Aint Bad Interview

Thrilled to be interviewed for Ain-Bad by Rachael Jump! We discuss both bodies of work in my current exhibition at the Catherine Edelman Gallery, City Space + Stray Light. 

Click HERE to read the whole interview.

Upcoming artist talk: Friday, September 23, 2016

All are welcome to attend this FREE evening artist talk.

Clarissa Bonet will discuss her current exhibition City Space + Stray Light, on view at Catherine Edelman Gallery September 9 through October 29, 2016

The concept of place, and our relationship to it, is at the heart of Clarissa Bonet’s work, who was born and raised in Tampa, Florida – a coastal port city that was once a quiet place dominated by the warm gulf water. In 2010, Bonet moved to Chicago to attend graduate school at Columbia College Chicago. She immediately noticed the density of the city, its people, and its traffic. As she wandered the city, she was stunned by the isolation she felt among the throngs of people rushing along the sidewalks.

It was this feeling that led her to City Space, an ongoing body of work about individuality in a large city. The resulting photographs are carefully staged memories that appear to be snapshots of everyday city life. As she states: “The urban space is striking. Its tall and mysterious buildings, crowds of anonymous people, and endless sea of concrete constantly intrigue me. The images I create provide a personal interpretation of the urban landscape.”

In 2014, Bonet embarked on a second ongoing project, Stray Light, which looks at the anonymity of people in their homes at night. Bonet photographs once the sun sets, capturing the colorful glows from hotel and apartment windows. Back in her studio, she carefully constructs each image from multiple photographs, transforming the urban cityscape into a constellation, as the mind tries to organize the information presented.

Clarissa Bonet has exhibited in numerous group shows throughout the United States. Her work can be found in the collections of the Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL; The Haggerty Museum, Milwaukee, WI; and the JP Morgan Art Collection, New York, NY; as well as many private collections. Recent press includes articles in The Wall Street Journal, The Week, and PDN, among others.

 

Artist Talk Presented by: Clarissa Bonet
Date: Friday, September 23
Cost: FREE
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Catherine Edelman Gallery | 300 W. Superior St.

 

Chat Room Episode

Thrilled to sit down with Catherine Edelman at my studio for an episode of Chat Room!

Chat Room is a web series featuring Catherine Edelman in discussion with curators, artists and industry professionals. Edelman will talk about artists, trends, the politics of the business and offer the public an inside view about what goes on in the gallery and museum worlds. Check out more episodes here.

Catherine and Clarissa Bonet discuss Clarissa's transition from graduate school to a career as an artist.

Magenta Flash Forward 2016

Excited to be named one of this years emerging photographers by the Magenta Foundation! Big props to the other amazing photographers that made the list.

http://www.magentafoundation.org/flash-forward/

Artsy

I made the top ten artworks to collect at AIPAD! Thanks Artsy! You can check out the whole article here.

 

 

January residency at Latitude

Very excited to start the year off with a month long residency at latitude Chicago!

How has your relationship with image making in the urban environment changed over time?

My relationship with the urban space is constantly shifting, just like the environment itself. I try to be as aware of my surroundings and free from distractions as I move through the surface of the city, which allows for new discoveries -- and ultimately drives the images that I make. When I first moved to Chicago I was overwhelmed and intimidated by the environment and I think my my early images reflected that. Now that I am more accustomed to the environment and the ever-evolving nature of this place, I am more intrigued by the unknown, which is reflected in my new work.

Your Stray Light series takes on a literal, and perhaps symbolic, distance from the human figure as compared to your other series. Could you speak a little to the idea of traces and markers of humanity in urban spaces and how the move to this series is influenced by your previous work?

I’ve always been interested in the unknown other individual operating within my space. My project City Space really speaks to that in a concrete way. As I was making the City Space work I would often think about the structure of the city in contrast to the individual. But there was this shift in my perception of the city when night fell. In the stark light of the day the buildings appear a unified front, revealing physical beauty, dominating the environment. As the sun goes the city is transformed, allowing a glimpse into the life that resides inside. The windows act as a beacon, alluding to the life.

This idea of hinting as to the presence of an individual without one physically being present is something I started to embrace.  I was fascinated by the many ways individuals leave behind traces of themselves throughout the city, whether it be intentional mark-making like graffiti or the unintentional, like the light emanating through a window, or gum on the sidewalk. Once I acknowledged their presence, I started to see this everywhere, and this in turn inspired some of the newer images from my City Space series as well.

What are you most excited to complete during your residency at LATITUDE?

For the past five years I have focused on making work in Chicago, but this year I expanded my practice nationally, to Los Angeles and New York City, for my stray Light project. By focusing on these three major metropolitan areas in the U.S., Stray Light speaks to the ever growing urban population and experience of life in our cities. Over the course of the year, I have made thousands of photographs for the project, building up my archive that I will pull from to create the Stray Light work. I’m looking forward to having the time to cull through all my imagery and start constructing new pieces for the project.

PDN 30 Panel at Columbia College Chicago

Come check out the PDN panel I will be a part of later this month!

Please join us for PDN's 30 Seminar "Strategies for Launching—and Building—A Career in Today’s Market." This is a FREE seminar, open to the public.

Photographers selected for PDN's 30: New and Emerging Photographers to Watch will share the most valuable lessons they learned as they launched their careers and explain how they received recognition and support. They will discuss successful strategies for gaining exposure, honing their artistic voices, and the challenges of starting a photography career in a competitive market.

This panel will featuring the following speakers:
Moderator: Holly Hughes, Editor, Photo District News
PDN’s 30 Panelists: Clarissa Bonet, Ryan Lowry and Marcus Smith
Creative: TBA

View 2015 PDN 30's Photographers to Watch: http://www.pdns30.com/gallery/2015/

Event Details:

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Seminar: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Reception: 6:30pm - 7:30 pm

Location:
Columbia College of Chicago Stage II
618 S. Michigan Avenue, 2nd Floor
Chicago, IL

University of Dayton

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the University of Dayton as a visiting artist, where I gave a lecture and critiqued student work. Big thanks to the Department of Art and Design for bring me out!


Expo Chicago

Be sure to stop by the Catherine Edelman booth if you're at Expo this weekend! There will be a piece from my Stray Light project on display. Also, featured is the work of Daniel Beltrá, Floriane de Lassée, Jess T. Dugan, Ysabel LeMay, Sandro Miller, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, and Gregory Scott. 

Navy Pier 600 E Grand Ave Chicago, IL 60611

Booth 221