BIO
Syl Arena (born Phoenix, Arizona) is a California-based artist known for his explorations of non-representational photography. He freely admits that he is addicted to color and shadow. In his current series, Constructed Voids, Arena deconstructs white light into vibrant hues and mixes them onto monochromatic constructs. Through the intersection of light, construct, and lens, Arena finds transformative relationships that he describes as “inner landscapes.”
Arena is also greatly interested in commenting on the loss of the image-object in our screen-based world. Increasingly he positions his photographs as objects rather than merely as images. To this end, the Constructed Voids are hung as bare sheets of chromogenic paper in a manner that bends the prints outward from the wall and allows them to undulate gently.
Arena earned an MFA from Lesley University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and a BFA from the University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona). He has taught workshops for Maine Media Workshops, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, and at events in Brazil, Canada, Cuba, and Dubai.
EDUCATION
MFA Visual Arts—Photography, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA
BFA Studio Art—Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
SOLO EXHIBITION
2020 Projected Voids, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, IN
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 Abstract, Auburn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Transformations 2020, Pennsylvania Center for Photography, Doylestown
2019 Abstract 2019, Southeast Center for Photography, Greenville, SC
LA Open 2019, TAG Gallery, Los Angeles CA
Magnus Opus 30, Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Sacramento, CA
Phantom Project 17, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, CA
PULSE Art, Treat Gallery, New York/ Miami, FL
Sixth Open Call, Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI
2018 Abstracts 2018, 311 Gallery, Raleigh, NC
Color Cue, CENTR, Santa FE, NM
Contemporary Photography 2018, CICA Museum, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Faculty Exhibition, Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Kromatik, Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2017 Color Photography Now, Blackbox Gallery, Portland, OR
EAFA Juried Abstract Show, Evergreen Assn. of Fine Arts, Bellevue, WA
Good Bokeh, DAB Art / H Gallery, Ventura, CA
LA Artcore 1st Annual Photographic Exhibition, LA Artcore, Los Angeles, CA
Left Coast Annual, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA
Light Sensitive 2017, Art Intersection, Gilbert, AZ
MWCP Juried Exhibition, Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, KS
New Visions 2017, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, CA
Order and Chaos Chautauqua, Giles Gallery, Richmond, KY
Photowork 2017, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
Visions of Cuba, Fototeca de Cuba, Havana, Cuba
2016 Aperture Summer Open: Photography Is Magic, Aperture Foundation, NYC
ARTIST RESIDENCY
2017–2018 Penumbra Workspace Program, Penumbra Foundation, New York, NY
RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
2017 Todd Walker Research Fellowship, Center for Creative Photography,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
BOOKS AUTHORED
2015 Speedliter’s Handbook, Second Edition, Peachpit Press.
Translations: Chinese, Spanish
2013 Lighting for Digital Photography, Peachpit Press.
Translations: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
2010 Speedliter’s Handbook, Peachpit Press.
Translations: Chinese, French, German, Korean, Polish, Portuguese
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2018– West Valley College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Adjunct, Photography
2017– Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Adjunct, Photography
2013–2020 Mission College Prep, San Luis Obispo, CA
Chair, Visual & Performing Arts
PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES—Instructor of Record
2021– Arts 62C: Color Photography, West Valley College
Art 249B: Digital Photography II, Cuesta College
2019– Art 244: Photography I (Analog), Cuesta College
2018– Arts 62A: Basic Photography, West Valley College
2017– Art 249A: Digital Photography I, Cuesta College
WORKSHOP FACULTY
2014–2019 Rocky Mountain School of Photography, Missoula, MT
2012–2015 Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, Santa Fe, NM
2011–2014 Maine Media Workshops, Rockport, ME
2012–2013 Peter Read Miller Sports Photography, Manhattan Beach, CA
2010–2013 Paso Robles Workshops, Paso Robles, CA
2013 Estudio Brasil, São Paulo, Brazil
2011 Gulf Photo Plus, Dubai, UAE
ARCHIVE
Commercial, Editorial, and Fine Art Photography: Projects.SylArena.info