T.L. Solien, born in Fargo, North Dakota in 1949, received a BA degree in Art from Moorhead State University, Moorhead MN in 1973, and an MFA in Painting and Sculpture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1977.
Since the late 70’s, Solien’s work has been linked to the continuing evolution of figural painting, and has been grouped within the concerns of Neo-Expressionism, Neo- Surrealism, and New Image histories.
Solien has been invited to participate in numerous exhibitions of National and International magnitude including, the 1983 Whitney Biennial, the 39th Biennial of American Painting at the Corcoran Museum, Washington D.C.; Avant-Grade in the 80’s, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The American Artist as Printmaker, Brooklyn Museum NY; Images and Impressions, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis and Contemporary Drawings, High Museum of Art, Atlanta.
Solien’s work has been visible in over 35 solo exhibitions in the last 25 years, and was the subject of a 25 year retrospective entitled T.L. Solien: Myths and Monsters organized by the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison.
T.L. Solien has been the recipient of numerous honors, including multiple Bush Foundation and Jerome Foundation fellowships, University of Wisconsin Graduate School Research Grants, and has been named “Outstanding Alumni” at both the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Moorhead State University, MN. In 2008 Solien was awarded a fellowship from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, and in 2010 received a Wisconsin State Arts Board fellowship.
Solien has held teaching positions at The Ohio State University, Columbus; The University of Iowa, Iowa City; Montana State University, Bozeman; and is currently a tenured Professor in the Art Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Solien is represented in numerous public collections including, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Walker Art Center, High Museum of Art, Plains Art Museum, Chazen Museum of Art, The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Milwaukee Museum of Art, Indiana University Art Museum, University of Iowa Museum of Art, New York University.
Solien’s recent interest in “Moby Dick”, his fictional account of the life of Ahab’s widow, and the 19th century expansion of the American West, will be featured in an exhibition at the Plains Art Museum, Fargo in 2012.