Made in Chicago exhibition at La Galerie Rouge, Paris, France

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Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, Barbara Crane

Kenneth Josephson, Barbara Crane

Clarissa Bonet

Paul D'Amato

Todd Diederich

Made in Chicago

October 27, 2022 - January 21, 2023

Galerie Rouge
3, Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe
75004 Paris

A selection of my City Space images are included in the current show Made In Chicago at La Galerie Rouge in Paris, France. Exhibition details below.

Galerie Rouge is pleased to present Made in Chicago, a thematic exhibition on Chicago and its photographic representation from the 1940s to the present day. For several generations of photographers, this city has represented a subject, a studio, a sociological object -- and also a starting point to realize themselves as artists. As a cradle of modern architecture, theater of social and racial divisions, capital of American industry, city of diverse and dynamic cultures, all these dimensions have indeed nourished the gaze of the photographers who have lived there. Less known than the New York photographic scene, this exhibition aims to restore Chicago as a vibrant and original photographic center. The exhibited photographers are brought together by the requirement of their photographic vision, which combines the beauty of the prints with the graphics of the images, and the documentary strength of their subjects. Made in Chicago also highlights the relationships and dynamics of influence between Chicago photographers, as the exhibition brings together professors and students from two photography schools. The upper floor of the gallery is devoted to the works of professors and students of the legendary New Bauhaus/Institute of Design school, with vintage works in sublime black and white tones. The second half of the exhibition located on the gallery's lower level, depicts a contemporary and colorful vision of the city presented through the eyes of Paul D'Amato and two of his former students, who now have become artists in their own right: Clarissa Bonet and Todd Diederich.

Exhibiting Artist

Clarissa Bonet
Harry Callahan
Barbara Crane
Paul Damato
Todd Diederich
Ray Metzker
Yasuhiro Ishimoto
Kenneth Josephson
Wayne Miller
Artsin Sabaugh
Aaron Siskind
Joseph Sterling

Made in Chicago Exhibtion at La Galerie Rouge

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A selection of my City Space images will be included in the upcoming show Made In Chicago at La Galerie Rouge in Paris where I’m newly represented. I’m very excited to have my work in conversation with so many of the photographers I deeply admire. If you happen to be in Paris, please stop by and check out the show.

Made In Chicago

October 27, 2022 - January 7, 2023

Opening Thursday, October 27, 2022 from 6 p.m.

La Galerie Rouge

3, Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe 75004 Paris

The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today, The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC

The image Glimpse from the project City Space was included in the The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today, The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC. The exhibition opened April 30, 2022, and will run through Feb. 26, 2023, before traveling to other cities in the United States.

National Portrait Gallery
8th and G Streets, Washington, DC 20001
April 30, 2022 – Feb. 26, 2023

Installation, The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today, The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC.

Glimpse, 2019

Aesthetica Magazine Article

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Columbia College Alumni Spotlight

Bonet’s latest work, Clarissa Bonet: Chasing Light, is currently exhibited at the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago.

Clarissa Bonet, MFA ’12, found photography in high school and never looked back. She recalls becoming “completely fascinated by the transformational power of the camera,” which allowed her to re-envision the world around her and present it however she wanted. “As soon as I found photography,” she says, “I knew I wanted to pursue it as a career.” With a clarity born of a life-long and certain passion for her work, she followed her undergraduate work at the University of Central Florida with an application to Columbia College Chicago in the hopes of being able to work with celebrated photographer Kelli Connell.

Bonet got her wish—but she also experienced culture shock that proved to be career-making. Chicago was vastly different from Florida: the people, the pace, even the light was different. “Moving to Chicago was like turning my world upside down and shaking it,” Bonet says. It was another world from Florida and, as she remembers, the “comfort [of the] warm, tropical climate and slow pace of life.” In an effort to understand her new home, Bonet turned to her primary mode of expression: photography.

Bonet’s creative perspective evolved as she advanced in her MFA program at Columbia and as she continued to explore Chicago. She found the once-startling cityscape to hold treasures for her creative potential. “Chicago…has a particularly distinct quality of light,” Bonet says. “The tall structures that occupy the city center produce a canyon-like effect that creates fleeting and dramatic lighting patterns that, again, I use as a tool to transform space.” Her images, which have been collected at culture-shaping institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Michigan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, among others, challenge the viewer to imagine themselves in these uniquely built worlds of light, shadow, and unexplored space.

Fundamental to Bonet’s work are questions of how people live in unacknowledged and unexamined spaces. “My work brings attention to the mundane aspects of life in the built environment,” Bonet says, “[asking viewers to examine] experiences that often [remain] overlooked in the fast-paced world in which we live.”  Her images, which often play with concepts of height, distance, and the unseen, create opportunities for viewers to question the spaces in which they reside or frequent. “It’s my hope that viewers will walk away from my work and reflect on how they see and interact with the built environment that surrounds them,” Bonet says. In fact, after viewing her work, it’s impossible not to.

Bonet has found incredible success in her practice, but also enjoys success as a freelance photographer. Her work has been published in major outlets including Chicago Magazine and the New York Times Magazine. Primarily self-taught in this field, Bonet credits her recognition and success to her sought-after distinct visual aesthetic, which she continues to explore in her creative practice.

Today, Bonet remains busy. She has work that has just opened at the Catherine Edelman Gallery that showcases pieces from three separate but related bodies of work: City Space, Stray Light, and her newest project, From Shadow to Sun, which began during lockdown. Her exhibition, Clarissa Bonet: Chasing Light, will run from March 4th- May 14th, 2022. Bonet will also have her work featured in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery from April 30th, 2022, to February 26th, 2023, in “The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today.”

For students who may wish to follow in her footsteps, Bonet would like to pass on advice from Associate Professor and Chair of the Photography Department at Columbia College Chicago, Ross Sawyers: “He told me to treat my art practice like a job,” Bonet says. “Show up and do the work, even when it is hard, even when you are not sure what to do.” That advice resonated with Bonet. “It gave me the confidence and drive to continue working at a rigorous pace after school,” she says. Today—with work exhibited in some of the most prestigious exhibitions in the country—she can be sure that it paid off in spades.

Shortlisted, Belfast Photo Festival

Thrilled to be shortlisted for the Belfast Photo Festival! Many thanks to the international jury and festival organizers.

Clarissa Bonet: Chasing Light

Solitude, 2021

Clarissa Bonet: Chasing Light

March 4 — May 14, 2022

Opening Reception

Friday, March 4, 2022 5:00 - 7:30

Catherine Edelman Gallery

1637 W. Chicago Ave.

Chicago, IL 60622

Hasselblad Virtual Medium Format Meetup: Artist Talk with Clarissa Bonet

For those who missed the live talk I did with Hasselblad, you can catch it on their YouTube channel.

Work on Display: Catherine Edelman Gallery

Currently, I have work on display at the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago. You can find on view a piece from my City Space project, as well as a piece from my Stray Light series. If you are interested in seeing additional work, please reach out to the gallery to setup an appointment.

Catherine Edelman Gallery

1637 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622

Wednesday - Saturday
10:00 - 5:30 pm
Tuesday by appointment only

MoCP Echibition: What Does Democracy Look Like?

Happy to have a piece included in the current show, What Does Democracy Look Like? at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, MoCP invited seven faculty members from various departments at Columbia College Chicago to mine the MoCP’s permanent collection of 16,000 objects. Each curator interpreted the museum’s collection to consider what democracy means to them, and how photographic images record and shape our understanding of current and historical events.

Such a timely exhibition, it includes works from so many amazing artists. If you are able to make it to the museum, I highly recommend the show.

GUEST CURATORS
Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin
Melanie Chambliss, PhD
Joshua A. Fisher, PhD
Joan Giroux
Ames Hawkins, PhD
Raquel L. Monroe, PhD
Onur Öztürk, PhD

Museum of fine Arts Houston Acquisition

I’m excited to share that the Museum of Fine Arts Houston has recently acquired "SL.2016.0215 NYC, 2016" from my Stray Light series. I'm beyond thrilled to be a part of the permanent collection.

Collaboration: Clarissa Bonet + Natalie Krick

Natalie Krick and I discuss our experience collaborating together! Our first piece is on view at the Catherine Edelman Gallery in the show "Photography & _____ “.

Photography & _____

July 10 — September 4, 2020

1637 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622'

Colloboration: Clarissa Bonet + Natalie Krick

Photography & _____

July 10 — September 4, 2020

Artist Natalie Krick and I collaborated on a piece together for the group show Photography & _____ which is currently up at The Catherine Edelman Gallery.

“Photography & _____,” an exhibition that brings together photographers and other creatives to create one-of-a-kind pieces. CEG invited artists familiar to the gallery, including painters, writers and photographers, and asked each participant to reach out to a fellow artist to create a collaborative piece. There were no limitations placed on the work, except that photography must be incorporated into each piece.

Our collaboration was influenced by long conversations about the function and perception of photography and our shared frustrations surrounding the historical canon of the medium. Over the past few months, we passed photographs back and forth, altering the images with each exchange. For us, each click of the shutter is absolutely equal to and inseparable from any physical cutting, collaging, and digital manipulation. We are drawn to the flattened image, which merge our distinct visual voices while challenging the viewer to consider what they are looking at.

Catherine Edelman Gallery

1637 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622

Tuesday - Saturday
10:00 - 5:30 pm

p: 312-266-2350

Clarissa Bonet / Natalie Krick, Palm Perplexity, 2020
From the Photography & _____ series
16½ x 21½" photographic collage
Unique

Instillation: Photography & _____, Edelman Gallery 2020

Women in Power Shoot for Chicago Magazine

Fifty of the most powerful women in Chicago were recognized by Chicago Magazine in their May issue. To highlight and share moments of their personal journeys to success, the stories of Stacy Davis Gates, Karen Sauder, Louise Bernard, Anne Caprara, and Fran Spielman were featured in the article, How I Found My Power. It was such a pleasure to photograph these women for the story. We were able to slip in a photo shoot right before Chicago went under a shelter-in-place order! Below is a link to the full article.

How I Found My Power

Five of the women in our rankings recall the moment that set them on their path.

Photography by Clarissa Bonet
Interviews by Anne Ford
Art Direction by Katherine Bryja Shady
Photo Editor Michael Zajakowski
Prop Styling by Melissa Elias

Big thanks to Michael and Kathy at Chicago Magazine for making this shoot possible!

Work from Home : Clarissa Bonet

Get a peek inside my studio and hear what I’ve been up to for the past few weeks in the latest “Work from Home” episode from the Catherine Edelman Gallery. Make sure to check out the Catherine Edelman Gallery’s Vimeo page HERE for additional episodes from the series as well as interviews with artists, curators, and industry professionals.

Zoom Studio Visit with MoCP

Last week I did a studio visit via Zoom with the Museum of Contemporary Photography for their series Behind the Lens. It was really fun sharing my work and process with everyone. Thank you MoCP for extending the invitation.

City Space Book Mockup!

This is my first attempt at creating a hand bound book mockup .

Hasselblad X You Grand Prize Winner!

I'm honored to have been chosen as the X You grand prize winner! Looking forward to making the trip to Sweden next year. 

"This image is part of a fashion editorial I shot for Chicago Magazine that celebrates both the Bauhaus movement and architect Mies van der Rohe. I knew the images must reference the Bauhaus style – minimalist, graphic, with bold lines and shapes. After scouting the location at multiple times of the day, I knew exactly when a slim beam of light would open on the west side of the building, creating a bold, graphic band of light for our model to stand in."