Bio, Statement, CV

Installation view, Jim Kempner Fine Art

Bio

Steve Giovinco is a New York-based photographer. Tracing environmental change, his work focuses on evocative long exposure night landscapes images. Public and private collections including his photographs are the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the California Museum of Photography. Exhibitions of his work include the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag; Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia; Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati; Winnipeg Art Gallery; White Columns, New York; Sadler’s Wells, London; Gyeongnam Art Museum, Korea. He’s a Fulbright Fellow Alternate, attendened artist residencies at Yaddo and received numerous grants. He was commissioned by one of the first blockchain art platforms, Monegraph. Giovinco earned an MFA from Yale University. 

Statement

My night photographs at the edge of inhabited places trace evidence of epic but subtle change. Informed by the environment, history, and culture, my most recent work documents the extremely remote arctic Greenland with the goal of visualizing transformation since climate-related statistics can be difficult to grasp. I aim to capture the immensity of the space and photograph a feeling of loss and evidence of change in the landscape while making a visual representation of an unfolding emotional experience.

Working in darkness requires exposures ranging from several minutes to an hour or more, making it impossible to see through the camera’s viewfinder. Instead, I stand beside it “feeling” the image and intuitively framing it in the dark. This process can be meditative, revelatory, and sometimes terrifying in the primordial beauty. 

Artistic inspiration is from the paintings of Frederick Church and Hudson River School; the photographs of Eugène Atget, Brassai; the films of Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, Scandinavian and German cinema, movies my father would bring home as a child; Roman ruins and large abandoned industrial structures.

CV

Lives and works in New York.

Education
1989   Yale University, New Haven, Master of Fine Arts, Photography
1987   New York University, New York, M.A. Interactive Telecommunications Program
1982   Washington University, Saint Louis, B.A. History/Literature

One Person Exhibitions
2019   Mill: New Work, Prairie Ronde, Vicksburg, Michigan
2017   New Work, Château de l’Esparrou, Canet-en-Roussillon, France
2012   Nightlandscapes, Sheldon Art Center, Saint Louis
2011   Couples, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts
2007   Eclipse: Recent Photographs, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
2005   Ambient Life, VELAN Center for Contemporary Art, Torino, Italy
2003   Photographs, University of the Arts, Philadelphia
2002   Myth of the Real, Butler Institute of Art, Youngstown, Ohio
           Self Portraits, Acme Art, Columbus, Ohio
2001   Myth of the Real, California Museum of Photography, Riverside, California
           Myth of the Real, Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna, Austria
1995   New Photographs, University of Missouri, Gallery 201, Saint Louis
           New Photographs, University of California, Berkeley Extension, San Francisco
           New Images, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
1994   New Photographs, Dru Arstark Gallery, New York
           Recent Photographs, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon (catalog) 

Group Exhibitions
2022 Three Person Show, Scandinavian-American Foundation, New York
          Benefit Auction, Photographic Center Pacific Northwest, Seattle
2021   Rfotofolio Call, Rfotofolio, website 
           Self Portrait issue of F-Stop, F-Stop, website
2017   Fast Forward // Rewind, The Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Atlanta
           Atlanta Celebrates Photography, Atlanta
           the kids are alright, Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts 
           Benefit Auction, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina
2013   the kids are alright, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina
2012   the kids are alright, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin (catalog) 
           Our Daily Rite, Artspace, New Haven
           Third Annual Photography Exhibition, Philadelphia Photography Arts Center, Philadelphia
2011   American Chambers, Gyeongnam Art Museum, South Korea (with Eric Fischl, Richard Serra)
           Small, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Netherlands (catalogue) 
           Look3, Photography Festival, Charlottesville, Virginia
           100 Portraits-100 Photographers, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney (catalog) 
           Atlanta Celebrates Photography, Ones to Watch, Mary Stanley Studio Project Space, Atlanta
2010   About Time, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
           Portrayal, Lohin Geduld Gallery, New York
           Mixology II: Photography, curator’s office, Washington, DC
           ArtChicago, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
           Annual Photography, The Print Center, Philadelphia 
2009   Through the Lens, Lowe Art Museum, Miami (catalog) 
           INK/Miami Art Fair, Jim Kempner Fine Art, Miami
           ArtBazaar, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York
           Yaddo Benefit Photography Auction, New York (catalog) 
           Brooklyn Academy of Art, Benefit Auction, Brooklyn (catalog) 
2008   Art Miami, Jim Kempner Fine Art, Miami.
           Things, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York.  
           People, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York (with Diane Arbus, Elizabeth Peyton)
2007   Group Show, Sadlers Wells, London (with Richard Billingham and Thomas Joshua Cooper)
           Global Warning, Chelsea Galleria, Miami
           Group Show, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
2006   Ink/Miami Basel, Jim Kempner Fine Art, Miami
2005   Ripe for Picking: Fruit and Flowers, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
           Group Show, Miniature Museum of Contemporary Art, Amsterdam (catalog)
2004   Outside, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York (with Shirin Neshat, Olafur Eliasson, Stephen Shore)
           Internacional, Galeria Luis Adelantado, Valencia, Spain
           Summer Show, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
2003   Photographs by 7 Contemporary Artists, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
           Home, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada (with Jeff Wall, Sam Taylor-Wood) (catalog) 
2002   Benefit Auction, Renaissance Society, Chicago
2001   Summer Cum Lauder, Tepper Takayama Fine Arts, Boston
2000   Recent Acquisitions, Brooklyn Museum, New York
           The End, Exit Art, New York
           Flatfiles, Pierogi, Brooklyn, New York 
           Spring Auction, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas
1999   Female, Wessel + O’Connor Gallery, New York (curated by Vince Aletti)
           Changing Faces, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
1997   Group Work, Art Exchanges Show, New York
1995   Home is Where…, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, North Carolina (catalog) 
           Body Photographic, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, Louisiana (catalog) 
           Suburbia, Art in General, New York
           Whateva, Dru Arstark Gallery, New York (with Chuck Close, Sally Mann)
1994   Verisimilitude & the Utility of Doubt, White Columns, New York (curated by Greg Crewdson)                         (catalog) 

Residencies
2022   Bloedel Reserve Creative Residency, Bainbridge Island, Washington
2019   Residency, Prairie Ronde Fellow, Vickburg, Michigan
2017   Residency, Odyssee Fellowship, Government of France
           Marion Foundation Fellowship, Finalist. Wyoming/Alberta, Canada
2016   Big Bend National Park Artist in Residence program, Finalist.
2015   Residency, Brush Creek Foundation, Saratoga, Wyoming
           Residency, UCross, Clearmont, Wyoming
2014   Residency, The Bakery, Portland, Maine
2010   Residency, Yaddo Artist Fellowship, Saratoga Springs, New York
2002   Residency, Yaddo Artist Fellowship, Saratoga Springs, New York
2001   Residency, Yaddo Artist Fellowship. Saratoga Springs, New York

Awards
2021   Artists’ Fellowship Award
2016   Lois Roth Endowment
           Puffin Foundation Award
2014   Artists’ Fellowship, New York
           Haven Foundation, Maine
2011   Mayer Foundation Grant
1989   Yale University Scholarship
           Image ’88, Guilford, Connecticut

Fellowships, Commissions
2022   The Netherlands American Foundation Fellowship
           Bloedel Reserve Creative Residency
2021   American-Scandinavian Foundation
           Marion Foundation Fellowship, Finalist. Wyoming/Alberta, Canada
2019   Fulbright Fellow (Canada), Alternate
2017   Marion Foundation Fellowship, Finalist. Wyoming/Alberta, Canada
2016   American-Scandinavian Foundation Fellowship
           Big Bend National Park Artist in Residence program, Finalist.
           Commission, Monegraph
2010   NYPF10, New York Photography Festival, Finalist

Selected Bibliography  
“2004 Guide: Galleries Museums and Artists.” Art in America, August, 2004.
“Convocatoria Internacional,” Galeria Luis Adelantado, Valencia, Spain, 2004.
Abe’s Penny, limited edition publication, 2012.
Aletti, Vince. “Voice Choices,“ Village Voice, October 11.
“Blue Sky Gallery Yearly Shows,” Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon.
Capossela, Francesca. “A Photographer Sets Out for Greenland to Capture Melting Glaciers, Changing Tides.” The Creators Project. VICE, August 2, 2016. 
Conti, Tiziana. Tema Celeste. Issue 110, 2005, page 120.
Friday Arts, Interview, Southwest Michigan Public Radio WMUK 102.1 FM, Kalamazoo, Michigan October, 2019.
Interview, Saint Louis Public Radio KWMU, 90.7 FM, St. Louis, 2012.
Leffingwell, Edward. Art in America, February, 2008, page 145.
“Manipulated by Naked Truth.“ Saint Louis Post Dispatch, November 9, 1995.
“Offset color lithography with Richard Benson.” Yale Project, Newport, Rhode Island.
“Spring Issue.” disCourse Journal, University of Kentucky, 2001, page 94.
“Voice Choices.“ Village Voice, July 13. 1999.
“Viva La Difference.“ Saint Louis Post Dispatch, July 18, 1996.
“Upcoming Exhibitions, “ Greensboro News and Record, August 17, 1995.
Zoom. July/August 2007, page 62.

Lectures
2021   MozFest 2021, Mozfest, February.
2019   “Mill: New Work,“ Prairie Ronde, Vicksburg, Michigan, November 11.
2018   “Greenland at Night,” Yale Club of New York, New York, November 7.
2016   “Monthly Performance,” Salon, Philadelphia.
2013   The Secret City, New York.
2011   “Nightlandscapes,” Webster University, Saint Louis, October.
           “Show,” Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, May.
           “Nightlandscapes,” The Bakery, Portland, Maine, November.

Books
Tod Papageorge Retirement, collection of original prints, bound, of Yale MFA graduate students: New Haven. 2014
Summertime, one photo included. Chronicle Books: San Francisco. 2014
Between, Steve Giovinco: New York, 2012

Public Collections
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn
Butler Institute of Art, Youngstown, Ohio
California Museum of Photography,  Riverside, California
Government of France/Château de l’Esparrou, Canet-en-Roussillon, France
Lowe Art Museum, Miami, Florida
Miniature Museum of Contemporary Art, Amsterdam
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Prairie Ronde Foundation, Vicksburg, Michigan
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

Leave a Reply