SERENA JV ELSTON
b. 1987, American
Lives and works in Chicago, IL
SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2026 Hanging Garden of Midsummer’s Feast, with Vince Phan, Patchwork Farms, Chicago, IL
2025 Lingering Bodies, ANDREW RAFACZ, Chicago, IL
2024 Ancient Futurism, Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Lancaster, CA
2023 A Devil and a Witch Make a Nail, Watershed Art & Ecology, Chicago, IL
2021 Jubilee, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Los Angeles, CA
Fruitful Bodies, Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Your Addiction Is the Message, G99 & Brno AIR, Brno, CZ
Dungeon Spa, The Palace Collective, Berlin, DE
2023 SPACORE, Co-Prosperity, Chicago, IL
MFA Thesis Exhibition, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
The Ground Between US, Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
2022 Memories of Tomorrow’s Sunrise, Cal State LA Fine Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Spoke Art Presents: GATS, Wood Street Encampment, Oakland, CA
2020 Myth of Plenty, VideoDrome Paris & S.O.F.A., Lucca, IT
Bay Area Visual Artist Exhibition, Ever Gold [Projects], San Francisco, CA
ART FAIRS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS
2026 Felix Art Fair, ANDREW RAFACZ, Los Angeles, CA
2025 NADA Miami, ANDREW RAFACZ, Miami, FL
2024 NADA NY, ANDREW RAFACZ, New York, NY
2022 SPACORE, MDW FAIR, Mana Contemporary, Chicago, IL
2018-Present Performance Vessel, Siren Island, San Francisco, CA & Chicago, IL
2019-2021 Live Performance, Apotheosis on Siren Island, San Francisco, CA
Interactive Installation, Locus Standi, Gray Area, San Francisco, CA
2015-2019 Permanent Land Installation, Priorities, Oakland, CA
2014 Interactive Installation, Haunted House, Pier 10, San Francisco, CA
ARTIST TALKS AND APPOINTMENTS
2025 Artist Talk, ANDREW RAFACZ, Chicago, IL
Podcast Interview, HOOR by Ellie Billings
2024 Artist Talk, Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Lancaster, CA
Artist Workshop and Talk, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL
Artist Talk, Watershed Arts and Ecology, Chicago, IL
2023 Artist Talk, Co-Prosperity, Chicago, IL
2022 Artist Talk, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2021 Artist Talk, Dream Farm Commons, Chicago, IL
2019 Artist Talk, Mills College, Oakland, CA
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2026 Wynn Newhouse Award Recipient
2025 Curator in Residence, Chicago Arts Coalition, Chicago, IL
2024 Midwest Award for Artists with Disabilities, Arts Midwest
Finalist for Joan Mitchell Fellowship
Ignite Fund Recipient (Regranting Program for The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts)
Individual Artist Award, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE)
Curator in Residence, SPACORE, The Palace Residency, Pałac Gorzanów, PL
2022 Artist in Residence, ACRE, Steuben, WI
2021 Pritzker Family Foundation Scholarship
Artist in Residence, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Los Angeles, CA
Artist in Residence, Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, CA
2020 Artist Grant, Ever Gold [Projects] & The Internet Archive’s Bay Area
EDUCATION
2023 MFA, School of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2009 BFA, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2025 Gabriel Chalfin-Piney-Gonzáles, ‘Community or Mushroom Tea: A Review of Serena JV Elston at Andrew Rafacz Gallery,’ New City.
2024 Rudolf Lingens and Serena JV Elston, ‘SPACORE MAGAZINE,’ Issue 1.
2023 Annette LePique, ‘Serenity, NOW,’ Chicago Reader.
Ryan Fazio, ‘Learning From Fungi: A Review of Terrain Biennial,’ New City.
2022 Joan Roach, ‘MDW Art Fair at Mana Contemporary,’ Sixty Inches from Center.
2021 Jack Revell, ‘Mushroom Art Exploring Violence Against Women,’ The Latch
2019 Gregory Thomas, ‘Review Ephemerisle Festival,’ San Francisco Chronicle.
Prisca Meslier, ‘The Myth of Plenty,’ Videodrome Paris.
Anna Guth, ‘Siren calls coming to a bay near you,’ Point Reyes Light.