Camille Holvoet
b. 1952, San Francisco ∙ CE artist since 2001
Photo by Evguenia Shtill
Camille Hovloet was born in San Francisco–“1952, June 30th, at St Mary’s Hospital across the street from the church.” Her work centers acute memories from her younger years, merged with the spontaneous desires and blissfully honest thoughts of the present. For over thirty years, Holvoet has built a career at progressive art studios Creativity Explored and Creative Growth, where she has developed a highly personal, complex, and uncensored body of work. In the studio, the pressures of the past are relieved by the joy of the creative process. In the artist's words, “drawing a picture and writing poetry on it and talking about it and screaming about it helps you feel more relaxed and get your frustration out.”
Her layered artmaking process begins with illustrations of memories, often followed by extended poems or texts exploring life’s anxieties and forbidden desires. Her uncanny recollections detail every place she had lived and often hone in on such details as the bathroom tiles' colors and designs. She paints people, some of whom she hasn’t seen in decades, with their charming characteristics in mind. Using her art to both commemorate and process the past, Holvoet constantly revisits depictions of past homes, the people who lived there, nearby churches, and things that bring her joy. Visual motifs such as cakes, Ferris wheels, and merry-go-rounds echo throughout her work, all tied to anecdotes that were formative to Holvoet’s early life. These subjects all serve as a vehicle for investigating Holvoet’s dreams, desires, frustrations, and memories, over, and over again– circling like the rides she often depicts.
Camille Holovet has been a studio artist at Creativity Explored for over twenty years and has participated in over ninety exhibitions nationally and internationally, including in Ireland, Japan, and the UK. Holvoet has presented multiple solo exhibitions, including White Columns Gallery (New York), Jack Fischer Gallery (San Francisco), and at the Creativity Explored Gallery. Her work can be found in the permanent collection of the SFMoMA and the Oakland Museum of CA, and in 2024, Holvoet was a finalist for the prestigious SFMoMA SECA Award.
Select Exhibitions & Projects
2026
“Pretty City,” Creativity Explored, SF, CA
2025
“Looks Like a Home to Me,” Los Angeles Public Libary, Los Angeles, CA
“I’m Going on A Picnic,” SAGE Studios, Austin, TX
2024
“Creative Grwoth: The House That Art Built,” SFMoMA, SF, CA
“For Dear Life: Art, Medicine, and Disability,” Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, SD, CA
“All Things In Motion,” Creativity Explored, SF, CA
2023
“Into the Brightness,” Oakland Museum of CA, Oakland, CA
“Eneight Vase,” Creativity Explored, SF, CA
“Old Friends/ New Friends,” Creativity Explored, SF, CA
2021
Outsider Art Fair, New York, NY
“Cake Taxi,” Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
“Mode Brut,” Museum of Craft and Design, SF, CA
“Mode Brut,” Saks Fifth Avenue, San Francisco, CA
“The Art of Disability Culture,” Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
2020
Cordially Invited 2020, Make Studio, Baltimore, MD
Of Here From There | De Aquí Desde Allá, San Francisco Arts Institute, San Francisco, CA
Mother Nature! at Outsider Art Fair 2020, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
2019
Big Bellies, Jewish Community Center, San Francisco, CA
TANLINES at Summertime Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Creativity Explored at Cutting Ball Theatre, San Francisco, CA
Neighbors: Art from Next Door, Black & Blue Tattoo, San Francisco, CA
The One and Only Camille Holvoet, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
6 Women of Creativity Explored, Marriott Stanton Hotel, Miami, FL
A Holiday Feast, Kiosk Museum, San Francisco, CA
CE x CG x NIAD, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA
5 Women at Outsider Art Fair 2019, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
Bitchin', Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2018
"From" All Over the Place, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, San Francisco, CA
Nine Hearts Exploring, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Mind Place, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Outsider Art Fair 2018, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
Faces and Paces in the City, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA
2017
Exposed, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Art and Advocacy, California Museum, Sacramento, CA
Black White, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Sugar Circus, C + M (Coffee and Milk) War Memorial, San Francisco, CA
Outsider Art Fair 2017, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY
2016
Ripe, Creativity Explored Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Resonating Resonance, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan
Tabula Rasa, Creativity Explored , San Francisco, CA
2015
Collaboration , Ruby's Clay Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014
They are full of holy..., Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
New Zealand Outsider Art Fair, The Nathan Club, Britomart , Auckland, New Zealand
Shoerageous, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
INK, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
A Particularly Picky Perfect Goddess: Camille Shelley Holvoet, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2013
Outside In: The Art of Inclusion, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, Ireland
2012
(Pre)Fabricators, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Creativity Explored at Ambach & Rice, Ambach & Rice, Los Angeles, CA
Fabulous, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Camille Holvoet: Savory and Sweet, 18 Reasons, San Francisco, CA
Are We There Yet?, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2011
SMALL, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Faces, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Masters, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
4 Real 4 Faux Animating the Vernacular, Truman State University Art Gallery, Kirksville, MO
2009
"Science" Fiction, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Legend: Myth and Memory, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2007
Transmissions, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2006
Drawing the Line, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2005
Mindful, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Wear to Go, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Subjects of Desire, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2004
Spirits and Saints, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Critters, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2003
Fired and Wired, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Lit, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2002
Art from the Fire, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
Women's Work, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA