Drive, 2026
Oil on woven canvas
63.25 x 81.25 in (160.66 x 206.38 cm)
Budge, 2026
Oil on woven canvas
48 x 72 x 2 in (121.92 x 182.88 x 5.08 cm)
Molly Larkey (they/them) is a Los Angeles–based artist and writer whose work spans painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, and social projects. For over three decades, they have developed a distinctive practice recognized for its intelligence, generosity, and restless experimentation with materials and ideas. Their work explores the connections between art, ideas, and human experience, weaving formal investigations of color, shape, dimensionality, and gesture with philosophical and social inquiry. Larkey’s practice consistently anticipates and shapes contemporary conversations on meaning-making across cultural contexts. Their work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in both private and institutional collections.
EDUCATION
2000
MFA, Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
1994
BA, Columbia College, Columbia University, New York, NY
SOLO & TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2026
New Paintings,
O-Town House, Los Angeles, CA
2023
Molly Larkey,
Michael Felix Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021
Molly Larkey and Brian Wills,
Porch Gallery, Ojai, CA
2020
Utterance,
Gallery 12.26, Dallas, TX
2019
Molly Larkey,
Euclid, Los Angeles, CA
2018
Molly Larkey,
NADA NY, Luis de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA
2017
a shape made through its unraveling,
OCHI Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Free and Not Yet,
Dutton Gallery, New York, NY
2015
Molly Larkey and Brian Wills,
OCHI Gallery, Ketchum, ID
The Not Yet (or The Dictionary of Insubordinate Geometry),
Luis de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA
2013
Drawings, Interventions,
PØST, Los Angeles, CA
Gosling FIg CIlantro,
Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA
2012
Have What,
ARSG Special Exhibitions, LACMA, Los Angeles, CA
Molly Larkey and William T. Wiley,
OCHI Gallery, Untitled Art Fair, Miami, FL
Molly Larkey and Nellie King Solomon,
OCHI Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2011
The Lost Alphabet, Pants That Fit, and Other Implausible Disguises,
Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
2010
Heckler,
OCHI Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2008
Keltie Ferris and Molly Larkey,
Sunday L.E.S, New York, NY
2007
The Believers,
PS1 Contemporary Arts Center, Long Island City, NY
2003
The End of You Is The Beginning of The End of Me,
PS122 Gallery, New York, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
+Alchemy,
Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Shaping Gravity: Abstract Art Beyond the Picture Plane,
Forest Lawn Museum, Glendale, CA
2018
The Beyond: Georgia O'Keefe & Contemporary Art,
Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, AR
Bodies of a Different Mass,
Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Los Angeles, CA
2016
Uncommon Ground,
curated by Kathryn Whitlock, FOCA, Los Angeles, CA
Occupy Space Differently,
OCHI Projects, Los Angeles, CA
A Plot of Land,
Dutton Gallery, New York, NY
BLINDSIGHT,
Samuel Freeman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015
Bloody Red Sun of Fantastic L.A.,
curated by René-Julian Praz, PIASA, Paris, France
Contextual Abstraction,
Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
AmazoNIGHT,
curated by Suzanne Wright, Three Days Awake, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Another Cats Show,
365 Mission, Los Angeles, CA
High Line,
Luis de Jesus, Los Angeles, CA
Artists We Like,
OCHI Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2013
The Road,
Luis de Jesus Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
THREE or FOUR,
Temple Ad Hoc, Los Angeles, CA
A Mural for One,
ONE Archives Gallery and Museum, Los Angeles, CA
The Oldest Rainbows,
Control Room, Los Angeles, CA
2012
CO/LAB,
Art Platform Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Flash Mob,
Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, New York, NY
Hot Paint,
Weekend, Los Angeles, CA
Letters From Home,
OCHI Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2011
Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture,
The Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
My head is falling out so I'm standing on my stomach,
Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
The Optimist's Parking Lot,
Beacon Arts Building, Los Angeles, CA
When the Solution is a Hammer, All My Problems Look Like Nails,
DEN, Los Angeles, CA
2010
Hidden Bodies,
Statler Waldorf Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Bushwick Schlacht!,
Brooklyn, NY
Redi-Mix,
Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, New York, NY
Unframed,
OCHI Gallery, Ketchum, ID
This Land is a Hand Game,
Porthole Projects, Santa Fe, NM
Ocketopia,
Lesley Heller Gallery, New York, NY
Read-Only-Memory,
Winkleman Gallery, New York, NY
2009
Homage to the Artists,
OCHI Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Incarnational Aesthetics,
NYCAMS, New York, NY
The Weekend Inventor,
Artspace, New Haven, CT
Finally Utopic,
Bushwich Biennial, Pocket Utopia, Brooklyn, NY
2008
Intransit,
Moti Hasson Gallery, New York, NY
2007
Red Badge of Courage,
New Jersey Council for the Arts, Newark, NJ
The Atrocity Exhibition,
Thierry Goldberg Projects, New York, NY
I Died For Beauty,
Newman Popiashviili, New York, NY
M*A*S*H,
curated by Omar Lopez-Chahoud & Amy Smith-Stewart, New York, NY
Tropical Punch,
Jack the Pelican Presents, Brooklyn, NY
2005
LineAge,
The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Off My Biscuit, Destroy Your District!,
Samson Projects, Boston, MA
Atomica,
Esso Gallery & Lonbard-Fried, New York, NY
Le Désert de Retz,
curated by David Hunt, Audiello Fine Art, New York, NY
2004
Black Milk,
Marvelli Gallery, New York, NY
2003
Terrible Beauty,
Satellite (a division of Roebling Hall), New York, NY
2001
An Exhibition of Works by Contemporary Women Artists: Kiki Smith, Cecily Brown, Jane Hammond, Elizabeth Murray, Susan Rothenberg, Molly Larkey, Lisa Yuskavage, Marisol,
Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1999
Mirror, Mirror On the Screen,
Momenta Art Gallery, Williamsburg, NY
1996
Incestuous,
Threadwaxing Space, New York, NY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2023
Michelle Tea, "A Year Without a Pride Flag",, Dear Diary, June 30, 2023
2022
Andrea Bautista, “People’s Pottery Project: Formerly Incarcerated People Find Connection",, KCRW, March 31, 2022
2021
Laura Fenton, “This Gorgeous Pottery Collective With An Inspiring Mission Is Now Available at West Elm",, Apartment Therapy, Jul 29, 2021
Emma Orlow, “Ceramics studio offers hope for formerly incarcerated people - while setting local tables",, Los Angeles Times, June 10, 2021
“Meet People’s Pottery Project, formerly incarcerated to fine art", Participant, April 11, 2022
“Spotlight: Empowered People’s Pottery Project",, Ceramics Monthly, April 2021
“Conversations with People’s Pottery Project", VoyageLA, February 17, 2021
Arnesia Young, “This Non-Profit Ceramics Studio Is Empowering Previously Incarcerated Individuals",, Modern Met, Feb 1, 2021
Grace Ebert, “A Los Angeles Nonprofit Is Supporting Prison Abolition Through a Community Ceramics Practice",, Colossal, Jan 13, 2021
2020
Rachel Elizabeth Jones, “A Prison Abolitionist Ceramics Studio Is Helping Change People’s Lives",, Hyperallergic, December 14, 2020
Blair, Michael Frank. “Molly Larkey: Utterance at Gallery 12.26",, Glasstire, Jan 27, 2020
2019
Beers, Kurt. "100 Sculptors of Tomorrow",, Thames & Hudson, 2019
2018
Alligood, DeBerry, Haynes (eds.). “The Beyond: Georgia O’Keeffe & Contemporary Art",, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 2018 (catalog)
2017
Christopher Michno. “An Interview with Molly Larkey",, Riot Material, Oct. 30, 2017
Wagley, Catherine. “5 Free Art Shows to See in L.A. This Week",, LA Weekly, Sep 27, 2017
Miranda, Carolina. “Datebook",, LA Times, Sep 7, 2017
2016
New American Paintings, Pacific Coast Issue #127, 2016
Lopez, Pablo. “Uncommon Ground at FOCA",, CARLA (Contemporary Art Review LA), Sep. 7, 2016
AWARDS
2023
City of Los Angeles DCA Cultural Trailblazer 2023-2024
COLLECTIONS
Saatchi Collection, London, UK
Podesta Collection, Washington D.C.
Hieronymus Collection, Akron, OH
Augusta Brown Holland Philanthropic Foundation, Louisville, KY
Avchen Collection, Minneapolis, MN
Frane/Rudin Collection, Los Angeles, CA
CURATORIAL
2016
Occupy Space Differently,
OCHI Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2013
Laurie Nye & Jennifer Rochlin: The Crystal Eaters,
Statler Waldorf Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2011
Plain Brown Wrapper,
Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
HACK!,
Statler Waldorf Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Collective Show,
Los Angeles, CA
2010
Depthless,
Statler Waldorf Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Hidden Bodies,
Statler Waldorf Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
RESIDENCIES
2022
Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
Saas-Fee Summer Institute of Art, New York, NY
Guapamacátaro Art and Ecology, Maravatío, Michoacán, Mexico
2009
Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY
Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL
2008
Yaddo Artist Colony, Saratoga Springs, NY
2007
Associate Artist, Atlantic Center for the Art, New Smyrna Beach, FL
2006
Open Studio Artist, Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN