Born: 1975 Los Angeles, CA
Alexis Manheim lives and works in Carmel, CA

Alexis Manheim’s influences range from traditional sumi-e painting to ancient alchemy illustrations.  The work is created amidst the seeming chaos that crawls up the walls and underfoot. She will burn through pigment – literally crushing it between her fingers on to the paper letting the powder run loose until it begins to interfere with the view of the piece.

Once sight of the work is lost, she will remove the dust and begin again until once more she has lost sight of the whole. There is always a tension between a precise and premeditated ritual of mark making versus the momentum of the session and the danger of losing control.

In the final moments she will apply black ink which serves as a sort of exoskeleton revealing a glimpse of order and adding depth to the composition. Alexis is rarely content with pure abstraction and habitually infuses her works with elements of ancient symbology and iconography that give the viewer something to grasp on to and a hint of what lies beneath.

Selected Exhibitions

2022 Chandler Fine Art, San Francisco, CA (solo show)
2015 Chandler Fine Art, San Francisco, CA (solo show)
2012 Chandler Fine Art, San Francisco, CA (solo show)
2010 Chandler Fine Art, San Francisco, CA (solo show)
2010 Water Street Gallery, Douglas, MI (solo show)
2009 AIR Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2009 Touring Exhibition The Sketchbook Project presented by Art House Gallery, Atlanta, GA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Washington DC, Laconia Gallery, Boston, MA, Attena Gallery, Chicago, IL, 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY, Museum of Design, Atlanta, GA
2009 Rochester Contemporar Art Center, Rochester, NY
2008 San Mateo City Hall Civic Gallery, San Mateo, CA
2007 Art Now Fair, Miami Beach, FL
2007 AAF Fair, New York, NY
2007 Chandler Fine Art, San Francisco, CA (solo show)
2006 Chandler Fine Art, San Francisco, CA (solo show)
2006 Metamorphosis Gallery, Sarasota, FL
2005 The Creative Center, New York, NY
2005 Metamorphosis Gallery, Sarasota, FL
2005 CIty Hall Coundcil Chambers, Sausalito, CA
2005 Chandler Fine Art, San Francisco, CA (solo show)
2005 ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL (Curated by Kristin Gosh)
2005 Topanga Canyon Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (Juried by Patricia Howard)
2003 Spring Show, Madcap Studios, San Francisco, CA
2001 Belcher Street Studios, San Francisco, CA
1997 Cummings Art Building, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Publications
Studio Visit MagazinE Fall 2010
San Mateo County Times 2008
National Drawing Annual 2006 Manifest Center for Creative Research and Drawing, p48-49
The ArtList.com March 2006, Artist of the Month
The Pelican Press, February 2006, Review of show at Metamorphosis Gallery
Living Artists 14th Edition, 2005 p.59
The Mind’s Eye, A Stanford Journal of Expression June 1997 pp. 35-36