About Juan Giraldo

Artist Statment

“My photographs explore the lives of my parents and their experiences. I was born in Manizales, Colombia and raised in (the Riverside section of) Paterson, New Jersey, after my parents, brother, and I moved there in 1981. I spent most of my life in the shadow of New York City, in the midst of the declining industry and long-forgotten silk mills of the Riverside section of Paterson. Paterson is a working-class city; growing up there has had a profound impact on my personal and political views as an artist. Verisimilitude, identity, dignity, and allegory are important in how I familiarize myself with my family’s anecdotes and experiences. This allows me to embrace the details, beauty, and drama of the mundane, which unfold as I photograph them. The evidence by the decor of their home reveals them as people of Catholic faith, first-generation immigrants, and blue-collar manual laborers. This familial intimate space reveals the textures of a working life, the beauty in the banality of domesticity. My portraits and still-life photographs highlight objects of importance and their iconographic meaning in these settings, reflecting a reverence for my personal history and the lives of the people I photograph.”

– Juan Giraldo

2023 NBAS Photography Exhibition “Refracted: Shade and Light

Education

  • 2015     MFA Photography, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • 2009     BFA Photography, William Paterson University, New Jersey, Summa Cum Laude

Exhibition

Solo Shows

  • 2017 Blue & Blue, Part of Hispanic Heritage Month at Chicago Public Library, Chicago, IL Blue & Blue, Waubonsee Community College Art Department, Aurora, IL
  • 2016 A View from Home, Part of Hispanic Heritage Month at Chicago Public Library, Chicago, IL
  • 2015 Juan Giraldo: New Photography, President’s Residence Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • 2011 What Work Is, American Labor Museum, Haledon, NJ
  • 2010 What Work Is, Englewood Library, Englewood, NJ

Group Shows

  • 2022 Nice To Meet PrattMWP Utica, NY, Curated by Sarah Smith
    • Que Prosiga (That It May Go On), ChaShaMa, NY, NY Curated by Diana Guerra & Aro Grace
  • 2021 Faculty Exhibition, University Galleries, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
    • Obsessions, Tête Gallery, Berlin, Germany, Curated by Bénédicte Blondeau
    • Print Swap, Foley Gallery, New York, NY, Curated by Alison Zavos
    • The Family Of, Peep Space, Curated by Jeff Dietz, Tarrytown, NY
  • 2020 Interior Life, Filter Photo, Curated by Strange Fire Collective, Chicago, IL
    • Respiration(s) now (online exhibition), ARC Gallery Curated by Angela Davis Fegan, Chicago, IL
    • The Ties That Bind/ A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage, Arts Guild New Jersey, Rahway, NJ
    • Faculty Exhibition, University Galleries, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
  • 2019 Faculty Exhibition, University Galleries, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
    • The Universal, Filter Photo, Chicago, IL, Curated by Gregory Harris
    • Humble Art Foundation Group Show 61: Loss Curated by Tara Wray and Jon Feinstein
    • Latinx Expreciones II, Morris Arts, Morristown, NJ, Curated by Dr. Ginny Butera & Prof. Will Suarez
    • New Poetics at Aviary Gallery, Curated by June T. Sanders & Alec Smith, Jamaica Plain, MA
  • 2018 Center Forward 2018, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
    • Can’t Take You Anywhere, Resident Arts National Juried Exhibition, Curated by Anna Wehrwein & Fidencio Fifield-Perez, Columbia, MO
    • The Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China Palm Photo Prize at London’s House of Vans, London, UK
    • The Feeling is Mutual, Curated by Rebecca Memoli, Local Project, Long Island City, NY
    • Eyes on Main Street Wilson Outdoor Photo Festival, Curated by Jerome DePerlinghi, Wilson, NC
    • The Feeling is Mutual, Curated by Rebecca Memoli, Open Space, Kansas City, MO
    • Eyes on Main Street Artist in Residence Show, Curated by Jerome DePerlinghi, Wilson, NC
    • Signal Boost, Curated by Jordan Rockford & Rafael Soldi, Napoleon Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
    • Flesh/Water, Curated by Kelly Ciurej, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
    • HATCH, Curated by Zora J Murff MEDICI Gallery, Richards Hall University of Nebraska, Lincoln NE
  • 2017 PDN’s 30 2017: Our Choice of New and Emerging Photographers to Watch, Photoville Brooklyn, NY
    • Context: Art & Documentary, Curated by Noah Addis, Perspective Gallery, Evanston, IL
    • Photolucida: Critical Mass Top 50, Curated by David Rosenberg Artwork Network Gallery, Denver, CO
  • 2016 Filter Photo: On the Shelf, Curated by Kelli Connell, Filter Photo, and Chicago, IL
    • Aqui, Curated by Lisa Janes, Perspective Gallery, Evanston, IL
    • Art Now 2016: New Directions in Contemporary Photography, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI
    • The Fine Art of Photography, Plymouth Center for the Arts, Plymouth, MA
  • 2015 Columbia College Chicago MFA Thesis Exhibition, Glass Curtain Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • 2013 Alumni Artists Show, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ

Awards

2022The Puffin Foundation Grant
2019Hopper Prize
2017PDN’S 30 New & Emerging Photographers
2016Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50
 Photolucida Critical Mass Finalist
2012Dwight D. Follett Fellowship Full Tuition Award, Columbia College Chicago
2009Honorable Mention, En Foco’s, People Places and Things

Residencies

  • 2022 Tusen Takk Foundation (December 2022)
  • 2018 Eyes on Main Street A-I-R Program
  • 2016 The Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW) A-I-R Program
    • Center for Book and Paper Arts – Columbia College Chicago Alumni Residence Program

Collections

The University of Iowa, Main Library, Special Collections, Iowa City, IA Harvard University, Fine Arts Library, Special Collections, Cambridge, MA
Michigan State University Library, Special Collections, Latino Studies East Lansing, MI Stanford University, Green Library, Special Collections Stanford, CA
Archive of Documentary Arts, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library Duke University Durham, NC Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection
The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY
John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County (Cook County Health & Hospital System), Chicago, IL En Foco, Bronx, NY
American Labor Museum, Haledon, NJ
Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, PA
Numerous private collections throughout the United States

Bibliography

2018 Eyes on Main Street Exhibition Catalogue, Jerome DePerlinghi, Eyes on Main Street Wilson Outdoor Photo Festival, April – July 2018
2017 Eyes on Main Street Exhibition Catalogue, Jerome DePerlinghi, Eyes on Main Street Wilson Outdoor Photo Festival, April – July 2017
Tsomondo, Tdzana, “Juan Giraldo: PDN’s 30 2017 Our Choice of New and Emerging Photographers to Watch New and Emerging Photographers to Watch” PDN Volume XL Issue 4 April 2017
Tsomondo, Tdzana, “Juan Giraldo, Exposures: American Workers” PDN Volume XXXVII Issue 1 January 2017
2015 Columbia College Chicago MFA Thesis Exhibition catalogue, essay Natasha Egan, Museum of Contemporary Photography. May 2015
2013 Nuez, Ramon, “Juan Giraldo Speaks About “What Work Is” And Higher Education” http://tinyurl.com/q8demte

Publications

Books

A View from Home, Self-published artist book edition of 25
TEACHING AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2021 – Present County College of Morris, Randolph, NJ Adjunct Photography Instructor 2019 – Present Paul Robeson Gallery, Newark, NJ Lead Preparator
2018 – Present New Jersey City University, Adjunct Photography Instructor: Photo I/B&W Darkroom
2019 – Present William Paterson University, Adjunct Photography Instructor: Photo I & II, Advanced Photo 2015 – 2016 National Museum of Mexican Art, Exhibitions Coordinator/Preparator
2015 Columbia College Chicago Upward Bound Summer Program Photography Instructor 2012 – 2015 Hyde Park Art Center Photo Intern & Teaching artist,
Columbia College Chicago’s Community Outreach Program
2013 – 2015 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Columbia College Chicago
Foundations of Photography II, Digital Imaging I, History of Photography I (fall 2013 & 2014)


Artist Website:http://www.juancgiraldo.com/

Contact: juan@juancgiraldo.com