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Bio and CV

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 currently serves as the full-time instructor of photography at College of the Canyons (Santa Clarita, California) and 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

2023      Botanical 2023—Laguna Arts, Laguna Beach, California

             International Juried Exhibition 2023—Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminster, NJ

             International Open Call—Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Denver, CO

             New Artist 2023—Boomer Gallery, 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

             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       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

2022–                    College of The Canyons, Santa Clarita, CA
                              Tenure-Track, Photography

2018–                    West Valley College, Saratoga, CA
                               Adjunct, Photography

2017–                    Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
                              Adjunct, Photography

2013–2021             Mission College Prep, San Luis Obispo, CA
                              Chair, Visual & Performing Arts

 

PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES—Instructor of Record

     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

     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

 

ACADEMIC SERVICE

   College of The Canyons (Santa Clarita, CA) 

Curricular & Assessment Coordinator, Photography Department (2022– )
College Liaison to American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) Los Angeles (2022– )

   Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA)

Volunteer on-campus darkroom instructor during Covid (2020–2021)
Distance Education Committee (2019–2020)

      West Valley College (Saratoga, CA)

Peer Online Course Review Team Instructor (2021–2022)
West Valley Academy Co-Facilitator (2020–2021)

 

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