Alison Van Pelt

Los Angeles Artist

Selected Works

About the Artist

Alison Van Pelt was born and raised in Los Angeles. She studied art at UCLA, Art Center, Otis Parsons, and the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. Her artistic influences span diverse figures including Agnes Martin, Robert Rauschenberg, and Yayoi Kusama.

Her portrait subjects encompass animals, prizefighters, celebrities, spiritual leaders, Native American warriors, and heads of state. Beginning with classically drawn and painted oil portraits from found images, she employs a distinctive technique involving deliberate blurring, scraping, and surface rebuilding that creates layered, luminous effects.

Her work occupies a space between photorealism and abstraction, avoiding idealization while emphasizing quiet humanization. The resulting paintings are both intimate and elusive, created through meticulous brushwork combining oil, light, and shadow.

Van Pelt has exhibited at The Fresno Art Museum, The Dayton Art Institute, the Orange County Museum of Art, and numerous galleries across North America and Europe. Her work appears in collections including the Armand Hammer Museum, LACMA, NASA, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Jumex Foundation. She currently resides and maintains her studio in Los Angeles.

Education

  • UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
  • Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
  • Otis Parsons School of Design, Los Angeles, CA
  • Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy

Select Collections

  • Armand Hammer Museum of Art
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art
  • Orange County Museum of Art
  • The Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University
  • Dayton Art Institute
  • Fresno Art Museum
  • Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation
  • Indianapolis Museum of Art
  • Studio Museum in Harlem
  • Long Beach Museum of Art
  • Jumex Foundation, Mexico City
  • NASA, Washington, D.C.
  • Castilla Foundation, Madrid
  • St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York

Exhibitions

2026

"Alison Van Pelt: 40 Years Painting Portraits" — Gallery Chang, New York, NY

2024

"Ferrari" — Casterline|Goodman Gallery, Art Expo Chicago, IL

2023

"Women and My Wall" — Casterline|Goodman Gallery, Art Basel Miami, FL

2022

"The Wild" — Casterline|Goodman Gallery, Aspen, CO

2019

"The Hummingbird" — Van Pelt Studios, Los Angeles, CA

2018

"The Tree" — Van Pelt Studios, Los Angeles, CA

2017

"The Elephant" — Van Pelt Studios, Los Angeles, CA

2016

"Africa" — Van Pelt Studios, Los Angeles, CA

2015

"All American" — Van Pelt Studios, Los Angeles, CA

2009

"Alison Van Pelt" — LA Art House, Beverly Hills, CA

2006

"Alison Van Pelt: The Women" — The Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA

2004

"The Women" — The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH
"America: The News" — Chac Mool Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2002

"Paintings on Paper" — Chac Mool Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"Green" — Spike Gallery, New York, NY

2000

"Fight" — Ochi Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1999

"Flight and the Figure" — Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID
"Figures" — Gallery 813, Los Angeles, CA

1998

"Blue" — Galerie Lauter, Mannheim, Germany
"Eros" — Robert Berman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1997

"Motion" — Robert Berman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
"Les Animaux Nouveaux" — Galerie Vedovi, Brussels, Belgium

1995

"Blue" — Robert Berman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
"New Paintings" — Galerie Lauter, Mannheim, Germany

1994

"New Works" — Aschenbach Galerie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
"Recent Works" — Robert Berman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
"New Paintings" — Roger Smith Gallery, New York, NY

1992–1985

"Nouvelles Oeuvres" — Ulla Lutz Studio, Basel, Switzerland
"La French Collection" — Les Andelys, France
"Tableaux Nouveaux" — Ader Tajan, Paris, France
"New Works" — B-1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
"Faces" — B-1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
"Paris Underground" — Los Angeles, CA
"Color" — Spring Street Gallery, Downtown Los Angeles, CA

2026

LA Art Show — LA Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA

2025

"Piece of Me" — California Biennial 2025 — Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, CA
"The Unified Field" — Gallery Chang, Seoul, Korea
Aspen Art Fair — Casterline|Goodman Gallery, Aspen, CO

2024

"Colombe de la Paix" — Ville Lumiere, Paris
Art Expo Chicago — Casterline|Goodman Gallery, Chicago, IL

2023

"The Elephant" — Artma / Morgan Adams Foundation / Space Gallery, Denver, CO

2022

Aspen Art Fair — Casterline|Goodman Gallery, Aspen, CO
Art Crush — Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO
"The Hummingbird" — Lotusland, Santa Barbara, CA

2021–2019

"The Circle of Truth" — Susquehanna Art Museum; OCCCA; Winslow Art Museum; MOAH; NUMU

2018–2014

"POP! 50 Years of Art & Popular Culture" — Frederick R. Weisman Museum, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA
"Art for Art's Sake" — Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA
"Made in California" — Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
"New Work" — Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York, NY
"Pop Culture" — Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL

2013–2007

"Creating the New Century" — Fort Collins Museum of Art; Dayton Art Institute
"Elements of Nature" — Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
"Incognito" — Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA

2006–1990s

"Ports of Entry: William S. Burroughs" — LACMA, Los Angeles, CA
"26th Annual Exhibition" — Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions
"The Eclectic Eye" — Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation

Publications

Selected features, profiles, and exhibition coverage from the art world and beyond.

  • Orange County Museum of Art, 2025
    "California Biennial 2025: Piece of Me"
    Read More →
  • Wikipedia
    "Alison Van Pelt" — Encyclopedic Entry
    Read More →
  • Artsy, Artist Profile
    "Alison Van Pelt" — Artist Profile & Available Works
    Read More →
  • Voyage LA Magazine, 2022
    "Meet Alison Van Pelt — Artist"
    Read More →
  • Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, 2018
    "POP! 50 Years of Art & Popular Culture"
    Read More →
  • Boca Raton Museum of Art, 2016
    "Pop Culture" — Group Exhibition
    Read More →
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), 1996
    "Ports of Entry: William S. Burroughs and the Arts"
    Read More →

Get in Touch

Interested in a painting? Have a question about commissions or exhibitions? I'd love to hear from you.

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