Chris VERENE
Chris Verene was born in DeKalb, Illinois in 1969, and made his first photographs in the late 1980s as a teenager in his father’s small hometown of Galesburg, Illinois. For thirty-five years he has continued in the documentary style, intensively photographing the stories of his family members, friends, and their community. He is the author of two major books, Chris Verene (Twin Palms, 2000) and Family (Twin Palms, 2010). Since 2009, he has been making an episodic film series on the same storyline, titled: “Home Movies.”
Verene’s work has been called social realism, and he is described as a natural storyteller, focusing on the whole intimate truth of human narratives. He is a photographer, musician, filmmaker, and performance artist, with three decades of published work.
Verene is represented in numerous museum collections, including The Whitney, The Met, The Jewish Museum, The Getty, The San Francisco MoMA, MOCA, The High, and The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2021-2022, an Artist Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts (2016), and was awarded a grant of full support from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation (2002). He is Associate Professor of Photography at The College of Staten Island, CUNY. He is represented by Postmasters.
EDUCATION
1996
MFA – Photography/Art Studio, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
1991
BA – Film Studies & Philosophy, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The J. Paul Getty Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art
The Museum of Contemporary Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The Walker Art Center
The Jewish Museum
The George Eastman Museum
The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum
The Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation
The Paul R. Jones Collection
The Museum of Contemporary Photography
The High Museum of Art
The Birmingham Museum of Art
Cheekwood Museum
Hartsfield International Airport
The American Photography Institute, New York University
Georgia Museum of Art
The Margulies Collection
The Zabludowicz Collection
The Indianapolis Museum of Art
The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Wieland Collection, Atlanta, GA
AWARDS
2021
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship
2016
The New York State Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Photography, Recipient
2015
The Henri Cartier Bresson Award for Documentary Photography, Nominee
2004
“K-48 Klubhouse” Deitch Projects, New York
“The Beauty of Darkness” Reflex Modern Art, Amsterdam
“The Armory Art Show” John Connelly Presents, New York
“Cake Walk” Ambrosino Gallery, Miami
“Portraits” Champion Gallery: Curated by Roe Ethridge
“Group Show” Daniel Reich Gallery, New York
“Pool Party” Yossi Milo Gallery, New York
“Portrait Photography” Curated by Roe Ethridge, Brooklyn Gallery TBA
2003
“Gallery Artists” Daniel Reich Gallery, New York
Nathan Cummings Foundation Show, New York
“American Dream” Ronald Feldman Gallery
“The Furtive Gaze” (3 Artist show) Contemporary Museum of Photography
“K-48, The Bedroom Show” Galerie du Jour, Paris, France
2002
“Visions From America: Photographs From the Whitney Museum of American Art” The Whitney Museum of Art, New York
“Family” The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Connecticut
“Sexual Healing: Various forms of sexual photography” Reflex Modern
Art Gallery, Amsterdam
2001
“It’s a Wild Party and We’re Having a Great Time” Paul Morris Gallery, NY
“Photographs” Cherry Street Temporary Gallery, Galesburg, IL
“A Way With Words,” Whitney Museum of American Art at Phillip Morris, NY
“Uneasy” Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston
“The Penis Show” Eyedrum, Atlanta
“The Self Esteem Salon” Christie’s Auction House Chris Verene and Vereni The Great presented by David Armstrong” The Schoolhouse Center, Provincetown, RI
“Vereni The Great” Thread Waxing Space, New York
“The Self-Esteem Salon: The Whitney Museum of Art – A Corollary to
Camera Club”, The Whitney Museum of Art, New York
“Vereni The Great” Pink Pony, New York
“Vereni, ¡Escapista!” Times Square, New York
“The Self-Esteem Salon” Gramercy International Art Fair, New York
2000
“Do You Hear What We Hear?” Paul Morris Gallery, New York
“Because Sex Sells” Nikolai Fine Art, New York
“Tell It Like It Is” Gallery Rebecca Camhi, Athens, Greece
“The Whitney Biennial” The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
“Fight Evil With Evil” with Delia R. Gonzalez and Gavin R. Russom, The
Turkey’s Nest, Brooklyn, New York
“Home Shopping One with Gentle Heights” performance at The Fifth International Gallery, New York (for Christian Holstad)
1999
“Vanitas” Agnes Scott College, Atlanta
“Full Exposure: Contemporary Photography” New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ
“New Voices, New Visions” University of California San Diego, La Jolla
“In Your Face” curated by Dr. Robert Shimshak, New Langton Arts,
San Francisco.
“Emerging Artists” San Diego University Art Museum, San Diego
“Bach on a Hook and M.I.M.E.” performance at Gavin Brown Enterprise, NY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
“Chris Verene: Home Movies,” The Art Museum at The University of Kentucky
2019
“Home Movies,” Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
2019
“The Self-Esteem Salon,” 601Artspace, New York
2019
“Chris Verene,” The College of Staten Island, New York
2018
“Chris Verene,” Copenhagen Photography Festival, Copenhagen
2017
“Chris Verene,” The Civic Art Center, Galesburg, IL
2015
“Home Movies,” Postmasters Gallery, New York
2013
“The New Family Chapters,” (Two-Person Exhibition), Valentine Gallery, New York
2014
“Carl Martin/Chris Verene: Affinities,” (Two-Person Exhibition), Opal Gallery, Atlanta
2012
“Family,” Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff, Wales
“Town Hall Meeting,” Postmasters Gallery, New York
“Galesburg Family,” Galleri Image, Aarhus, Denmark
2011
“The Self-Esteem Salon,” Postmasters Gallery, New York
“The Self-Esteem Salon,” Socrates Sculpture Park, New York
“The Self-Esteem Salon,” The Re-Institute, Millerton, New York
“Chris Verene – Family,” Leyendecker Gallery, Tenerife, Spain
“Chris Verene – Family,” Truman Medical Center Gallery, Kansas City
“Chris Verene – Family,” Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery (PDNB), Dallas
2010
“Chris Verene – Family,” Postmasters Gallery, New York
“Chris Verene – Family,” Kelman-Visser Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
“Chris Verene,” Sioux City Art Museum, Kansas City
“Family,” Quality Pictures, Portland
“Family,” Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
“Family,” Gescheidle, Chicago
2009
“Family,” DNJ Gallery, Los Angeles
“Self-Esteem Salon,” Martos Gallery, New York
2008
“Self-Esteem,” Gescheidle, Chicago
“Family,” ADA Gallery, Richmond
2007
“Galesburg, Yes,” Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
“Self-Esteem,” Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
“Galesburg,” Gescheidle, Chicago
“Self-Esteem,” Quality Pictures, Portland, OR
“Galesburg,” ADA Gallery, Richmond, VA
2006
“Galesburg,” Alona Kagan Gallery, New York
2005
“The Self-Esteem Salon: The Frisbee Series,” Frisbee Art Show, Miami
“The Self-Esteem Salon: The Orphanage Series,” Daniel Reich Gallery, New York
“Galesburg: The New Chapters,” Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
“Chris Verene,” Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City
“The Self-Esteem Salon: The Orphanage Series,” The Armory Art Show VIP
Group with Frisbee Curatorial Group, The Old Chelsea YMCA, New York
2004
“The Big Umbrella: The New York Series,” Aleksandra Mir and Chris Verene, PS1/MoMA, New York
“The Self-Esteem Salon at Art Basel,” The Frisbee Art Show, Miami (cancelled)
“Chris Verene,” Fotographie Am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin, Germany
“Chris Verene: From Galesburg To Atlanta, 1986-2004,” (Retrospective)
The Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta
2003
“Galesburg,” Photographs Do Not Bend, Dallas
2002
“Galesburg,” Wendy Cooper Gallery, Madison
“Galesburg,” Ramapo College Gallery, Ramapo
“Galesburg,” Rose Gallery, Santa Monica
“The Self- Esteem Salon, The Baptism Series,” (Collaboration with Christian Holstad),
Deitch Projects, New York
“The Baptism Series,” (Collaboration with Christian Holstad), Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta
2001
“Galesburg,” Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta
2000
“Chris Verene,” Paul Morris Gallery, New York
“Chris Verene,” American Fine Arts Co. Colin DeLand Fine Art, New York
“Chris Verene,” Pat Hearn Gallery, New York (cancelled)
“Self-Esteem,” Vaknin Schwartz, Atlanta
“Galesburg,” Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta
“Camera Club,” Reflex Modern Art Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1999
“Chris Verene,” Galerie Rabouan Moussion, Paris, France
“Selections from Galesburg,” The Cheekwood Museum, Nashville
1998
“Camera Club,” Paul Morris Gallery, New York
“Galesburg,” Vaknin Schwartz, Atlanta
1997
“Revealing Regionalism,” Midtown Plaza Galleries One & Two, Atlanta
“Galesburg and Camera Club,” as part of “You Should Know Better,” curated by Samantha Tsao, Thread Waxing Space, New York
1996
“Galesburg Used to be an All-American City,” Georgia State University, Atlanta
1995
“Portraits of Holly Hollywood,” Sylvia’s Art of This Century, Atlanta
1994
“Proud to be from Galesburg,” Atlanta Photography Gallery, Atlanta
“Galesburg (Five or Maybe Six Years),” Ruth Leitman Gallery, Atlanta
1991
“Chris Verene & Friends,” Emory University, Atlanta
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
“Encounter”, Mom’s Gallery, NY
“Ways of Seening: Fashion”, The Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham.
“Modern Families”, ArtsWestchester Gallery, NY
“Be Seen: Portrait Photography Since Stonewall”, Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
“Inexterior”, Fundación Mapfre Guanarteme, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España.
“HOT DOG”, Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, Dallas, Texas
“The Self-Esteem Salon”, 601 Artspace, New York
2017
“Picturing Family”, Green Gallery, Yale University School of Art, New Haven.
2016
“Photographic Support”, Galería Leyendecker, Tenerife
2014
“HomeLand (In)Security: Vanishing Dreams”, Dorsky Gallery, New York
“Look At Me”, Leila Heller Gallery, New York
“Unbelievable Things”, Light Art & Design, Chapell Hill
2013
“Everyday American”, Steven Kasher Gallery, New York
Group Show, Galería Leyendecker, Tenerife
2012
“Only You Only Me” Musee d’Art Contemporain, Belgium
2011
“The Second Seating for the Last Supper”, Galería Leyendecker, Tenerife
“EXPOSED: VOYEURISM, SURVEILLANCE, AND THE CAMERA SINCE 1870,” The Walker Art Center.
2010
EXPOSED: VOYEURISM, SURVEILLANCE, AND THE CAMERA SINCE 1870,” The Tate Modern, London.
“EXPOSED: VOYEURISM, SURVEILLANCE, AND THE CAMERA SINCE 1870,” San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
“The Art Of Caring,” Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale
“The Art Of Caring,” The Art Museum of South Texas
“The Art Of Caring,” New Orleans Museum of Art
2009
“The Self-Esteem Salon,” SoHo, New York
2008
“Human Resources,” The Company, Los Angeles
“Love, Love, Love,” Martos Gallery, New York
2007
“June Bride” Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.
“Gallery Artists,” Daniel Reich Gallery, New York.
“Year 07,” Marcia Wood Gallery, London.
2006
“The Seventh Side of the Die” Alona Kagan Gallery, New York
“The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography” The Contemporary JewishMuseum, San Francisco
“The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography” The Skirball
Cultural Center, Los Angeles
“Shoot The Family” The Cranbrook Art Museum, Knoxville Museum
of Art, Western Gallery of Western Washington University, traveling 2006-2009.
2005
“The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography” The Jewish Museum, New York
“CRACKER” NurtureArt, & Naked Duck Gallery, New York
“The Self-Esteem Salon: The Orphanage Series,” The Armory Art Show VIP Group, The Old Chelsea YMCA- with Frisbee Curatorial Group
2004
“K-48 Klubhouse,” Deitch Projects, New York
“The Beauty of Darkness,” Reflex Modern Art, Amsterdam, Netherlands
“The Armory Art Show,” John Connelly Presents, New York
“Cake Walk,” Ambrosino Gallery, Miami
“Portraits,” Curated by Roe Ethridge, Champion Gallery, New York
“Group Show,” Daniel Reich Gallery, New York
“Pool Party,” Yossi Milo Gallery, New York
“Portrait Photography,” Curated by Roe Ethridge, Brooklyn Gallery, New York
2003
“Gallery Artists,” Daniel Reich Gallery, New York
“Nathan Cummings Foundation Show,” New York
“American Dream,” Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York
“The Furtive Gaze,” Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago
“K-48, The Bedroom Show,” Galerie du Jour, Paris, France
2002
“Visions from America: Photographs From the Whitney Museum of American
Art 1994- 2001,” The Whitney Museum of Art, New York
“Family,” The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
“Sexual Healing: Various Forms of Sexual Photography,” Reflex Modern
Art Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherland
2001
“It’s a Wild Party and We’re Having a Great Time,” Paul Morris Gallery, New York
“Photographs,” Cherry Street Temporary Gallery, Galesburg, IL
“A Way with Words,” Whitney Museum of American Art at Phillip Morris, New York
“Uneasy,” Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston
“The Penis Show,” Eyedrum, Atlanta
2000
“Do You Hear What We Hear?,” Paul Morris Gallery, New York
“Because Sex Sells,” Nikolai Fine Art, New York
“Tell It Like It Is,” Gallery Rebecca Camhi, Athens, Greece
“2000 Whitney Biennial,” The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
“Emerging Artists,” San Diego University Art Museum, San Diego
1999
“Vanitas,” Agnes Scott College, Atlanta
“Full Exposure: Contemporary Photography,” New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ
“New Voices, New Visions,” University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
“In Your Face,” curated by Dr. Robert Shimshak, New Langton Arts, San Francisco
1998
“Backstage,” curated by Helen Varola, Serge Sorokko Gallery, New York
“Connections and Contradictions: Modern and Contemporary Art from Atlanta Collections,” Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta
“In the Heat of Summer,” Atlanta Photography Group, Atlanta
“Photos Emerging,” presented by Liebman Magnan Gallery and CRIA, New York
“Portraits,” Paul Morris Gallery, New York
“Peepshow: John Waters, Cheri Nevers, Ken Probst, Chris Verene,” Vaknin Schwartz Gallery, Atlanta
1997
“Friends Indeed,” Photography sale benefiting Photographers for Friends,
Selected by Tom Cashin, New York
“Contemporary American Landscape,” Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta
“Tableaux: Ten Contemporary Photographers,” Vaknin Schwartz, Atlanta
“Post-Construction,” Vaknin Schwartz, Atlanta
“Sleep,” James Cox Gallery, Woodstock, NY
“Look Back & Get Down: A Celebration of Athens & Atlanta Music 1977-1997,”
Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta
“Unique Portraits by Contemporary Southern Artists,” ArtWalk at Lenox Square, Atlanta
“To See a World,” Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA
“1997 Atlanta Biennial,” Nexus Contemporary Arts Center, Atlanta
“Collectors Collecting,” Lenox Square Gallery, Atlanta
“Nine Southeastern Photographers,” Peachtree Lofts Gallery, Atlanta
1996
“Olympic Experience, or What I Did in Summer 1996,” Bathhouse Show,
Piedmont Park Arts Festival, Atlanta
“Obsessions,” Nexus Contemporary Arts Center, Atlanta “American Photography Institute,” Tisch Gallery, New York
1995
S,” City Hall East Gallery, Atlanta
“Contemporary Southeastern Photography,” Creadle School of Visual Arts, Winter Park, FL
“Summer Artists’ Work in Progress,” The Civic Art Center, Galesburg, IL
“November Show,” Hastings Gallery, Atlanta
1994
“Electric Blanket,” AIDS Projection Project, High Museum of Art, Atlanta
“Sex, Love, and Death,” Nexus Art Center, Atlanta
1992
“My Eye Your Body,” Exhibit A Gallery, Atlanta
“Seed Factory Show,” Curated by Dan Cameron, Seed Factory, Atlanta
1990
“Members’ Show,” Atlanta Photography Gallery, Atlanta
1988
“Democratic Convention Show,” Atlanta Photography Gallery, Atlanta