About the Artist
Taleen Batalian is an artist and educator. Working with textiles, drawing, painting, and printmaking, Taleen’s work explores emotional landscapes and ways in which the body can serve as a vehicle for carrying experiences and memories through complex terrain.
Among her recent projects: Counterpoint, a collaborative project composed of 2D and 3D artworks; Tender Cargo, a large-scale collaborative project that comprises sculptural garments, other 2D and 3D artworks, an original soundscape and live performance; Waves and Shadows, a collaborative film; Disassemble, a performance installation at RISD Museum; and Graft, a solo exhibition and site-specific installation of sculptural garments, paintings and video at Wheaton College.
Taleen has been awarded grants from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA), Providence Art, Culture + Tourism (ACT) and The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Newport County. She was named the 2020-21 Teacher of Excellence at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Continuing Education where she has been a faculty member for more than 15 years.
Recent Awards and Reviews
- 2022
- Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Project Grant Recipient, Fall 2019, Spring 2022
- Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, Project Grant Recipient, Spring 2022
- Michael Rose, “Artist to Know: Taleen Batalian - Inside Art with Michael Rose.” GoLocalProv.com, October 2022
- Pauline Getzoyan, “Tender Cargo: A Journey through Time, Trauma and Unanswered Questions.” armenianweekly.com, October 2022
- 2020
- Arts and Cultural Alliance of Newport County, Artist Award, Spring, 2020
- 2019
- Edward Mitchell Bannister Award, First Place, National Open Juried Exhibition, Providence Art Club, 2019
- Review of National Open Juried Exhibition at Providence Art Club, artscopemagazine.com, July 2019
- Sharon Villanueva, “Conversations with Trailblazers.” BostonVoyager.com, January 2019
- 2018
- Alexander Castro, “Coastal Contemporary Gallery presents collaborative showcase of wearable fashion, fine art, photography and music”, The Newport Daily News, November 2018
Permanent Collections
Bank of America, Boston MA
Blue Star Strategies, Washingto, DC
Imagitas Inc, Waltham MA
Solo Exhibitions
- 2022
- Tender Cargo, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence RI
- 2017
- Graft, Weil Gallery, Wheaton College, Norton MA
- 2012
- Layer by Layer, Truro Fine Art Studio, Truro MA
- 2011
- Encaustics Revealed, University of Rhode Island, Kingston RI
- 2007
- Global Fairness Initiative, Benefit for GFI (Board Chair: President William Jefferson Clinton), Washington DC
- 2005
- On the Surface, The Armenian Library and Museum of America, Watertown MA
- 2000
- Behind the Eyes, Oakland Gallery/Attleboro Museum, Attleboro MA
Collaborative Projects
- 2024
- Counterpoint, Overlap Gallery, Newport RI
- 2022
- Tender Cargo, Performance, WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI
- 2020
- Waves and Shadows, Film, (in collaboration with Antonio Forte, Heidi Henderson and Keri King)
- 2018
- Disassemble, RISD Museum, Providence RI, (performance in collaboration with Heidi Henderson)
Selected Group Exhibitions
- 2019
- Dot Conference, The Yard, Brooklyn, NY
- National Open Juried Exhibition, First Place, Edward Mitchell Bannister Award, Providence Art Club, Providence RI
- 2018
- Unravel, Coastal Contemporary Gallery, Newport RI
- 2017
- Backstory, Periphery Space, Pawtucket, RI
- HABITAT/ion, 4th Biennial Juried Alumni Exhibition, Mass. College of Art and Design, Bakalar Gallery, Boston MA
- 2016
- RISD Summer Faculty Exhibition, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI, 2013-2016
- All Media Juried Exhibition, South County Art Association Kingston, RI
- 2014
- Members and Staff Invitational, South County Art Association, Kingston RI
- 2011
- Nesting, The Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River MA
- 2010
- Preserve, 13 Forest Gallery, Arlington MA
- 2009
- Plenty 13, Forest Gallery, Arlington MA
- New Work, Above Providence Optical Gallery, Providence RI
- 2008
- Moments in Time, Truro Fine Art Studio, Truro MA
- Leap, 13 Forest Gallery, Arlington MA
- 2007
- Lines and Layers, Truro Fine Art Studio, Truro MA
- Surface and Beyond, Morpeth Gallery, Hopewell NJ
- New Work, Tara Peck Gallery, Portsmouth NH
- 2006
- Wax: Encaustic Techniques in Contemporary Art, The Brush Art Gallery and Studios, Lowell MA
- 2004
- On the Surface, Tara Peck Gallery, Portsmouth NH
- Fall Salon, Cambridge Art Association, Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Cambridge MA
- Wax, The Space at Alice, Providence RI
- 2003
- Energy, Cambridge Art Association, Juried by Carl Belz (Rose Art Museum) and Portia Belz (Art New England), Kathryn Schulz Gallery, Cambridge MA