photo by Carey Gough
Dianna Settles
Bio
Dianna Settles is a Vietnamese-American artist in Lexington, Kentucky who received her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2014. Her current work explores moments of joyful stillness amidst the cascading series of crises called modern life, accomplished through her synthesis of traditional Vietnamese and classical European painting styles.
Recent exhibition highlights include solo shows Enemy of the Century at MARCH in NYC, A Thousand Paths Bloom at Galerie Marguo in Paris, A Life Worth Living Would be a Life Worth Living at MARCH in NYC and Olly Olly Oxen Free at Institute 193 in Lexington, KY. As the inaugural artist of Living Walls’ international exchange program, she completed the 180' long mural To Our Friends / Á Nos Amis in Paris, France in July of 2019, adding to her portfolio of work as a muralist in Atlanta, Oakland, and Pittsburgh.
In addition to her own art practice, Dianna ran Hi-Lo Press, a collective print studio and art gallery founded in Atlanta in 2016 until 2024.
Artist Statement
I am a painter whose compositions arrange portraits of both the living and passed into personal and communal records, creating semi-imagined presents and futures. Whether depicting actual or theoretical occurrences, these compositions possess a richness that gestures towards potential arrangements of a life worth living, examining the political, cultural, and metaphysical aspects of collectivity. My vibrant use of color and detailed, quietly playful mark making further illustrate a reverence for communal experience.
My process primarily involves placing the worlds my friends and I construct and occupy in conversation with other struggles towards liberation throughout history. I aim for my work to find paths across others’ experiences, collectivizing, refining, and revealing shared experiences to elevate them beyond our individual dreams and memories.
Education
2014 BFA San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Solo Exhibitions
2025
Enemy of the Century, MARCH, NYC, NY
2023
A Thousand Paths Bloom, Galerie Marguo, Paris, FR
2022
A Life Worth Living Would be a Life Worth Living, MARCH, NYC, NY
2021
Olly Olly Oxen Free, Institute 193, Lexington, KY
2018
99 Flowers, Versa Gallery, Chattanooga, TN
2015
HI LO, Runaway Studio, Pittsburgh, PA
Group Exhibitions
2025
The Body Is A Drum, The Voice A Soul, The Soul A Fire, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
Notations on Ritual, The Carnegie, Covington, KY
Behind Closed Doors, Gaa Gallery, NYC, NY
2024
The Sea Swept the Sandcastles Away: To Wake Up in Atlanta, MARCH, NYC, NY
2023
Home Run, Casa Marguo, Maó, Menorca
2022
Drawings and Paintings, Hi-Lo Press, Atlanta, GA
2021
Pre-Renovation Potluck, MARCH, NYC, NY
Jurell Cayetano, Gerald Lovell, Dianna Settles, MINT Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2020
Nightwork: 2020 EDGE Award Exhibition, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Semblance, Juried Exhibition, MINT Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2019
The One That Got Away, Delaplane, San Francisco, CA
Of Origins and Belonging, High Museum, Atlanta, GA
To Our Friends | À Nos Amis, (Mural) 10eme District, Paris, France
artintheATL, Hartsfield-Jackson Intl Airport, Atlanta, GA
Art Crush, Factory Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
2018
In These Streets, Trio Gallery, Athens, GA
Art Papers Auction, Southern Exchange Ballroom, Atlanta, GA
Bodies of Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, Collect on Sunday, Atlanta, GA
HER RITUAL, Wish Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Hambidge Auction, ADAC, Atlanta, GA
WREKtacular, Mammal Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Time Like the Present, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA
2017
Signs of Solidarity, Facet Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Art Papers Auction, The Boiler Room, Atlanta, GA
The Gathering, WonderRoot, Atlanta, GA
Assembly Required, Murmur Gallery, Atlanta, GA
This Is It, Blue Mark Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Hambidge Auction, Colony Square, Atlanta, GA
re:FRESH, Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Dear Atlanta, Big Tree Arts, Atlanta, GA
COLLAPSE, Mason Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
Living Walls, The City Speaks, 2017, Atlanta, GA
Let's Be Friends 2, Hi-Lo Press, Atlanta, GA
Signs of Solidarity: Voter Edition, Eyedrum, Atlanta, GA
2016
Silken Fiction, Hi-Lo Press, Atlanta, GA
Hambidge Auction, The Goat Farm, Atlanta, GA
Let's Be Friends, Hi-Lo Press, Atlanta, GA
Art Purrty, Giant Lofts, Atlanta, GA
Little Things Mean A Lot, Swan Coach Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Pressing Matters, Paper Planes Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2015
Raised on Replicas, Campfire Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014
Sudden Cinder, solo exhibition, Octane, Atlanta, GA
BFA Graduate Exhibition, SFAI, San Francisco, CA
Print, curated by Noemi Szyller, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012
Concentrate, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
No Place Like Home, solo exhibition, Octane, Atlanta, GA
2011
Nick Of Time, Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2009
Food Not Bombs Benefit, Wonderroot, Atlanta, GA
Residencies
2024
Casa Marguo, Maó, Menorca
Collections
Le Consortium, Dijon, FR
PODO Museum, Jejudo, KR
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL
X Museum, Shanghai, CN
Longlati Foundation, Shanghai, CN
Publications
2026
New American Paintings, Issue 178
2025
Village Voice: Painter Dianna Settles Portrays Day-to-Day Life Amid Political Chaos
Grace Byron: Quiet Riot - On Dianna Settles/ Enemy of the Century
2024
Panthère Première
Printed and Published Spring 2024
Oxford American
Printed and Published Spring 2024
2019
Commune Magazine
Published December 10
Mask Magazine
Published August 30
Commune Magazine
Published July 2
2018
Commonplace Review
Published August 24
fLoromancy
Published April 27
Creative Loafing
Published February 20
