Who

Schutz's abstract narrative paintings made her one of the most acclaimed of the younger generation of New York artists before she'd even turned 30.

Backstory

Raised outside Detroit by a mother who was a junior high school art teacher, Schutz began exhibiting her paintings in 2000 at the tender age of 24. While she was attending the MFA program at Columbia, she met gallerist Zach Feuer at a party; before she even had her diploma in hand, she exploded on the scene with a solo exhibition at Feuer's LFL Gallery entitled "Frank from Observation," a set of paintings that revolved around the last man on Earth. Since then, she's had a number of solo exhibitions—a 2004 show featured paintings of characters who ate themselves—and her work has already been snapped up by major museums, including the Guggenheim, MoMA, and the Whitney. Her figurative, absurdist paintings typically feature thick brush strokes and bold, bright colors.

Of note

Schutz was selected for the prestigious Venice Biennial in 2003, and in 2005 she was part of the "Greater New York" exhibition at P.S. 1, where her mural-sized painting Presentation was one of the show's biggest hits. In 2006, she also exhibited at uber-collector Charles Saatchi's "USA Today" show, along with Jules de Balincourt, Banks Violette, Terence Koh, Matthew Day Jackson, Barnaby Furnas, and Ryan McGinness. Recently, Schutz's paintings have fetched up to $130,000 at auction.

For the record

Wanna buy one of her works? It helps if you're willing to donate it. Such is the demand for her work that Feuer has been able to insist on an unusual stipulation—that collectors purchase two paintings, holding on to one and donating the other to a museum. It's a tactic that benefits Schutz, without question, although it's also led to grumbling in the industry. Michael Ovitz has already taken up the bargain: He purchased Presentation and subsequently donated it to the MoMA.

Habitat

Schutz lives in Brooklyn, where she also keeps a studio.

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