Claire Boyle is a painter based in San Francisco. She recently received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Working primarily in large-scale oil paintings, Boyle depicts moments of celebration and social ceremony, teasing out the exuberant, unhinged, and often unsettling spirit of these gatherings. She draws inspiration from medieval image-making, where things often feel at once wrong and charmingly human.
In addition to painting, Boyle has an editorial background, serving as editor of McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern for six years, as well as of numerous fiction and nonfiction books.
IG: @clairevboyle
Education:
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA in Painting, 2022 – 2024
SAIC New York City Study Trip with Michelle Grabner, 2023
Pitzer College, BA, 2012 – 2015
Exhibitions:
2026 Prostate Press, Gitler &_____, Washington, D.C.
2024 & Other Complications, The Jones Institute, San Francisco, CA
2024 Battle Scenes (solo show), ArtCity Installation Artist Residency, Chicago, IL
2024 They Know Me Here, SITE Gallery, Chicago, IL
2024 Graduate Exhibition One, SAIC Galleries, Chicago, IL
2021 Sunday Crabbing (solo show), ATA Window Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Publications:
McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern Issue 77, Cover and Solo Portfolio, 2025