BIO
M. Kobe is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They earned an MFA in Painting from Boston University, a BFA in Painting, and a BA in Art History from Louisiana State University. Kobe is a storyteller and multi-disciplinary artist working primarily with textiles, found natural materials, and lucky objects. Drawing upon her experiences growing up in the American South, her work contends with the religious mythologies of her upbringing, superstition, notions of home, and cultural inheritance. Kobe is currently an Artist in Residence at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and was recently a resident at Azule. They participated in several group exhibitions, including Into the Thicket at Morgan Lehman Gallery in New York, NY, and Homologous Structures at The University of Wisconsin Green Bay’s Lawton Gallery. She has an upcoming solo exhibition at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, PA. Kobe was the grand prize recipient of the 2023 Esther B. and Albert S. Kahn Career Entry Award, the BU Women’s Council Scholarship, the Constantin Alajalov Visual Art Scholarship, and the Michael Crespo Memorial Scholarship.
STATEMENT
As an artist from the American South, primarily Louisiana and North Carolina, I make work that is informed by my own natural history and questions what it means to live in these regions now. Building off the myths of my religious upbringing, folk tales taught in elementary school, and my love for country music, I navigate these superstitions and examine what it means to write my own.
My work functions as reminders of finitude, pointing to the urgency of the present, of living. The art objects I make, tapestries and sculptures, are embedded with found natural or "lucky" materials and imbued with personal narrative. Serving as desperate attempts at future prosperity, the forms in my work often resemble calendars, the cosmos, holes, portals, and tombs. They reference death while suggesting the potential for something more porous. Through the physical transformation of my materials, they become more than memento mori and can hold a history that extends beyond my own lifetime, both before and after.
I am learning what it means to love a place that can be hard to love, to love a landscape that loves me back. I make my work with gratitude and admiration and as a critical yet redemptive response to the complicated places I call home.
M. Kobe
Gatlinburg, TN
EDUCATION
2023 Boston University (BU)
Master of Fine Arts, Painting
Boston, MA
2020 Louisiana State University (LSU)
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting and Drawing
Bachelor of Arts, Art History
Baton Rouge, LA
RESIDENCIES
2024 Azule, Hot Springs, NC
2023-24 The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
2022 Hewnoaks Artist Residency, Lovell, ME
2019 Studio Seminar Program - The Mount Gretna School of Art, Mount Gretna, PA
2018 Core Intensive Program - The Mount Gretna School of Art, Mount Gretna, PA
SOLO AND TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2024 Forthcoming Solo Exhibition
Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA
2024 "Alternating Remnants"
Two-Person Show with Dongyi Wu
The Emporium Center, Knoxville, TN
2022 “De-Material Girls”
Two-Person Show with Bill Mattern
Commonwealth Gallery, Boston, MA
EXHIBITIONS
2024 "Workshop Instructor Showcase"
Appalachian Center for Craft, Smithville, TN
2024 "Souvenirs"
Sandra J. Blain Gallery, Gatlinburg, TN
2023 "Homologous Structures"
Lawton Gallery - University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI
2023 " To Light a candle is to cast a shadow"
Downtown Arrowmont Gallery, Knoxville, TN
2023 Dogwood Arts Regional Exhibition
The Emporium Center, Knoxville, TN
Juror: Todd Herzberg
2023 Artist Spotlight
Able Trade, Knoxville, TN
2023 "Nice to meet you."
Geoffrey A. Wolpert Gallery, Gatlinburg, TN
2023 "Into the Thicket"
Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York, NY
2023 Boston University MFA Thesis Exhibition
Stone Gallery, Boston, MA
2023 "Configuration"
spacescribbles.com
2022 “A Bird and A Dead Man”
Gallery 36, Boston, MA
2022 Femme Art Gallery
Artist Spotlight
2021 The Mount Gretna School of Art Alumni Exhibition
spacescribbles.com
2020 Founder’s Exhibition
spacescribbles.com
2020 National Annual Exhibition
Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
Juror: Susan Lichtman
2020 “In the Forest at the Creek” and “Hunting Scenes”
LSU Art Galleries, Baton Rouge, LA
2020 “Recompose”
Bricks and Bombs Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA
2020 LSU Annual Exhibition
LSU Student Union Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA
2020 “Body Forth”
MOoMA Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA
2020 “Wetlands” Annual LSU Painter’s League Exhibition
The Wetlands Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA
2019 “Wetlands” Annual LSU Painter’s League Exhibition
The Wetlands Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA
fine art painting drawing studio madelaine kobe baton rouge
AWARDS AND HONORS
2023 Recipient of the Arrowmont Trabue Endowment
2023 Esther B. and Albert S. Kahn Career Entry Award, Grand Prize, Boston University, College of Fine Arts
2022 BU Women’s Council Scholarship
2021 BU Constantin Alajalov Visual Art Scholarship
2020 Member of Tau Sigma Delta
2019 Mount Gretna School of Art Merit Scholarship
2019 LSU TAF Scholarship
2019 Alfred C. Glassell Jr. Distinguished Scholarship for the Arts
2018 Michael Crespo Memorial Scholarship sponsored by the Baton
Rouge Art League
2017 Member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars
2016 Rotary Club of East Ascension Scholarship
VISITING ARTIST LECTURES
2023 Walters State Community College, Morristown, TN
2023 Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA
TEACHING
2024 Workshop: Embedded Narratives: Using Earth Pigments to Make Watercolor and Gouache Paints - Art at the Meadows, Oxbow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
2024 Workshop: Clayful Color: Using North Carolina Clay Pigment to Make Watercolor Paint - John C. Campbell Folk School's Olive's Porch, Murphy, NC
2024 Workshop: Text, Texture, and Textiles - John C. Campbell Folk School's Olive's Porch, Murphy, NC
2024 Teaching Assistant for Woodworking Workshop - Appalachian Center For Craft, Assisting Heather Ashworth, Smithville, TN
2024 VisIting Critic - University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC
2024 Visiting Critic - Caldwell Community College, Hudson, NC
2024 Visiting Critic - Walters State Community College, Morristown, TN
2024 Workshop: Assembling the Blue Ridge: Mixed Media Collage - Madison County Group Home, Hot Springs, NC
2024 Community Workshop: Wild Pigments: Handmade Watercolor, Acrylic, and Oils Using Earth Pigments - Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
2023 ArtReach Workshop: Wild Colors and Watercolors - Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
2023 Workshop: Embedded Histories Using Earth Pigments - University of Wisconsin Green Bay, Green Bay, WI
2023 Workshop: Creatures with Features: Real and Imagined Beasts (Surface Design Using Found Natural Materials) - The Boys and Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, TN
2023 Teaching Assistant, Lithography - Boston University, Boston, MA
2023 Visiting Critic - Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA
2022 Teaching Assistant, Senior Painting and Sculpture - Boston University, Boston, MA
2022 Teaching Assistant, Book Arts Workshop for MA in Art Education - Boston University, Boston, MA
2022 Teaching Assistant, Artist and the Book - Boston University, Boston, MA
2019 Teaching Assistant, Foundations Figure Drawing - Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024 Browning, Bekuh. “2023-2024 Artists-in-Residence Exhibition: Souvenirs.” Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 4 Apr. 2024, www.arrowmont.org/2023-2024-artist-in-residence-exhibition- souvenirs/.
2024 “M. Kobe Interview - Artist Resident at Azule, February 2024.” YouTube, uploaded by Azule Nonprofit, 26 Feb. 2024, youtu.be/wPwiCcXVeCc? si=WO9CiF3D97HlltBt.
2023 "In Their Studio: Episode 3: M. Kobe, and Alix Deane." Sound Cloud, uploaded by Phoenix Studios UW-Green Bay Student Shows, 8 Nov. 2023, soundcloud.com/uwgb-student-shows/in-their-studio-episode- 3-m-kobe-and-alix-deane.
2023 "Arrowmont Artists-in-residence to Present Lectures at WSCC." The Mountain Press, 6 Oct. 2023. https://www.themountainpress.com /news/ arrowmont-artists-in-residence-to-present-lectures-at-wscc/ article_3b827f39-4fef-52e9-b896-2c1f4cfaaeee.html
2023 "MFA Painting Graduates Exhibit Work at Morgan Lehman Gallery in NYC."CFA News, 28 Jun. 2023. https://www.bu.edu/cfa/news/articles/2023/mfa-painting-exhibition- morgan-lehman-gallery/
2023 "CFA Students Recognized at the 2023 Esther B. and Albert S. Kahn Awards." CFA News, 26 Apr. 2023. https://www.bu.edu/cfa/news/articles /2023/cfa-students-recognized-at-the-2023-esther-b-and-albert-s- kahn-awards-reception/
2023 "CFA Graduates Honored at Annual Kahn Awards Competition. Grand Prize Winner Is Madelaine Kobe, MFA Painting Student; Five Finalists Also Recognized." BU Today, 18 May 2023. https://www.bu.edu/articles/ 2023/cfa-graduates-honored-kahn-awards/
2022 "CFA (In Detail): Ink-Making with Painter Madelaine Kobe." Youtube, uploaded by Boston University College of Fine Arts, 21 Apr. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTE1u88PCx4.
2020 "Talk Art with Madelaine Kobe and Misato Pang." Instagram, uploaded by Misatopang, 13 Jan. 2020, www.instagram.com/tv/CIduIeKFz0z/? utm_source=ig_web_copy_link.
WORKSHOPS/ CONFERENCES ATTENDED
2023 Aaron Hammer: Introduction to Creative Exploration in Wood Turning - The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
2023 April Franklin: Basic Forging with Non-Ferrous Metals - The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
2023 Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo: Aesthetics of Accumulation - The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
2022 Padma Rajendran: Textile Surface Printing - Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO