ABOUT
Deena Capparelli’s meditations on mysterious, earthly places come to life in vivid, colorful paintings. Her many years of researching landscape history, gardens, and botany are reflected in her diverse projects, ranging from painting to land art to garden design. In her work, the tradition of picturesque landscape painting is ruptured through meticulous structure and intuitive response. New layers of code are brought into the work. The human is implied via the geometry of space, and yet the spaces are devoid of lifeforms beyond the suggested plants. Reflecting on personal experiences, Capparelli’s work moves through the designed landscape; images evolve as reactive thoughts and responses to the paint on the surface. Conversions of light, atmosphere, and energy appear as formally shaped bars or bands. These elements break the pictorial space as painterly elements bring the background forward and the foreground to the back. A playful sensibility juxtaposes various styles and techniques. Art-historical references are woven into each piece, giving shape to journeys, pleasures, places, and sorrowful, lost futures.
BIO
Deena Capparelli is an artist, designer based in Pasadena CA. A life-long fascination with the physical environment has been a mainstay in her work. Interests in geography, the history of landscape, garden design and California native plants inform her paintings, art installations and interdisciplinary collaborations with partner Claude Willey. Capparelli holds an MFA in Studio Arts from Claremont Graduate University and BFA in Sculpture from CSU Long Beach. She was a professor of Art for 33 years at Pasadena City College teaching sculpture, drawing, painting and for several year helped develop and taught an interdisciplinary Scholars block program: Environmental Science and Art. She was awarded 3 academic sabbaticals supported by several trips to England, Italy, Germany, and the east coast of the US, to studying ancient earth works, historical landscapes and gardens. These experiences have fueled her recent landscape paintings. She retired in 2021 to focus on her studio, design practice and continue her research.
EDUCATION
Claremont Graduate University
Masters of Fine Arts 1984
California State University Long Beach
Bachelor of Fine Arts 1981
Solo and 2-person Exhibitions
2025: Onklo, Paintings by Deena Capparelli, Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA
2023 Loci of Enchantment, New Works by Deena Capparelli, LAUNCH Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022: “Furious Gardens”, Claremont Museum of Art, Claremont, CA
2007: “Invisible Trajectories”, Wignall Museum at Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
1993: “Land Revisited”, Deena Capparelli, and Sant Khalsa, The Art Works, Riverside, CA
1991: “House of Hagar”, collaborative installation by Jane Brucker and Deena Capparelli, Cook Memorial Art Foundation Exhibition, School of Theology at Claremont, CA
1988: “Waterforge”, solo (installation), Rex Wignall Museum/Gallery at Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
INSTALLATIONS AND INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECTS
2014: NW Pasadena, an interpretive walk through North West Pasadena Community, mapped and designed by Deena Capparelli for Flintridge Foundation. Benefiting the Flintridge Center.
2010: Mega Fauna Awareness Day, Los Angeles Natural History Museum.
2009: “Through the looking glass: the LA aqueduct”, Seas and Space Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2009: “Agriart”, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
2008: “ East in Eden”, KW Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery, Cal Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA
2008: “ Bioneering”, Gallery at UC Irvine
2007: “Invisible Trajectories”, Wignall Museum at Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
2007: “Paradise Regained”, Eagle Rock Center for the Arts, Los Angeles, CA
2002-2009: “Moisture” Event at Center for Land Use Interpretation Desert Research Center, Hinkley, CA
2000: “Inland Specific” Wignall Museum/Gallery at Chaffey College, Alta Loma, CA
2000: “A Spot in the Mind”, I-5 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1997: “Constructing Domesticity”, Jose Drudis-Biada Art Gallery, Mount St. Mary College
1995: “Interconnections”, SITE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1993: “Land Revisited”, The Art Works, Riverside, CA
1992: “Atmosphere”, Pasadena Art Alliance and the Hilton, Pasadena, CA
1991: “Objects From the Landscape”, The Art Works, Riverside, CA
1991: “House of Hagar”, collaborative installation by Jane Brucker and Deena Capparelli, Cook Memorial Art Foundation Exhibition, School of Theology at Claremont, CA
Group Exhibitions
2026: Evolving Matter, Curated by Karla Funderberk, pop-up Matter Gallery at the Pavilion Century Park (former Annenberg Museum of Photography), Century City, CA
2026: Nature Interrupted, Curated by Gene Sasse, Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA
2023: Landscape Constructed and Wild, Alexxa Gotthardt, STE Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2021: “Configured Landscape”, Curated by Betty Ann Brown, LAUNCH Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019: “Dialog with Nature”, Curated by Gene Sasse, Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA
2018: “Visions of Elysium”, Curated by Jim Morphesis, Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA
2018: “Lazy Susan V: Human/Nature”, Curated by Colin Roberts and Mahara T. Sinclaire, LAVA Projects, Alhambra, CA
2002: “Mentor and Mentee Art Exhibition”, California State University, Los Angeles
2001: “Abstract Drawing”, Curated By Whittier College Green Leaf Gallery, Whittier, CA
2000: “Shoots and Stacks”, Occidental College sculpture gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2000: “Mathesis”, Cerritos College Art Gallery, Norwalk, CA
1998: “One Night Stand 4”, Organized by Michael Arata and Leonard Bravo, Farmer’s Daughter Motel, Los Angeles, CA
1998: “Valentines”, The Art Works Gallery, Riverside, CA
1996: “littlebigart”, Mendenhall Art Gallery, Whittier College, Whittier, CA
1995: “Small”, Kohn Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1994: “Get Back”, Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, CA
1994: “The Phantom of the Armory II”, The Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
1994: “Six Artists”, Curated by Doug Bond, Riviera Fine Arts Center, Santa Barbara, CA
1993: “Spectral Delinquency”, Curated by Yolade Mckay, Stuart Katz’s Loft, Laguna Beach, CA
1993: Group show, Curated by Suzanne Bravender, The Art Store Gallery, Pasadena, CA
1993: “Valentines”, The Art Works, Riverside, CA
1992: “Artists Whose Backs I’ve Cracked”, Old Town Chiropractic, Pasadena, CA
1992: “Double Exposure”, The Arts Foundation of San Bernardino County exhibition of fellowship recipients, San Bernardino, CA
1992: D.L. Capparelli, Sant Subagh H. Khalsa, Donna Morin, Ontario Art Museum, Ontario, CA
1992: “Artist’s Valentines”, The Art Works, Riverside, CA
1991: “PCC Faculty Show”, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA
1990: “Landscape: A Postmodern Interpretation”, Biola University Art Gallery, La Mirada, CA
1989: “Landscape Connection: Time, Space, and Man”, The Art Works Gallery, Riverside, CA
1987: “The Inland Empire Strikes Back”, Riverside Art Museum New Gallery, Riverside, CA
1986: “New Drawings”, Lyons Gallery, Redlands, CA
1986: “Erotic Drawings”, DA Gallery, Pomona, CA
1985: Group Show, Minds Eye Gallery, Riverside, CA
1984: “U.C. Irvine Exchange”, U.C. Irvine Gallery, Irvine, CA
1983: “Gentle Interferences”, an exhibition of site-specific proposals, Libra Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, CA
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2019: May-June, Artist Residency, Gallery Pluto, Bonn, Germany
2009-2010: UCIRA Resident Artist, University of California Riverside, Palm Desert Graduate Center
2009: Illuminus Green, UCIRA Palm Desert Biological Field Station
GRANTS/AWARDS
1996: San Bernardino County Education Medal of Honor, Excellence in Education Student Alumni
1991: San Bernardino County Arts Foundation Grant for the Individual Artist
1989: Foundation Mini-Grant, Funding for Fresco Workshop and Lecture Projects, Pasadena City College
1988: San Bernardino County Arts Foundation, with the Wignall Museum, grant for sculpture/ installation at the Wignall Museum
1985: California Arts Council Grants for Art in Schools
CATALOGUES
2206: Matter Studio Gallery, Los Angeles. Catalog published by Matter Studio Gallery, text and color photo reproduction.
2007: East in Eden, catalog published by Kellogg University Art Gallery, text and photo reproduction.
2000: Inland Specific, catalog published by Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA, and Claremont Graduate University, p. 65-66, text and photo reproduction.
1993: Spectral Delinquency, newspaper published by studies from the Institute of Cultural Inquiry, New York, Venice, Bochum. Edited by Yolande Mckay, p. 5, poem and photo reproduction.
1988: Waterforge, catalogue published by Rex W. Wignall Museum & Gallery in conjunction with solo exhibition. 16 pages with text by Carol Schwennesen, 6 photo reproductions. Foreword by Virginia M. Eaton, Administrative Director, Wignall Museum.
1987: Inland Empire Strikes Back, in conjunction with Riverside Art Museum exhibition, p. 10-11, photo reproduction, artist’s statement and biography. Published by Riverside Art Museum.
1986: Art Forum: Contemporary Arts Issues, p. 9, photo reproduction, artist’s statement. Published by Rancho Santiago College, Santa Ana, CA.
BOOKS
2015: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid 2015 ISBN 978-84-362-6956-7. Authors: Tonia Raquejo and Maria Parreno. Text on MOISTURE project.
2009: LULU press, MOISTURE 2002-2009
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
2009: Mammut Magazine: issue 3, Twilight of the Megafauna: Roar from Cucamonga
2004: Leonardo Magazine MIT press. Co-author on MOISTURE project
REVIEWS/ARTICLES
Showcase My Art : Oct.5. 2025, By Caroline Margaret, https://showcasemyart.com/deena-capparelli-reimagining-landscapes-between-science-and-imagination/
Artweek - March 2000 Volume 31, p. 20-21. “A Spot In the Mind”, exhibition at I-5 Gallery reviewed by Josef Woodard. Photo reproduction, p. 21.
Santa Barbara News - Press, April 1, 1994, p. 25-27. Scene, “The Diverse Works of 6 Artists”, reviewed by Michael Darling. Photo reproduction, p. 25.
Los Angeles Times - Orange County, May 11, 1993, p. F1, 2. Calendar, “Some Serious Thinking About Unlikely Things”, reviewed by Cathy Curtis.
Artweek - June 3, 1993, p. 22. “Perversities, Spectral Delinquency at Stuart Katz’s Loft”, reviewed by J. S. M. Willette. Photo reproduction of work.
Artweek - February 18, 1993, p. 5. “Natural Elements, Land Revisited at The Art Works”, reviewed by Devorah Knaff. Photo reproductions; color p. 1, black and white p. 5.
The San Bernardino Sun - April 9, 1992, p. 1 section D. “At Home With Area Artists”, article and interview by Mark Muckenfuss. Photo reproduction of work.
Star - News, Pasadena, CA - February 7, 1992, p. A11. “Artists Lend Lasting Mark to Center”, article and interview by Kathy Register. Photo Reproduction of work.
Visions Magazine - Fall 1991, p. 53. “Showcase Artist”, article by Sheila Lynch. Color photo reproduction of work.
The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, CA - June 25, 1989, p. F2. “Landscape Theme Unifies Show of 3 Artists’ Works”. Photo reproduction of work.
The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, CA - June 5, 1991, p. D - 8. “Natural and Artificial Blend at Lovely Art Works Exhibit”, review by Devorah L. Knaff. Photo reproduction of work.
Artweek - June 17, 1989, p. 3. “Adding to Tradition”, reviewed by Brian Butler.
The Daily Bulletin, Upland, CA - June 24, 1988, p. D2. “Chaffey College Hosts an Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit”, article and interview by Chris Elliott. Photo reproduction of work.
The Progress Bulletin, Pomona, CA - June 18, 1988, p. D1. “Reviving a Lost Art Form”, article and interview by Joseph Firman. Photo reproduction of work.
The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, CA - June 19, 1987. “Empire Strikes with a Squad of Artists”, review by Dovorah L. Knaff.
The San Bernardino Sun - July 14, 1987. “Inland Empire Shows it has Art”, article by Betty Shimabukro.