BIO
Tara Sharpe was born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1982 and spent her formative years between the ocean of the Gold Coast and the mountains of North Carolina. As an only child Sharpe began creating at a very young age as a form of escape. She constructed elaborate tales of mythology and dystopian folklore that evolved into an entire world populated with rich characters. Blending litter and natural findings with traditional supplies, she adorned herself and her toys, filling a lonely childhood with color and decoration. Sharpe’s formal art education started at the age of 12 at Dreyfoos School of the Arts and she began exhibiting and selling work at 14. It was at this time Sharpe’s interest in depicting the female face and form began. At the age of 15, Sharpe received a full scholarship for a Fine Art Residency Program at School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. After living in New York for over a decade, she relocated to Arizona. In Fall 2013, Sharpe founded the award winning project Artelphx (now Artelshow). In October 2015, her solo show Sirens & Serpents opened in Phoenix. In 2016, she was selected for “100 Creatives” by Phoenix New Times and interviewed by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine in March 2017. Sharpe presented her first public art as part of She Tempe in 2017. Exhibited and collected throughout the country, her work evolves with a consistent theme: The beauty and darkness inherent in the feminine divine.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Radiating a latent violence, Tara Sharpe’s work complicates perceptions of beauty and myth using saturated jewel tone colors in layered opacities. Shown as symbolic entities, the female subjects gaze directly at or beyond the viewer, creating a hypnotizing tension. Ornamentations and other worldly elements provide protection to Sharpe’s women, as they are protectors themselves. Influenced most significantly by Post-Impressionism, Expressionism and Art Nouveau, Sharpe’s work seeks to add a new depiction of feminine beauty independent of current time and events, presenting its own origin and mythology stories.
EDUCATION
Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Visual Arts Graduate, West Palm Beach, Florida
School of Visual Arts, Full Scholarship for Residency Program, New York, New York
PUBLIC ART
2018 Floral + Fauna collaborative mural with Eric Cox at 15th Ave + Polk, Phoenix, Arizona
2017 - Present She Tempe: A Self Guided Art Walk on Mill Ave, Tempe, Arizona
SELECT EXHIBITS
2019 My Favorite Things, Sisao Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2018 Flora, Fauna & The Feminine Form: Solo Show of Tara Sharpe, The Hive, Phoenix, Arizona
2018 Control, Alt, Create, New School for The Arts & Academics, Tempe, Arizona
2018 The Devil's House, The Open Source, Tempe, Arizona
2018 Friendzone, The Open Source, Tempe, Arizona
2018 Female Artist Show, Fair Trade, Phoenix, Arizona
2018 Art Detour 30, The Lodge, Phoenix, Arizona
2017 Little Works, Little Wonders, The Artery, Phoenix, Arizona
2017 Sacred and Profane, 11th Monkey, Phoenix, Arizona
2017 Jolie Laide Paintings on Paper by Tara Sharpe, The Artery, Phoenix, Arizona
2017 LOVE Small Works Show, The Artery, Phoenix, Arizona
2017 Nasty Women Phoenix, Grand Art Haus, Phoenix, Arizona
2016 Show Me What You Got, The Liquor Gallery, Tempe, Arizona
2016 SNOW, The Coe House, Phoenix, Arizona
2016 Gods & Monsters, {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2016 NSFW, {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2016 Ladies of the House, Icehouse, Phoenix, Arizona
2016 Focused, {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2016 Square 16, The Liquor Gallery, Tempe, Arizona
2015 Tiny Works | Tiny Dances, {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2015 Icelandia, Lotus Contemporary Art, Phoenix, Arizona
2015 AZ45 Exhibit, Tieken Gallery, Paradise Valley, Arizona
2015 McMuses, Instant Inspiration, Phoenix, Arizona
2015 Sirens and Serpents: The Art of Tara Sharpe, Solo Show, {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
2010 Regional Juried Art Exhibit, South Haven Center for the Arts, South Haven, Michigan
2005 EG2 Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida
2003 Cooper Union, New York, New York
2001 Southern Exposure Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida
2000 Dreyfoos Senior Exhibit, Habitat Gallery, West Palm Beach, Florida
1998 Armory Juried Sculpture Show, Armory Arts Center, West Palm Beach, Florida
AWARDS
2016 Top 100 Creatives, Phoenix New Times
2014 Best Arts Festival, Phoenix New Times