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 1989Yale University, New Haven, Master of Fine Arts, Photography 1987New York University, New York, M.A. Interactive Telecommunications Program 1982Washington University, Saint Louis, B.A. History/Literature
One Person Exhibitions 2019Mill: New Work, Prairie Ronde, Vicksburg, Michigan 2017New Work, Château de l’Esparrou, Canet-en-Roussillon, France 2012Nightlandscapes, Sheldon Art Center, Saint Louis 2011Couples, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts 2007Eclipse: Recent Photographs, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York 2005Ambient Life, VELAN Center for Contemporary Art, Torino, Italy 2003Photographs, University of the Arts, Philadelphia 2002Myth of the Real, Butler Institute of Art, Youngstown, Ohio Self Portraits, Acme Art, Columbus, Ohio 2001Myth of the Real, California Museum of Photography, Riverside, California Myth of the Real, Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna, Austria 1995New Photographs, University of Missouri, Gallery 201, Saint Louis New Photographs, University of California, Berkeley Extension, San Francisco New Images, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 1994New Photographs, Dru Arstark Gallery, New York Recent Photographs, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon (catalog)
Group Exhibitions 2022Three 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 2017Fast 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 2013the kids are alright, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina 2012the 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) 2008Art 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) 2007Group Show, Sadlers Wells, London (with Richard Billingham and Thomas Joshua Cooper) Global Warning, Chelsea Galleria, Miami Group Show, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York 2006Ink/Miami Basel, Jim Kempner Fine Art, Miami 2005Ripe for Picking: Fruit and Flowers, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York Group Show, Miniature Museum of Contemporary Art, Amsterdam (catalog) 2004Outside, 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 2003Photographs by 7 Contemporary Artists, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York Home, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada (with Jeff Wall, Sam Taylor-Wood) (catalog) 2002Benefit Auction, Renaissance Society, Chicago 2001Summer Cum Lauder, Tepper Takayama Fine Arts, Boston 2000Recent Acquisitions, Brooklyn Museum, New York The End, Exit Art, New York Flatfiles, Pierogi, Brooklyn, New York Spring Auction, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas 1999Female, Wessel + O’Connor Gallery, New York (curated by Vince Aletti) Changing Faces, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York 1997Group Work, Art Exchanges Show, New York 1995Home 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) 1994Verisimilitude & 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 2017Residency, Odyssee Fellowship, Government of France Marion Foundation Fellowship, Finalist. Wyoming/Alberta, Canada 2016Big Bend National Park Artist in Residence program, Finalist. 2015Residency, Brush Creek Foundation, Saratoga, Wyoming Residency, UCross, Clearmont, Wyoming 2014 Residency, The Bakery, Portland, Maine 2010Residency, Yaddo Artist Fellowship, Saratoga Springs, New York 2002Residency, Yaddo Artist Fellowship, Saratoga Springs, New York 2001Residency, Yaddo Artist Fellowship. Saratoga Springs, New York
Awards 2021Artists’ Fellowship Award 2016Lois Roth Endowment Puffin Foundation Award 2014 Artists’ Fellowship, New York Haven Foundation, Maine 2011Mayer Foundation Grant 1989 Yale University Scholarship Image ’88, Guilford, Connecticut
Fellowships, Commissions 2022 The Netherlands American Foundation Fellowship Bloedel Reserve Creative Residency 2021American-Scandinavian Foundation Marion Foundation Fellowship, Finalist. Wyoming/Alberta, Canada 2019 Fulbright Fellow (Canada), Alternate 2017Marion Foundation Fellowship, Finalist. Wyoming/Alberta, Canada 2016American-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. 2013The 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
