Karen Gunderson's Dark Waves Rising at Yancey Richardson Gallery

Key facts

• Dark Waves Rising opens October 22, 2026, and runs through December 5, 2026, at Yancey Richardson Gallery in Chelsea, New York.
• The exhibition is Karen Gunderson's first solo presentation in New York in more than a decade and her first with the gallery since joining its roster in 2025.
• Gunderson was born in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1943 and has developed her practice over approximately six decades.
• The Water paintings are based on Gunderson's photographs, including images taken while whale watching off Cape Cod and views of the Hudson River near her studio in Coxsackie, New York.
• Dark Waves Rising introduces blue pigments to the Water series for the first time, creating a more luminous, jewel-like effect.
• The Moon paintings draw on NASA imagery and have roots in concerns Gunderson began exploring around 1999 and 2000 about corporate advertising in space.
• Works such as Bear Moon and Sturgeon Moon, both dated 2026, are included in the exhibition.
• Gunderson received the Anonymous Was A Woman Award in 2020, and her work is held in public collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
• An opening reception will be held on October 22 from 6 to 8 p.m., and a conversation between Gunderson and Margaret Andera, senior curator of contemporary art at the Milwaukee Art Museum, is scheduled for November 7.