About
Kira Nam Greene’s work explores female sexuality, desire and control through figure and food still-life paintings, surrounded by complex patterns. Imbuing the feminist legacies of Pattern and Decoration Movement with transnational, multicultural motifs, Greene creates colorful paintings that are unique combinations of realism and abstraction, employing diverse media such as oil, acrylic, gouache, watercolor and colored pencil. Combining Pop Art tropes and transnationalism, she also examines the politics of food through the depiction of brand name food products, or junk food. Recently, Greene started a figurative painting series spurred by the 2016 Presidential Election, Women’s March, #metoo movement and ensuing crisis of conscience, this new body of work aspires to present the power of collective action by women.
Category Archives: Event
Fashioning Identity and Power – Artist Talk at MICA
Monday, September 14, 2026 12:00–1:00 Falvey Hall Programming by MICA Exhibitions and the Painting Department along with the on-campus exhibition DEVOTED: 20 Years of The McMillan-Stewart Endowed Chair in Painting Artist Kira Nam Greene and fashion historian Victoria Pass will be in conversation about the role of fashion, pattern, and art history in Greene’s portrait paintings. Continue reading
Artist Talk at the Columbus Museum, GA
COMU members and friends are invited for an artist talk featuring New York-based contemporary artist Kira Name Greene in conversation with Jonathan F. Walz, Ph. D., curator of American art. Continue reading
Contemporary Art Matters Welcomes ‘A Room of Her Own’: A Solo Exhibition by Artist Kira Nam Greene
Contemporary Art Matters is thrilled to announce the much-anticipated solo exhibition, ‘A Room of Her Own,’ featuring the captivating artworks of Kira Nam Greene. The exhibition will be on display at Contemporary Art Matters’ gallery in Columbus, Ohio, from September … Continue reading
Present Tense at the MMFA
Present Tense Montegomery Museum of Fine Arts October 13, 2023 through January 7, 2024 On view in the Goldman, Richard, and Rushton Galleries In Present Tense, contemporary artists, Kira Nam Greene (American, born South Korea), David Crismon (American, born 1964), … Continue reading
2019 Smithsonian Outwin Boochever Portrait Semi-Finalist
I am so honored to announce that I have been included as a finalist for the 2019 Outwin Boochever Smithsonian Portrait Competition.
2019 Bennet Prize Finalist
10 women from across the country who paint in the figurative realist style were named finalists for the inaugural Bennett Prize. I am honored to be included amongst them. The $50,000 Prize is the largest art award ever offered solely to … Continue reading
Art Installation Series: By the Patterns by Kira Nam Greene
My latest project was a large installation of wall drawings at Schaffer Library Learning Commons at Union College, Schenectady, NY. I installed my artwork Monday, March 28th through Thursday, March 31st, 2016, from 9 am to 5 pm. The installation took place … Continue reading
Food Nostalgia Opening on February 5, 2016
Food Nostalgia February 5 – March 13, 2016 Artists: Cey Adams, Emilie Baltz, Disorientalism (Katherine Behar and Marianne M. Kim), Gonzalo Fuenmajor, Kira Nam Greene, Jonathan Stein Curator: Amanda McDonald Crowley For the full press release, click here. Radiator Gallery … Continue reading
New Year’s Exhibitions
Happy New Year! I wish that the new year will bring you peace, happiness, health and prosperity. As the New Year begins, I am going to have a busy few months with exhibitions and lectures. I hope that you will … Continue reading
Artist’s Life and Institutional Changes: Open Engagement Conference
I attended Open Engagement Conference, a three day international conference on socially relevant art making on the weekend of May 17 and wrote a little review for Temporary Art Review. Here is a direct link to the article, but I … Continue reading