Biography

Lia Chavez is an internationally exhibited visual and performance artist who lives and works in New York City. She has participated in shows at the 52nd and 53rd Venice Biennale; The Armory Show, New York; 10th Istanbul Biennial; Frieze Art Fair, London; Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Atlanta; and Affirmation Arts, New York.

Belonging to a young generation of photographers working in the studio naturally, without the use of digital manipulation, Chavez creates "performed images" that investigate how light embodies relationships and delineates change. She draws upon a wide variety of influences ranging from Futurism and Baroque painting to Hubble Space Telescope deep field imagery, contemporary dance, and astrophysics.

Following a fellowship in gender theory and visual cultures at Oxford University, she attended Goldsmiths College in London, earning her MA in Photography and a Master of Philosophy in Art. Lia has also given lectures on her artwork at various institutions including Goldsmiths College, SCAD Atlanta, and Oxford University.

CV

Born 1978 in Ithaca, New York. Lives in New York City.

EDUCATION

Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK, Master of Philosophy in Visual Art (2010)
Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK, MA in Photography (2005)
University of Oxford, International Gender Studies Centre, Oxford, UK, Visiting Fellowship (2004)
University of Denver, Denver CO, BA (Honors) in Fine Art and International Studies (2003)
Syracuse University, Semester abroad, Florence, Italy (2001)

SOLO AND DUET EXHIBITIONS

Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Hillman + Chavez: Entwined, Atlanta GA [D] (2010)
Affirmation Arts, Hillman + Chavez, New York NY (With catalogue; text by Gary Sangster) [D] (2008)
Samuel Klein Contemporary Art at Grey London, Lia Chavez: Lifeblood, London, UK (With catalogue) [S] (2007)

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Palm Springs Art Museum, The Touch of the Oracle, Golden Rain site-specific installation, Palm Springs CA (2012)
International Migrants Day, in conjunction with Tania Bruguera’s Immigrant Movement International, Queens Museum of Art, and Creative Time, New York NY (2011)
Biola University, Matter and Spirit, Los Angeles CA (2011)
VisualContainerTV, Videoholica Special Selection, Milan, Italy (2010)
Performance Lab Berlin, SWAN Day Berlin, Berlin, Germany (2010)
National Art Gallery, Sortiri International Prize for Young Photographers, Tirana, Albania (2010)
The Armory Show, Affirmation Arts, Hillman + Chavez for Armory Arts Week, New York NY (2009)
Venice Biennale, Scalamata Gallery, Collateral exhibition Detournement Venise Parallel Worlds: Fleeting Realities, Venice, Italy (With catalogue) (2009)
AXIOM Center for New and Experimental Media, Riders on the Train, Boston MA (2009)
Royal Institution of Great Britain, Exhibition in aid of the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, curated by Sumarria Lunn, presented by Sotheby's, London, UK (With catalogue) (2009)
Old Truman Brewery, Visual Deflections featuring Pipilotti Rist, London, UK (2009)
4th Pirkanmaa Triennial, Pispala Contemporary Art Centre, Truth, Tampere, Finland (2009)
Seattle Pacific Art Center, Self Absorbed: Constructing Identity in the 21st Century, Seattle WA (2009)
He Xiangning Art Museum, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Videoholica Special Selection, Shenzhen, China (2010)
TINA B. The Prague Contemporary Art Festival, Czech Republic (2009)
Frieze Art Fair, Open Call, Frieze Projects, London, UK (2009)
Stavanger European Capital of Culture, Golden Rain: A project for On the Edge and Stavanger 2008, Stavanger, Norway (With catalogue; text by Michael Petry) (2008)
Istanbul Biennial, Nightcomers, Istanbul, Turkey (With catalogue) (2007)
Venice Biennale, Collateral exhibition Light on San Servolo, Shot and Go: A Vision of Today's International Photography, Venice, Italy (With catalogue; text by Raffaele Gavarro) (2007)

AWARDS

ORSAS Scholarship (2008-2010)
Harvey Fellowship (2007-2010)

ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE

Performance Matters Creative Spaces with Janine Antoni, Whitechapel Gallery and Toynbee Studios, London, UK (2010)
BBB Johannes Deimling Performance Art Studies, Prague, Czech Republic (2009)
Affirmation Arts, New York NY (2007-2008)
Amnesty International, Women’s Human Right Action Team (2002-2003)

ARTIST LECTURES AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS

mBODY Lecture series, Wheaton College, Chicago IL (2012)
Metamorphic Journeys and Alternative Realities in Art panel, Affirmation Arts, New York NY (2011)
The Material vs. The Digital panel, CIVA Biennial Conference, Biola University, Los Angeles CA (2011)
New York Center for Art and Media Studies (NYCAMS), New York NY (2011)
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Atlanta GA (2010)
Performativity Symposium, Goldsmiths College, London, UK (2008)
Birkbeck College, London, UK (2007)
Photography and the City Conference, UCD Clinton Institute Dublin, Ireland  (2007)
University of Oxford, UK (2007)
Goldsmiths College, London, UK (2006)
University of Oxford, UK (2004)

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