download.
Strategists by Celeste Rapone, 2025
Balconet by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Bunt by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Contenders by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Drawing Corner by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Morning Shade by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Blue Basement by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Installation View: House Sounds by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Installation View: House Sounds by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Installation View: House Sounds by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Weekenders by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Midwestern Window by Celeste Rapone, 2023
House Sounds by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Trymaker by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Ambiance  by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Fixtures by Celeste Rapone, 2023
Summer Bangs by Celeste Rapone, 2023
New Rug by Celeste Rapone, 2022
Soapboxing by Celeste Rapone, 2022
Pyramid by Celeste Rapone, 2022
Al Fresco by Celeste Rapone, 2022
Daytime Bathers by Celeste Rapone, 2022
Floater by Celeste Rapone, 2021
Thoroughbred by Celeste Rapone, 2021
Interior with Egyptian Curtain and Kale (after Matisse) by Celeste Rapone, 2021
Very Berry Laocoon, 2020 Oil on canvas 86 x 97 cm by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Siren by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Island by Celeste Rapone, 2020
The Eye by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Yawn by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Eclipse by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Serenade by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Do-gooder by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Phantom by Celeste Rapone, 2019
Retreat by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Tourist by Celeste Rapone, 2019
Timekeeper by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Grazer by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Assist by Celeste Rapone, 2020
Swan by Celeste Rapone, 2020
 Fun Aunt by Celeste Rapone, 2019
One Woman Show by Celeste Rapone, 2019

Exhibitions

House Sounds at Josh Lilley,presenting Celeste Rapone

House Sounds

Solo Show

Celeste Rapone + Ryan Mosley - LA Pop-up Exhibition at Josh Lilley,presenting Celeste Rapone & Ryan Mosley

Celeste Rapone + Ryan Mosley - LA Pop-up Exhibition

Group Show

Time Takes a Cigarette at Josh Lilley,presenting Brandi Twilley, Celeste Rapone, Gareth Cadwallader, Genesis Belanger, Harold Mendez, Ian Davis, Kathleen Ryan, Oska Gutheil, Peter Shire, Rachel Maclean, Sarah Pichlkostner, Tau Lewis, Vicky Wright & Victor Seaward

Time Takes a Cigarette

Group Show

Retreat at Josh Lilley,presenting Celeste Rapone

Retreat

Solo Show

Stains on a Decade at Josh Lilley,presenting Tom Anholt, Brian Bress, Peter Linde Busk, Gareth Cadwallader, Sarah Dwyer, Derek Fordjour, Nick Goss, Nicholas Hatfull, Christof Mascher, Rebecca Nassauer, Sarah Pichlkostner, Benedetto Pietromarchi, Belén Rodríguez, Kathleen Ryan, Analia Saban, Vicky Wright, Ryan Mosley, Celeste Rapone, Hurvin Anderson, Jack Burton, Ian Davis, Svenja Deininger, Holly Hendry, John Houck, Aliza Nisenbaum, Conrad Shawcross, Leon Kossoff, Tal R, Paula Rego, Euan Uglow & Kaari Upson

Stains on a Decade

Group Show