ABOUT
GULGUN ALIRIZA is a painter whose practice moves between still life, landscape, and portraiture. Her work draws on the traditions of painting while exploring experiences of place, memory, belonging, and everyday life. She considers how we form relationships with places, objects, and the natural world, and how ordinary things can accumulate memory, attachment, and meaning. Objects and natural elements gathered from different places and through personal relationships bring histories and associations into the paintings.
GULGUN ALIRIZA holds a BFA from the State University of New York at Purchase, summa cum laude, and an MFA from Western Connecticut State University, with further studies at the New York Studio School. She has received several grants and awards and was an artist-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center. Her work has been featured in exhibitions such as The Power of Place at Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (now Hudson Valley MOCA) in 2013, and she exhibits regularly throughout the Eastern United States. She is represented by Blue Mountain Gallery in New York City, where she has held three solo exhibitions. In 2024, she presented a solo exhibition at Union Gallery, Wagner College, in Staten Island, and she has a solo exhibition scheduled at Blue Mountain Gallery in 2027. Aliriza is an American painter, born in Cyprus, who lives and works in New York, where she maintains an active studio practice and teaches studio art as an adjunct faculty member at Manhattanville University.
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
2007 MFA, Painting, Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT
2005 BFA, State University of New York at Purchase, Purchase, NY
Major: Painting/Drawing; Minor: Art History
Summa Cum Laude
RELATED EDUCATION
New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture, New York, NY
ARTIST PROGRAMS
2010–2015 Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (now Hudson Valley MOCA) — Artist Club
Selected Artist Member
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2007 Artist-in-Residence & Artist Award, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
UPCOMING SOLO EXHIBITION
2027 Solo Exhibition, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
RECENT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Recent Paintings, Union Gallery, Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
2022 Recent Work, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
2017 Spatial Journeys, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
2013 Poetics of Excess, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
Gulgun Aliriza: Paintings, Ruth Keeler Library, North Salem, NY
2009 Selected Work, Bungalow, Croton Falls, NY
SELECTED TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2024–Present Adjunct Faculty, Studio Art, Manhattanville University, Purchase, NY
Courses: Drawing I, Drawing II, Figure Drawing, Textile Art and Design
RECENT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025-2026 Vertical Visions (traveling exhibition) — Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY (2025);
Fairleigh Dickinson University Art Gallery, Teaneck, NJ (2025); Brownson Gallery, Manhattanville University, Purchase, NY (2026)
Faculty, Alumni, & Student Art Exhibition, Berger Art Gallery, Manhattanville University,
Purchase, NY
Faculty Exhibition, Brownson Gallery, Manhattanville University, Purchase, NY
2025 Earth, Wind, Fire, Water II, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
2024 Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, Marblehead Art Association, Marblehead, MA
Faculty and Student Art Exhibition, Berger Art Gallery, Manhattanville University, Purchase, NY
Faculty Exhibition, Brownson Art Gallery, Manhattanville University, Purchase, NY
2023 Small Works Invitational, First Street Gallery, New York, NY
WCSU Art Alumni Exhibition, The Gallery at the Visual & Performing Arts Center, Western
Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT
Once in a Blue Moon, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
Long View: Creativity Over Time (traveling exhibition) — Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY (original venue); Green Kill Gallery, Kingston, NY
2022 From the Studio, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
From the Studio, Berger Art Gallery, Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY
2021 New Year/New Place, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
2020 Essential Art II: Artists During Pandemic, Virtual Online Exhibition
Views from Blue Mountain, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
2019 Ways of Seeing, Fisher Art Gallery, Horace Mann School, New York, NY
2018 POP-UP SHOW, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
Group, Westchester Community College Fine Arts Gallery, Valhalla, NY
2017 Think Big, Wesbeth Gallery, New York, NY
Summer Show: Gallery Artists, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
2016 Group, The Gallery at the Visual & Performing Arts Center, Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT
October Annual Art Exhibition, Ossam Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Oranges no Oranges, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
2015 100@100 Off-the-Wall Exhibition, The Gallery at the Visual & Performing Arts Center, Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT
2014 Off Balance, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
2013 The Power of Place, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (HVCC), (now Hudson Valley MOCA), Peekskill, NY
Curated by Marc and Livia Strauss
2012-2013 Points of View (traveling exhibition) — Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY (2012); Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ (2012); Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY (2013)
2012 Open Studios, Peekskill Open Studios, Peekskill, NY
The Point of View, Westchester Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2011 34th Annual Juried Exhibition, (Honorable Mention ), Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Ridgefield, CT
(Honorable Mention); Juried by Cynthia Reeves, Curator
Human Form: An Enduring Inspiration, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY
Curated by Virginia Walsh
Shipped and Shaped, The Andrews Gallery, The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA
Curated by John Lee
Groundbreaking: Looking Forward, Higgins Gallery, WCSU, Danbury, CT
Curated by Darby Cardonsky
Winter Shows Features New Artists, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
2010 Evolution of a Gallery, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
Artist as Curator, (Invitational Exhibition), Kehler Liddell Gallery, New Haven, CT
Small Works Invitational: Works on Paper, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
Eight Views, Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, CT
Curated by Barbara Grossman
2009 Annual Members’ Exhibit, The Putnam Arts Council, Brewster, NY
Third National Juried Show, Prince Street Gallery, New York, NY
Juried by Susanna Coffey
Katonah Museum Artists Association at Northern Westchester Hospital, Mt. Kisco, NY
2008 onVIEW, Small Space Gallery, The Arts Council, New Haven, CT
46th Annual Juried Fine Arts Exhibit, The Putnam Arts Council, Brewster, NY
(Best in Show / First Prize – Body of Work)
Katonah Museum Artists Association Members Juried Exhibition, Sculpture Barn, Danbury, CT
Juried by Vincent Baldassano and David Boyajian
31st Annual Juried Exhibition, Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Ridgefield, CT
Juried by Benjamin Genocchio, New York Times Art Critic and Writer
CONNcentric, Artspace, New Haven, CT
Invited/curated by Liza Statton, Curator
Juried Show, Bowery Gallery, New York, NY
Juried by Jed Per,Art Critic and Author
Painting as Presence, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT
Juried by William Bailey
Creative Voice II, Sculpture Barn, Danbury, CT
31st Small Works, 80 Washington Square East Galleries, New York, NY
Juried by Richard Witter, OK Harris Works of Art
2007 Juried Show, Bowery Gallery, New York, NY
Juried by John Walker
Small Works Invitational, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Higgins Gallery, Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York, NY
Show for a Show, Artwell, Torrington, CT
CAA Exhibition, Hunter College Times Square Gallery, New York, NY
2006 National Competition Juried Show, Bowery Gallery, New York, NY
Juried by Lois Dodd
First Year MFA Exhibition, Western Connecticut State University, Warner Hall, Danbury, CT
2005 BFA Thesis Exhibition, State University of New York at Purchase, Purchase, NY
2002 Fall SUNY Student Art Exhibition, The State University Art Museum, Albany, NY
2001 Fresh Talent, The State University Art Museum, Albany, NY
SPECIAL PROJECTS
2008 Lofts at ArLow, New Haven, CT
2007 Open Studios, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2002 Alternate Space, City-Wide Open Studios, New Haven, CT