About
About The Paintings…
Sean Mahan is a post-illustrative figurative painter who works with graphite and acrylic washes on wood to depict a sense of wonder about the innate warmth of the human character and its conflict with structures of power and control.
About Sean
Sean Mahan’s parents lived on a boat and sailed through a hurricane to
Florida, where Sean was then born, in 1976. When not on a boat, for the
first year of his life, Sean slept in a dresser drawer in the back of his
family’s red and white VW bus. During Sean’s early years, his father,
also an artist and architect, worked on the designs for the first space
shuttle. Space age excitement continues to influence Sean’s aesthetic.
Throughout the 80s & 90s, his mother, a hardcore DIY advocate, sewed
all of Sean’s Jams and fixed the engine of their bus. Meanwhile, Sean
spent his days drawing, hurling himself off skateboard ramps, and
diving through ocean waves. Sean’s grandfather, who worked with
Einstein, plus invented the freeze drying process and other strange
things, taught him to how grow grapefruit. He threw Sean (age 7) off a
sailboat and told him to swim a quarter mile to an island in the Banana
River.
After surviving his childhood, Sean attended The Savannah College of
Art and Design. He received a BFA in illustration, igniting his interest
in a post-illustrative painting style. Over the years, Sean has created
paintings for Galleries internationally, painted murals big and small, and
built both the furniture for his studio and the furniture for a doll house.
Where the paintings have been
Sean has enjoyed creating cover artwork for the bands: Shoestrings, Twelve Hour Turn, Floor, Daitro, Dauntless Elite, Jets vs. Sharks, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Beat Buttons, North Lincoln, Fires, Del Cielo, The Gifthorse, Mouthbreather, Senders, Little League, Back Pocket, Small Talk, Solid Pony, La Peche, Low Pines, Between Two Waves, Verde, Kids on Bikes, and more.
Shows
2026
4/26 Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA – Solo Show: Relative Permeability
4/26 Outré Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – Group Show: Return to Beauty: curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine
2025
12/25 Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA – Solo Show: Rythma-Stitch
10/25 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – Group Show: Beautiful Bizarre – Reverie
9/25 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – Solo Show: t.b.a.
6/25 Kochxbos Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Group Show: PopLand
6/25 Nucleus Gallery, Portland, Oregon – group show - Salut 11
2/24 Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - Group Show: Perseverance, 20 Year Anniversary
2024
12/24 Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA – Group Show: Aqua Art Basel Miami
11/24 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – group show: Little Big
11/24 Outré Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – Solo Show: In Phase
7/24 Gallery 5, Richmond, VA – Group Show: River City Rails
6/24 Nucleus Gallery, Portland, Oregon – group show - Salut 10
3/24 Antler Gallery, Portland, OR – Solo Show: Imagine a Sound
2023
11/23 Nucleus Gallery, Portland, OR – Solo Show: Soft
11/23 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – group show: Little Big
9/23 Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, CA – group show: Blab!
8/23 Outré Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – Group Show: Vanguard
6/23 Nucleus Gallery, Portland, Oregon – group show - Salut 9
2/23 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – Solo Show: Somewhere in the Moonlight
2/23 Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA - Group Show: A Better Tomorrow
2022
11/22 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – group show: Little Big
3/22 Outre Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – solo show: A Trail of Breadcrumbs
6/22 Nucleus Gallery, Portland, Oregon – group show - Salut 8
5/22 Antler Gallery, Portland, OR – Group Show: 10 Year Anniversary
2021
11/21 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – group show: Little Big
9/21 Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, CA – group show: Blab!
8/21 Outre Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – group show: Vanguard
7/21 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – group show: The Golden Age of Illustration
6/21 Nucleus Gallery, Portland, Oregon – group show – Salut 7
5/21 Spoke Gallery, – San Francisco, CA – group show: Moleskine Project X
5/21 Beinart Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – group show: Small Works
4/21 Spoke Gallery, – San Francisco, CA – group show: Tondo
1/28 Talon Gallery, Portland, Oregon – group show: Ascent
2020
12/20 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – solo show
7/20 Bakketunet Gallery, Bjorke, Norway – group show: Nostalgia
6/20 Outre Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – mini solo show
6/20 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – group show: Allegory
6/20 ABV Gallery, Atlanta, GA – group show: LAX/ATL curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2/20 PowWow! Hawaii, Honolulu, HI – group show: PowWow! curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2/20 PowWow! Hawaii, Honolulu, HI – group show: Moleskine Project IX curated by Spoke Art Gallery
2019
12/19 Scope Art Basel, Miami, FL – group show: Thinkspace Gallery
11/19 Red Truck Gallery, New Orleans, LA – group show: Magical Realism
9/19 Talon Gallery, Portland, Oregon - solo show: Hemmed In
9/19 Nucleus Gallery, Portland, Oregon – group show – curated by WOWXWOW
6/19 Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA – solo show: Translucent Vision
6/19 Beinart Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – group show: Small Works
4/19 Dorothy Circus Gallery, Rome, Italy – group show: Mother and Child
2/19 Honolulu Museum, Honolulu, HI – group show: PowWow! curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2018
12/18 Scope Art Basel, Miami, FL – group show: Thinkspace Gallery
12/18 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – group show: Little Big IV
10/18 Outre Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – mini solo show with Andy Kehoe
6/18 Art Basel Switzerland, Basel, Switzerland – group show: Thinkspace Gallery
6/18 Antler Gallery, Portland, OR – group show: LAX/PDX curated by Thinkspace Gallery
6/18 wowXwow, – group show: wow2
5/18 wowXwow, – group show: super reverie
5/18 Spoke Gallery, – San Francisco, CA – group show: 12×12
4/18 wowXwow, – group show: micro visions
4/18 Outre Gallery, Melbourne, Australia – group show: Beyond Familiar
4/18 Haven Gallery, Northport, NY – group show: Le Reve
2/18 Honolulu Museum, Honolulu, HI – group show: PowWow! curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2017
12/17 Talon Gallery, Portland, OR – group show: Little Utopias
12/17 Scope Art Basel, Miami, FL – group show: Thinkspace Gallery
11/17 Spoke Art, New York, New York – group show: LAX/JFK curated by Thinkspace Gallery
6/17 Bedford Gallery, San Francisco, CA – group show: Sweet n Low
6/17 Galleri Ramfjord, Oslo, Norway – group show
6/17 Inner State Gallery, Detroit, MI - group show: LAX/DTW curated by Thinkspace Gallery
5/17 MESA Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa, AZ – group show: Flourish curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2/17 Honolulu Museum, Honolulu, HI – group show: PowWow! curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2016
12/16 Scope Art Basel, Miami, FL – group show: Thinkspace Gallery
10/16 Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA – solo show: Rendered Problematic
6/16 Indie Fjord, Bjorke, Norway – solo show: Inflorescence
6/16 Hamilton House Gallery, Bristol, England – group show: F(L)IGHT
5/16 Avantgarde Gallery, Milan, Italy – group show: Postcart
3/16 Scope New York, New York, New York – group show: curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2/16 Honolulu Museum, Honolulu, HI – group show: PowWow! curated by Thinkspace Gallery
1/16 LA Art Show, Los Angeles, CA – group show: Little Topia curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2015
12/15 Scope Art Basel, Miami, FL – group show: Thinkspace Gallery
12/15 Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, NY – group show: Brooklyn Biennial 2
10/15 Zorka Rose Gallery, Gainesville, FL – group show: FEST 14
9/15 Stolen Space Gallery, London, England – group show: LAX/LHR curated by Thinkspace Gallery
8/15 Urban Nation Museum, Berlin, Germany – group show: Rising curated by Jonathan LeVine, Andrew Hosner, Yasha Young
6/15 Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, NY – group show: Tiny Trifecta
6/15 Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, NY – group show: They Live: Exhibited Works
6/15 Inner State Gallery, Detroit, MI - group show: LAX/DTW curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2/15 Honolulu Museum, HI - group show: PowWow! curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2014
12/14 Aqua Art Basel, Miami, FL – group show: Thinkspace Gallery
12/14 Scope Art Basel, Miami, FL – group show: Thinkspace Gallery
10/14 Zorka Rose Gallery, Gainesville, FL – group show: Fest 13
10/14 Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, CA – group show: LAX/SFO curated by Thinkspace Gallery
9/14 Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, NY – solo show: Causal Threads
8/14 Crisp-Ellert Art Museum, St. Augustine, FL – solo show: Telepathic Lines
6/14 Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, NY – group show: Tiny Trifecta
4/14 Display Gallery, Gainesville, FL – solo show: Imagined Agency
2013
12/13 Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, NY – group show: Brooklyn Biennial 2013
11/13 Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ – group show: Juried 2013 ~ Curated by Jonathan LeVine
09/13 Benny Gold, San Francisco, CA – group show: Gliders
08/13 Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA – solo show: Invisible Threads
06/13 Art in Public Places Mural, Jacksonville, FL- Girl and Origami, 22‘x52’ mural
2012
10/12 Stranger Factory Gallery, Albequerque, NM – group show: Bewitching 2
10/12 Display Gallery, Gainesville, FL – group show: Fest 11
08/12 Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA – group show: project room
06/12 Owlery Gallery, Bloomington, IN – group show: PIX Fest
05/12 Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA – group show: Endagered Species
03/12 Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA – group show: Picks of the Harvest
01/12 Gallery 5, Richmond, VA – solo show: Invisble Weight
2011
11/11 Subtext Gallery, San Diego, CA – group show: Homeroom
10/11 Display Gallery, Gainesville, FL – group show: Fest 10
10/11 Cummer Museum, Jacksonville, FL – group show: 50 under 50
2010
12/10 Art Basel, Miami, FL – group show: Multiversal
10/10 Plus Plus Gallery, Gainesville, FL – group show: Fest 9
09/10 Gallery 5, Richmond, VA – group show: Rorschach Records Show
09/10 Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL – group show: Making Marks
09/10 Brooklyn Collective, New York, NY – solo show: Reflected
2009
10/09 Plus Plus Gallery, Gainesville, FL – group show: Fest 8
11/09 Shoparooni, Cleveland, OH – group show: Natural Resources
07/09 Brooklyn Collective, New York, NY – solo show: Sewing Girls
2008
07/08 Brooklyn Collective, New York, NY – solo show: Untitled
A painting in the making
Here are a few blogs talking about Sean Mahan Art:
HI FRUCTOSE, Juxtapoz, Supersonic Electronic, Idol Magazine, Sour Harvest, The FW, Lomography, Design Boom, BOOOOM, Scoutie Girl, Drift, Twinklings, Natural Resource, ToysREvil, Punk News