BIO
Syl Arena (born Phoenix, Arizona) is a California-based artist known for his wide-ranging explorations of photography. Having come of age when all photography was inherently analog, he frequently pushes his artistic practice beyond the boundaries of the lens-centric photographs into the realms of alternative processes, experimental lenses, and cameraless monoprints.
Arena freely admits that he is addicted to color and shadow. In his Constructed Void series, he deconstructs white light into vibrant hues and mixes them onto monochromatic constructs. Through the intersection of light, construct, and the vision of a contorted 4×5 camera, 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. To this end, the Constructed Voids are exhibited as 54″ x 36″ sheets of chromogenic paper mounted in a manner that bends the prints outward from the gallery 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 served on the faculty at Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, California), West Valley College (Saratoga, California) and College of the Canyons (Santa Clarita, California), and has taught workshops for Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, Maine Media 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
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024 Abstract—Atlanta Photography Group, Atlanta, Georgia
Abstract 2024—Ten Moir Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri
Abstract in Red—Camelback Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
Beyond the Photograph—Rhode Island Cen. for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI
Black & White—Decode Gallery, Tucson, Arizona
Black & White—Independent & Image Art Space, Chongqing, China
Black & White—Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Contemporary Landscape—Gallery Omnibus, Dresden, Germany
Form 2024—CICA Museum, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Green—Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, Kansas
2023 Abstract—Teravarna Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Abstract 2023—New York Center for Photography, New York City
Blur Impressions—Art Square Gallery, New York City
Botanical 2023—Laguna Arts, Laguna Beach, California
By Hand: Alternative Processes—Texas Photographic Society, Abilene, TX
International Alternative Processes 2023—Soho Photo Gallery, New York City
International Juried Exhibition 2023—Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ
International Open Call—Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Denver, CO
Memento Mori—Chateau Gallery, Louisville, KY
New Artist 2023—Boomer Gallery, London, England
Water Is Sacred—Arts & Crafts Cooperative, Berkeley, California
World Anthotype Day 2023—Alternative Photography, London, England
2022 All Abstracts 2022—Camelback Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona
Botanical—A. Smith Gallery, Johnson City, Texas
Emergence—Glasgow Gallery of Photography, Glasgow, Scotland
Faber Birren National Color Exhibition—Stamford Art Assoc, Stamford, Connecticut
Fresno Printmakers’ 2022—Fresno Printmakers, Fresno, California
Perspectives 2022—CICA Museum, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Primary Colors—Light, Space, & Time Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2021 A Digital Art Salon, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, CA
Abstract—Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, Kansas
Blue—Decode Gallery, Tucson, Arizona
Decontexts—Loosen Art, Milan, Italy
Layered Light: Contemporary Pinhole Photography—Light Art Space, Silver City, NM
Light Sensitive 2021—Art Intersection, Gilbert, Arizona
Purely Abstract—Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
Rewrite Reality—Independent & Image Art Space, Chongqing, China
Seventh Annual Group Show—Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, New York
Thirty Over Fifty, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
2020 Abstract, Auburn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Syl Arena: Projected Voids, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, IN
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
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
2013–2021 Mission College Preparatory, San Luis Obispo, CA
Chair, Visual & Performing Arts
2017– Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Instructor, Photography
2018– West Valley College, Saratoga, CA
Instructor, Photography
2022–2024 College of The Canyons, Santa Clarita, CA
Instructor, Photography
COURSES TAUGHT—Instructor of Record
Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Art 244: Photography I (Darkroom)
Art 249A: Digital Photography
Art 249B: Digital Photography II
West Valley College (Saratoga, CA)
Arts 62A: Basic Photography
Arts 62C: Color Photography
College of The Canyons (Santa Clarita, CA)
Photo 150: Cameras & Composition
Photo 155: Photography I
Photo 156: Photography II
Photo 157: Digital Imaging
Photo 177: Video For Still Photographers
Photo 191: Photographic Studio Fundamentals I
Photo 192: Photographic Studio Fundamentals II
Photo 195: Color Photography
Photo 201: Independent Projects
Photo 220: The Business of Photography
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
2024 Aerial Photography with Drones, College of the Canyons (course proposal)
Automotive Photography, College of the Canyons (course proposal)
2022-2023 Commercial Photography AA, College of the Canyons
2021 Color Photography, West Valley College (online)
2021 Digital Photography II, Cuesta College (online)
2018 Basic Photography, West Valley College (online)
2017 Digital Photography I, Cuesta College (online)
ACADEMIC SERVICE
Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA)
2020–2021 Volunteer on-campus darkroom instructor during Covid
2019–2020 Distance Education Committee
West Valley College (Saratoga, CA)
2021–2022 Peer Online Course Review Team Instructor
2020–2021 West Valley Academy Co-Facilitator
College of The Canyons (Santa Clarita, CA)
2023–2024 Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Faculty Group
2022–2023 Curricular & Assessment Coordinator, Photography Department
2022–2023 College Liaison to American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) Los Angeles
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
INTERVIEWS
2021 Al-Tiba9 Issue 08—Al-Tiba9 Contemporary Art, Barcelona, Spain
Abstract —Art Ascent Journal, August 2021
ARCHIVE
Commercial, Editorial, and Fine Art Photography: Projects.SylArena.info