Astrid Preston

Astrid Preston (born 1945, Stockholm, Sweden. ) is a Latvian-American artist, specializing in painting and drawing.

Education She received a B.A. in English Literature from University of California, Los Angeles in 1967.

Career Preston has had solo exhibitions at the Laguna Art Museum, Wichita Falls Museum, Ella Sharp Museum and Arts College International. Articles and reviews of her works have appeared in Los Angeles Times, Forbes, Art in America and Artforum.

Her works are in the permanent collection of Laguna Art Museum, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Orange County Museum of Art, Long Beach Museum of Art, Hammer Museum, McNay Art Museum, Oakland Museum of California and Nevada Museum of Art. Her archives are at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Preston has been featured on the Bakersfield Museum of Art podcast "On the Edge: Artist Symposium-California Ethos: Conceptualism and Literalism" with Artists; Don Bachardy, Gregory Wiley Edwards and Allen Ruppersberg. Preston received an NEA Fellowship Grant in Painting in 1987 and an artist residency from Lux Art Institute in 2008.

Exhibitions

Craig Krull Gallery Paintings (2002) Paintings (2003) Leaves (2004) Paintings (2006) Paintings (2008) Birdwatching (2009) For The Trees (2023) Between Worlds (2021) New Paintings (2019) Upside Down World (2017) On Reflections (2015) New Territory

R.B. Stevenson Gallery Echoing Light (2018) Into Nature (2016) Coming to the Edge east west spring fall (2010)

Bakersfield Museum of Art Poetics of Nature

Others Astrid Preston solo exhibition, (2013, S.C.A.P.E., Corona del Mar, CA) Summer in Bloom: A floral interpretation ( 2025, Galerie De'Arts, Santa Monica curated by Deepa Subramanian, Founder & Creative Head, Galerie De'Arts, Santa Monica Astrid Preston: Small Forest (2012, Santa Monica Museum of Art) Paintings & Drawings (2010, The Colburn School, Los Angeles) New Paintings (2008, AndrewShire Gallery, Singapore) Dreamscapes (2004, Baxter Chang Patri, San Francisco) Being in Place (2003, Wichita Falls Museum & Art Center) Landscapes of the Mind (2002, Cando Art Center) Astrid Preston: small paintings (2002, Lisa Coscino Gallery) Landscapes of the Mind (2001, The Arts Center, Jamestown; Dickinson State University Gallery; Northwest Art Center, Minot State University, Minot; Bismarck State College Gallery, Bismarck) Astrid Preston, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA

2000 Landscapes: A State of Mind, MSC Forsyth Center Galleries, Texas A & M University, College Station Paintings, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica Paintings, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach

1999 Paintings, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica Recent Landscapes, St. Matthews Parish School, Pacific Palisades In Perspective, Arts College International, San Diego

1998 Paintings, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach Ella Sharp Museum, Jackson, MI (2 person) Landscapes, Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw

1997 Paintings, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach

1994 Astrid Preston, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach

1991 New Paintings, Jan Turner Gallery, Los Angeles

1989 New Paintings, Jan Turner Gallery, Los Angeles

1987 Near Paradise, Laguna Art Museum New Paintings and Drawings, Patty Aande Gallery, San Diego Recent Paintings and Drawings, Krygier/Landau Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

1986 Night Paintings, Patty Aande Gallery, San Diego

1985 New Paintings and Drawings, Newspace, Los Angeles New Paintings and Drawings, Patty Aande Gallery, San Diego

1984 New Paintings and Drawings, Newspace, Los Angeles, CA

1983 New Paintings and Drawings, Newspace, Los Angeles

1982 City of Angels, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

1981 Landscapes, Newspace, Los Angeles

1979 Drawings, Newspace, Los Angeles

1977 Drawings, Newspace, Los Angeles

1976 Drawings, Newspace, Los Angeles

1974 Recent Paintings and Drawings, Gallery 707, Los Angeles

Selected group exhibitions 2023 The Flower Show, L.A. Louver Gallery, Venice Uncharted Terrain: Imagined Landscapes: Hilary Brace, David Edington, Astrid Preston, Vita Art Center, Ventura Surreal Women, Sullivan Goss American Gallery, Santa Barbara Color and Form, Tufenkian Fine Arts, Glendale

2022 The Edge LA Art 1970-90s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection, Armenian Museum of America, Watertown Nocturnal Sun, S.C.A.P.E., Corona del Mar Multiple Insights, R.B. Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla

2021 Seeing Things, R.B. Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla, The Edge LA Art 1970-90s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection, Bakersfield Museum of Art Sky Space Time Change, Laguna Art Museum Decade by Decade: Women Artists of California, Long Beach Museum of Art

2020 that's what artists do, R.B. Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla Antidote to Noise: Four Voices, curated by Peter Frank, Castelli Art Space, Los Angeles

2019 re•col•lec•tion, Vita Art Center, Ventura Mindshift, LAVA Projects, Alhambra Made in California, Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art, CSUSB, San Bernardino 40 Years of Art at Michael's, The Gallery of Michael's, Santa Monica Untitled (house) The Diane and Browne Goodwin Collection, Illinois State Museum, Lockport Women on the Rise 2019, Vita Art Center, Ventura

2018 Lazy Susan V: Human/Nature, LAVA Projects, Alhambra

2017 The Nature of Jungles, William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks

2016 Et in Arcadia Ego, New Museum Los Gatos; Traveled to William Rolland Gallery, Cal Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks Measure, Gesture, Form: Modern and Contemporary Drawings from a Recent Gift, Portland Art Museum, Portland

2015 Above Ground, R.B. Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla

2014 Portraits of the Garden, Sturt Haaga Gallery at Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge

2013 A little snow..., Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica Outside: Selections from the Doug Simay Collection, Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside Joan Joan Joan! One Subject, Many Artists, John Wayne Airport

2012 Contemporary Realism from the Permanent Collection, Weisman Museum, Pepperdine University, Malibu Breaking in Two: A Provocative Vision of Motherhood, Arena 1, Santa Monica

2011 5X5 an Invitational, Westmont Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA Speak for the Trees, House of Balsamic, Irvine Speak for the Trees, S.C.A.P.E., Corona del Mar Gallery Selections 2011, R.B. Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla, CA

2010 Neither Model nor Muse: Women as Artists, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio Meeting New Works: Recent Acquisitions at LBMA, Long Beach Museum of Art Side by Side, The Colburn School, Los Angeles

2008 Emphasis Santa Monica, curated by Bruria Finkel, Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery, S.M. Plein Air Past and Present, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego

2007 then + now: Women Artists of Southern California, curated by Bruria Finkel, Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica Echoes: Women Inspired by Nature, curated by Betty Ann Brown & Linda Vallejo, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana

2006 Distinctive Artists of Southern California, LAX & Ontario Airports Art Healing, A. Preston & M. Merz, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore Good to Go, Newspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2005 Trains & Trees, Terrence Rogers Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA Blue, Baxter Chang Patri Fine Art, San Francisco, CA California Landscapes, Long Beach Museum of Art Santa Monica Originals, curated by Bruria Finkel, Arena 1, Santa Monica

2004 New California Realism, Gallery C, Hermosa Beach Shakespeare as Muse, Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland

2003 Omnivores, Michaels, Santa Monica

2000 Landscape Not Forgotten, Wm D. Cannon Art Gallery, Carlsbad

1998 Enduring Landscape, Bennett Galleries, Knoxville

1997 Arte actual en Los Angeles, Sala de Exposiciones de la Excma, Cuenca, Spain Real, Is it?, Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles

1996 City of Vapor, Tatistcheff/Rogers, Santa Monica Frequencies of Nature: Part II, K. T. Carter & Assoc., St. Leo, FL; Pasco-Hernando Comm. College, Dade City and New Port Richey, FL; Melvin Art Gallery, Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL; South Florida Community College, Avon Park LA Current: The Full Spectrum, UCLA Hammer Museum of Art, Rental and Sales Gallery, Los Angeles Time Splits Open: 15 Narratives, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta LA Current: The Female Perspective, UCLA Hammer Museum of Art, Rental and Sales Gallery, Los Angeles Paintings of the New Landscape, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach

1995 Landscape: The Continuum, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles

1994 Holiday Group Show, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach Southern California: The Conceptual Landscape, Madison Arts Center, Madison A Sense of Place, The Sam Francis Gallery, Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences, Santa Monica Greiger. Preston. Wudl, Jerrold Burchman Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara

1992 The Landscape Revisited: Romantic Visions by Contemporary California Artists, Bakersfield Museum of Art

1991 Personal Mythologies, Marc Richards Gallery, Santa Monica The Edge of Night, Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton The Spiritual Landscape, Biota Gallery, Los Angeles

1990 Nightscapes, FHP Hippodrome Gallery, Long Beach

1988 Landscape/Common Ground: A Continuity of Spirit, Jan Turner Gallery, Los Angeles Seoul Olympic Memorial, 1988 Int'l Continental Artists Exhibition, Printemps, Korea and Tong Art Museum, Korea The Cultivated Landscape, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside California Landscape Art: Plein Art to Present, Downey Museum of Art

1987 Present Perspectives: 1975-1985, Fresno Art Center, Fresno

1986 Southern California Monotypes: The Singular Image, Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University Landscapes/Elements, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles Landscape/Seascape/Cityscape, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans and New York Academy of Fine Arts

1985 The Electric Cat, San Diego Natural History Museum Artists Look at Architecture, Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco A Change of Art, Bank of Los Angeles, Los Angeles

1984 American Landscape Painting, Fine Arts Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles Significant Others, Patty Aande Gallery, San Diego Los Angeles and the Palm Tree: Image of a City, ARCO Center for Visual Art, Los Angeles A Broad Spectrum: Contemporary LA Painters & Sculptors '84, Design Center of Los Angeles

1983 Houses, University Art Gallery, California State University, Hayward The Los Angeles Postcard Project, Part I, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles Attention California Artists, The Oakland Museum, Oakland

1982 Permanent Collection, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach The Magic Show, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum and Claremont Colleges, Claremont Drawings by Painters, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA; Mandeville Art Gallery, UCSD; and the Oakland Museum, Oakland

1981 Locations, California State College, San Bernardino, CA Elegant Night, Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles, CA Drawing: Personal Definitions, San Diego State University Art Gallery, San Diego, CA

1980 Seven from Los Angeles (Aaron Berman Gallery, New York) Invitational Drawings and Watercolor Exhibition (Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles) Unstretched Surfaces (College of the Siskiyous Art Gallery) Contemporaries: 17 Artists (Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles) Southern California Drawings (Joseloff Gallery, University of Hartford)

1979 Drawings (University Art Gallery, Cal State University) Newspace in San Diego (San Diego State University Art Gallery, San Diego)

1977 Shades of Gray: A Drawing Survey (Malone Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University) Drawing: Various Approaches (Fine Arts Gallery, Long Beach City College) A Point of View-Recent Work by Four Los Angeles Artists (The Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art) 24 Southern California Women Artists (Cerritos College Art Gallery, Norwalk)

1976, 1975, 1974 American Artists '76: A Celebration (1976, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio) Drawings (1975, Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica) Group Show (Broxton Gallery, Los Angeles) Annual Juried Show (1974, Palos Verdes Art Museum)

Honors and recognition