CV

Alex Close (b. 1993, Toronto)

Education

2020 Master of Design in Industrial Design Research– Carleton University (Canada)

2017 Master of Letters in Fine Art Practice, Specializing in Painting – Glasgow School of Art (UK)

2015 Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting – Ontario College of Art & Design University (Canada)

2013 Academic Exchange – Glasgow School of Art (UK)

Select Exhibitions

2022 “Tendril” Cultural Center ‘Miladinovci Brothers’ – Struga, North Macedonia

2021 Osten Biennial of Drawing Exhibition of Finalists, National Galley of North Macedonia – Skopje N. Macedonia

2021 “Tempered Mirage” Litla Gallery – Hafnarfjörður Iceland (solo)

2021 “Tehom” SÍM (Association of Icelandic Visual Artists) Gallery – Reykjavík Iceland

2020 Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition – Edinburgh UK

2018 “Subterrestrial Visitors” Narva Art Residency – Narva Estonia (solo)

2017 “Drifting Corridors” The Old Hairdressers – Glasgow Scotland

2017 MLitt Degree Show (GSA) – Glasgow Scotland

2017 “Somewhere Far from the Subject Itself” House for an Art Lover – Glasgow Scotland

2017 Westaim Showcase OCADU – Toronto Canada

2015 Art Olympia Exhibition Toshima City Hall – Tokyo Japan

2015 “Experiencing Perspectives” Mercedes Benz Juried Exhibition – Mississauga Canada

2015, 2014 “The Big Draw” OCAD University Juried Silent Auction – Toronto Canada

Residencies

2023 Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa Canada

2023 Partizan Studios, Budapest Hungary

2021 Muzychi Expanded History Project, Muzychi Ukraine

2021 Nes Artist Residency, Skagaströnd Iceland

2021 SÍM (Association of Icelandic Visual Artists) Residency, Reykjavík Iceland

2019 Center for Contemporary Art, Prilep North Macedonia

2018 Narva Art Residency, Narva Estonia

Fieldwork/Short Courses

2021 Spatial Storytelling – Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts (Salzburg, Austria – Virtual)

2021 Reconfiguring Territories – Summer Research Program, (Narva, Estonia – Virtual)

2019 Mongolia’s Energy Transition Field School – American Center for Mongolian Studies (Mongolia)

2018 Tunnug Mound Archaeological and Geographical Expedition – Russian Geographical Society (Tuva, Russia)

Talks/Workshops

2021 Guest Lecturer – Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Department of Drawing), Vienna Austria

2021 Artist Talk – in Conversation with Alevtina Kakhidze – Izolyatsia Foundation, Kyiv Ukraine

2021 Artist Talk – SÍM Residency, Reykjavik Iceland

2020 Design Brainstorming Workshop (for Second Year Industrial Design Students), Carleton University, Ottawa Canada

2018 Russian Constructivism Lecture and Workshop – Narva Art Residency, Narva Estonia

Selected Awards and Grants

2022 Chalmers Grant for Professional Development – Ontario Arts Council (Canada)

2018-2020 Carleton University Academic Scholarship (Canada)

2019 Henry Luce Foundation Scholarship for Field School – American Center for Mongolian Studies (USA)

2017 Art Olympia Tokyo First Round Finalist Award (Japan)

2016 Mackendrick Postgraduate Scholarship (Scotland)

2016 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (Canada)

2015 Art Olympia Tokyo Chu-Teh-I Jury Award (Japan)

2014 Aboveground Art Supplies Scholarship OCADU (Canada)

2013 Carol and Morton Rapp Foundation Scholarship OCADU (Canada)

Published Work

2022 Cover painting and illustrations for “Remembrances and Other Observations” – a collection of short prose poems on the heroes and heroines of the Holocaust and the act of remembering by Don David Calderon Y Aroesty

2020 Cover painting and illustrations for “The Bells Will Ring Tomorrow: Tales of Village Life in Aegean Macedonia” by Alex Gigeroff

2020 MDes Thesis “Visual Thinking in Virtual Environments: Evaluating Multidisciplinary Interaction Through Drawing Ideation in Real-time Remote Co-design” Carleton University

2019 “Leveraging Disciplinary and Cultural Diversity in the Conceptualization Stages of Design” In book: Advances in Interdisciplinary Practice in Industrial Design, Proceedings of the AHFE International Conference on Interdisciplinary Practice in Industrial Design

Collections

Living National Treasure Museum Tokyo Japan

Other Professional Experience

2022 Co-Curator of “Tendril” group exhibition at the Cultural Center “Miladinovci Brothers” (Struga, North Macedonia)

2022 UX Research Assistant (Bright UX)

2021 Artist Assistant to Dr. Emilia Telese

2021 Scenic Artist on “Titans” Television Series

2019 Scenic Artist on “Zombies 2” Film

2017 Curator of “Drifting Corridors” group exhibition at The Old Hairdresser’s artist run space (Glasgow, UK)