Michelle Hartney
Chicago, IL
EDUCATION
MAAT, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
BA, Purdue University
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025
Sacred Motherhood, Women Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
Unconditional Care, Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY
2024
CURRENTS: Free Expression and the Inexpressible, AIR Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Mending workshop, 21c Museum, Chicago, IL
Unplanned Parenthood, The Surgical Science Museum, Chicago, IL
L’Soirée, LouLou by Lula, Chicago, IL
2023
New Art Dealers Alliance, Ice Palace Studios, Miami, FL
Unconditional Care, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY
Labor, University of Missouri Kansas City Art Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Call and Response: A Narrative of Reverence to Our Foremothers in Gynecology, Harvard's Rudenstine Gallery, Cambridge, MA
Offspring, 21C Museum, Chicago, IL
Unconditional Care, Center for Arts and History, Lewiston, ID
Unplanned Parenthood Sewing Circle, Weinberg Newton Gallery, Chicago, IL
Birth by the Book: Artist Book Exhibition Scholars’ Commons Exhibition Space, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
For Those Without Choice, Weinberg Newton Gallery, Chicago, IL
Body Sovereignty Parade, EXPO, Chicago, IL
Woman to Woman, XCĒD, Chicago, IL
2022
Unplanned Parenthood: Letters to an Army of Millions, Sewing Circle, 21C Museum, Kansas City, MO
Vote for Abortion Art Parade, Washington Square Park, NY, NY
Abortion Stories, Lump Projects, Raleigh, NC
RNCC Gallery Walk, Atalia Furniture, Chicago, IL
Will to Change: Gathering as Praxis, Cummings Gallery, New London, CT
Unplanned Parenthood: Letters to an Army of Millions Write-in, 21C Museum, Chicago, IL
Mother’s Right, AWHONN Convention, Denver, CO
2021
Wide Awakes Day, 21C Museum, Kansas City, MO
Does the Art Excuse the Accused? Hokin Gallery, Chicago, IL
B.Y.O.G (Build Your Own God) and Other Ideas for a Kinder World, Artshack Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
Art of Equal Pay, Stoneleaf Retreat, Kingston, NY
Interstice, Motor, Los Angeles, CA
2020
How To Yourself, Victory Gardens Theatre, Chicago, IL
Vote Feminist Parade, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA
Masks We Wear, Pendleton Street Photography, Cincinatti, OH
Mother Art Prize, Crowmwell Place, London, UK
Interstice, Franconia Sculpture Park, Minneapolis, MN
2019
Motherload, Collaboraction Theatre, Chicago, IL
Radical Love, Stockholm Fringe Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
Correcting Art History guerrilla performance, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Civil Discourse Action, Art Basel, Miami, IL
2018
Separate the Art from the Artist guerrilla performance, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
How Many Crotch Shots of a Child Does It Take To Make A Painting? -Guerrilla performance, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Object Action: The “F” Word in a Post-Truth Era, State Space, San Francisco, CA Parade Against Patriarchy, Washington Square Park, New York, NY
Flat Iron Artists, The Robey Hotel, Chicago, IL
2017
Parade Against Patriarchy, Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL
Post 11 Nine, Connect Gallery, Hyde Park, IL
The Weight Of Words, The Comfort Station, Chicago, IL
The Virtue of the Vicious, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
Nasty Women Chicago, Moonlight Studios, Chicago, IL
Submissive Exhibitions, The Mission, Chicago, IL
SF Collective Spring Edition: ACLU + Planned Parenthood, Starline Social Club, San Francisco, CA
Nasty Women, The Knockdown Center, Brooklyn, NY
2016
Kimberly Said No, public performance, Chicago, IL
WMG Spring Gala Benefit, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL Mother’s Right, Defibrillator Gallery, Chicago IL
2015
Mother’s Right, Installation/Performance, Daley Plaza, Chicago, IL
Feminism (n.) Plural, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL Women’s Work, Old Courthouse Arts Center, Woodstock, IL
PRESS
2024
Marie Claire, Génération Kamala : à Chicago, à la Rencontre d'une Jeunesse Américaine Remplie d'Espoir, October 2024
Art in America, Amid an Uptick in Censorship, a National Coalition Is Helping Artists Fight Back, October, 2024
WBBM, Artist's Exhibit Delves into History of Birth Control in US, September, 2024
2023
NY Times, An Idaho College Removes Artwork About Abortion, Citing a State Law, March 2023
Vice, Abortion Art Censored Lewis Clark Collage Idaho, Carter Sherman, March 2023
PBS - Experts Say Attacks on Free Speech are Rising Across the US, March 2023
Hyperallergic, Abortion-Related Artworks Removed from Idaho College Exhibition, March 2023
The Guardian, Artwork referring to abortion removed from Idaho public college exhibition, March 2023
Artnet News, An Idaho College Sparked National Outrage for Censoring Abortion-Themed Artworks, August 2023
ACLU, An Idaho College Censored Their Reproductive Health Care Art, But These Artists Won’t be Silenced, March 2023
Harvard Gazette, How Lucy, Betsey, and Anarcha Became Foremothers of Gynecology, March 2023
Boston Art Review, Take the Day: Fourteen Exhibitions That Warrant Art-Filled Trips Across New England, June 2023
National Coalition Against Censorship, ACLU, NCAC Oppose Removal of Abortion Related Art at Idaho College Art Gallery, March 2023
Jezebel, Idaho College Pulls Abortion Related Art From Exhibit, by Susan Rinkunas, March 2023
The Chronicl For Higher Education, Article Citing State Law in Idaho College Censored an Art Exhibition That Mentions Abortion- Nell Gluckman, March 2023
Wisconsin Law Journal, Censorship Growing in US, March 2023
The Art Newspaper, Abortion Artworks Censored Lewis Clark State College, Claire Voon, March 2023
Wyoming Public Media, Citing Idaho Abortion Law, Lewis-Clark State College Censors its Own Art Show, April 2023
104.3 Wow Country FM, Censorship of Art Now Has Idaho Public College Under Pressure, April 2023
Spokane Public Media, Citing Idaho abortion law, Lewis-Clark State College censors its own art show, March 2023
KLEW TV, Lewis-Clark State College censors portions of art exhibit for discussing abortion, March 2023
Boise State Public Media, Citing Idaho abortion law, Lewis-Clark State College censors its own art show, March 2023
Idaho Capital Sun, Idaho college censors portions of art exhibit for discussing abortion, March 2023
Lewiston Tribune, Once-censored art exhibit to go on full display in New York, August 2023
Gagosian Quarterly, AMERICAN ARTISTS AND REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE, July 2023
2022
Artnet News, “Artist Michelle Hartney Is Enlisting the Public to Embroider Messages From Women Pleading for Help With Unwanted Pregnancies” June 2022
USA Art News, Feminist Artists Marched for Reproductive Freedom in New York, October 2022
2021
Ms Magazine, "UNPLANNED PARENTHOOD: Inside the Art Installation Using Historical Testimony to Call for a Feminist Future,” November 2021
Artnet News “15 Artist-Mothers on Balancing Work and Family After a Year Like No Other,” January 2021
2020
Artnet News “Meet the Artists Who Have Transformed Their Studios Into Mask-Making Workshops,” May 2020
BBC News, “Separating the Art From the Artist,” April 2019
Artnet News, “Museums Are Withholding Information: Why an Artist Made a Guerrilla Audio Guide for an Art Institute of Chicago Show,” January
2019
Hyperallergic, “Artist Covertly Hangs #MeToo-Inspired Wall Labels at the Met Museum,” November 2018
Artnet News, “The Year in Protest: From the Met to Chapel Hill to Kochi and Beyond,” December 2018
The Guardian, “'The Art World Tolerates Abuse'-The Fight to Change Museum Wall Labels,” November, 2018
Artnet News, This Artist Is Sneakily Posting Her Own Guerrilla Wall Labels to Call Out the Bad Behavior of Male Artists at the Met, November
2018
Artnet News, Meet 12 Fierce Feminist Artists Who Marched in a Get Out the Vote Parade Ahead of Today’s Midterm Elections, November 2018
2017
Paper Magazinepermag.com/tag/parade-against-patriarchy, "The 'Parade Against Patriarchy' Makes a Statement at Art Basel," December 2017
Miami New Times, "Parade Against Patriarchy Brings Feminist Public Art to Basel," December 2017
Artnet News, Art Parade Against the Patriarchy Crashes Art Basel Miami Beach, Targeting the President, December 2017
2016
Women You Should Know, “Artist Breaks The Silence On Disturbing Things Some Women Hear From Doctors During Childbirth," January 2016
Women’s Health, “This Artist Used Hospital Gowns to Make a Powerful Statement About Poor Maternity Care,” January 2016
2015
Yahoo News, "Artist Makes Powerful Statement About Dangers of U.S. Maternity Care," December 2015
CNN’s Great Big Story, "I Don't Need Her Permission': Art as a Weapon for Women, (video) December 2015
Fjords, "Under Contract," September 2015
Performance is Alive, "Michelle Hartney Presents Mother's Right Performance on Labor Day," September 2015
New City, "Performance at Daley Plaza to Raise Awareness of Maternal Mortality and Negligent Care," September 2015
New City, "Review: Feminism (n.): Plural/Woman Made Gallery," June 2015