Sylvia de Swaan

Sylvia de Swaan is a Romanian born fine art and documentary photographer who has lived and worked in Mexico, Europe and several parts of the United States. In the mid-1970s, she moved to a hamlet in Central New York with her second husband and son, where they bought a Greek revival crumbling mansion heated with wood and coal. When her marriage ended, she was invited to be the Director of Sculpture Space, a fledgling studio program located in Utica, NY, which during her tenure earned an international reputation, an NYS Governors' Art award, and a MacArthur Award for its uniqueness. Sylvia has also been involved in the arts as an educator, curator, visual arts panelist and arts consultant.

In her personal work, Sylvia de Swaan engages in long-term self-assigned projects that explore themes of transience, loss, individual and collective memory and identity, the state of the world and the neighborhood where she lives. Her longest running body of work, titled "Return" was begun in early 1990 with a series of train journeys.

EDUCATION

Hunter College, New York City

High School of Music & Art

OTHER INFORMATION

Born, Czernowitz, Romania

Languages: Spanish, German

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL

2013/15 Shared Traditions, special project with Munson-Williams-Proctor Inst. & the Mohawk Valley Center for Refugees

2013 Guest Curator, Contemporary Drawing: Recent Trends, Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, NY

2012 Instructor, Intermediate B&W Photo, Pratt Institute/upstate

2011 Juror, Photo Place Gallery, Middlebury, VT

Ongoing Reviewer, Photography Reviewer, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts,

Ongoing Portfolio Reviewer, Society for Photographic Education, National Conferences

2010 Instructor, Photography for Veterans/Workforce Development Inst.

2009 Juror, Made in New York, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY

Fellowship Panelist, Constance Saltonstall Foundation, Ithaca, NY

2008-2011 Fellowship Advisory Committee, New York Foundation for the Arts

1998-08 Visiting Instructor, Photography, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY

2001 Curator, “Duane Michals: Photographer as Magician” Hamilton College, Clinton, NY

1998 Co-curator, “Whatever Floats Your Boat,“ Art OMI, Ghent, NY

1997 Interim Director, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY

1979-95 Executive Director, Sculpture Space Inc, Utica, N.Y.

1993/95 Visual Arts Panelist, International Studio Program, PS1, New York City

1992 Co-Curator "Re-Claiming Land", Stone Quarry Art Park, Cazenovia, N.Y.

199l Visual Arts Panelist, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C.

1990 Visual Arts Panelist, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Baltimore, MD

1987/04 Fellowship Panelist, Photography, New York Foundation for the Arts, NYC

1983-86 Visual Arts Panelist, New York State Council on the Arts, NYC

1981 Panelist, "Beyond Survival" Founding Conference of NAAO, New Orleans, La.

1972 Workshop Instructor, New Orleans Museum of Art

1967-71 Adjunct Faculty, Design, School of Architecture, UNAM, Mexico, DF

SELECTED GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / PRIZES

2016 New York Foundation for the Arts Photography Fellowship

2014 Paris Photo PX3, second prize, Press/War

ND Award, 3rd Place (Bronze Star) in the category “Travel” for “Return”

2013 Paris Photo, Px3, First Prize (Gold), Self Portraiture/Portraiture

2012 Society for Photographic Education, Creative Artist Project Support Grant

2011 United States Artists Projects, fundraising platform for book production

2006 New York Foundation for the Arts - Photography Fellowship

2005 Kirkland Endowment, Hamilton College, professional advancement grant

2000 Constance Saltonstall Foundation - Photography Fellowship

New York Foundation for the Arts – Photography Fellowship

1999-2008 Hamilton College, Faculty Travel Grants

1998 New York Foundation for the Arts - catalogue production grant

Aaron Siskind Foundation, Fellowship

Arts Link /CEC Partnership - project /travel grant to Slovenia

1996 Arts Link /CEC Partnership - project /travel grant to Romania

1994 New York Foundation for the Arts – Photography Fellowship

1993 Arts Link/CEC - project /travel grant to Romania

Art Matters Inc. - Fellowship

1977/92/01 Light Work, Syracuse, NY - project grant

FUNDED RESIDENCIES

2004 Center for Exploratory Perceptual Arts (CEPA), Buffalo, NY, residency

2001 Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass, CO., Visiting Artist

2000 Künstlerhaus, Austrian Ministry of Culture, Vienna, Austria,, co-sponsored VCCA

1999 Bemis Center for Contemporary Art , Omaha, NE, three months residency

1995 Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar, VA - sponsored by MAAF

1994 Light Work , Residency, Syracuse, NY – one month

1992 School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD – sponsored by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation

1990 Light Work , Residency, Syracuse, NY – one month

1990 Washington Project for the Arts - residency sponsored by Mid Atlantic Arts

1973/4 Madewood Arts Festival, Thibodeaux, LA, Photographer in Residence, M

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019/20 University of LaVerne, La Verne, California

2015 The Other side, Utica, NY

2011 “Intersecting Narratives,” Picker Gallery, Colgate University

2005 CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY

Clifford Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, NY

1999 Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE

The Clement Gallery, U. of Toledo, Toledo, OH.

1997 Earlville Opera House, Earlville, NY

1996 Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. Utica, NY,

Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Salon Likovni, Celjie, Slovenia

1995 Art in General, New York City

Sculpture Center, New York City

CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY

College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY

1993 Ithaca College, Ithaca, N.Y.

1987 Colgate University, Dana Art Center, Hamilton, N.Y.

Visual Arts Center of Alaska, Anchorage

1984 State University of New York, Cobeskill, N.Y.

1980 Rutger Gallery, Utica, NY

1977 Mid York Library System - Travelling Exhibition

1972 Studio 8 - New Orleans, LA

Midtown Gallery, New Orleans

1970 Galerie de Sfinx, Amsterdam, NL

1969 Galeria Pecanin, Mexico City

1967 Museo de Artes Plasticas, Xalapa, Ver.

Cine Foto - Exploción 67, mixed media event - Mexico City

Ruta 67, Guadalajara, Mexico

1966 Galeria Municipal, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

Galeria Pecanin, Mexico City

Galeria Nios, Mexico City

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS

2015 ArtVenice Biennale3- The Biennial Project, in the Austrian Pavilion

“EMBRACED: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY,” Center for Book Arts, NYC

“Manifesto,” Odessa Biennale, Odessa, Ukraine

Short listed, Athens Photography Festival

Aleppo International Photo Festival, Aleppo, Syria, curated by Issa Touma

2013 63rd Regional Art Exhibition, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute

2011 Transcultural Identities, Welch School Gallery, Georgia State U, Atlanta, GA

Center for Book Arts,, Multiple, limited, Unique, from the Permanent Collection

2010 Sub-version, diptychs, online feature on Lenscratch

Artists of Central New York, Museum, MWPAI, Utica, NY

2009 PhotoCinema, Format International Photography Festival, Derby, UK,

The Art of Caring, curated by Cynthia Goodman, New Orleans Museum of Art

2008 In Transition, Russia 2008, National Center for Contemporary Art Moscow

and National Center for Contemporary Art, Yekaterinburg, Russia

Highways and Byways, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY

Invitational, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ

Reciprocity, Faculty Exhibition, Hamilton College

2007 Flash Pop, NY Foundation for the Arts Benefit, Location One, New York City

Signs of Life, College Art Gallery, Cazenovia College,

2006 Faculty Show, Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College

In Transition, Independent Museum of Contemporary Art, Limassol, Cyprus

Sites of Memory and Honor, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI

Un-staged, Arti et Amicitiae , curated by Charlie Citron, Amsterdam, Holland

Periferic Biennial , curated by Stephanie Benzaquen, Iasi, Romania

Visions of Sister Gertrude Morgan, Bergeron Gallery , New Orleans

Tools of Her Ministry/ Art of Sister Gertrude Morgan, New Orleans Museum of Art

2001 Grant Recipients, Light Work, Syracuse, NY

2000 Women in Documentary Photography, Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, OH

Faculty Exhibition, Hamilton College, Clinton, N

1999 The Eternal Past, curator, Jean Caslin, Houston Center for Photography

1998 Developing Illusions, Philip Brookman, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

1997 Working in Brooklyn,Pierogi 2000 at the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

1994 Struggles Against Racism, National Center for Afro American Artists, Boston, MA

1993 The Family Seen, Curator by Bill Laven, Cameraworks, San Francisco, CA. Photonominal, Curator by Carlos Solana, Forum Gallery, Jamestown, N.Y.

We Are the Stories We Tell, curator by Evelyn Leong, Pace University,NYC

1992 Miss-ing, 37 Raume, curated by B. Stammer/G. Horn - Berlin, Germany

Making War, curated by Grace Bently-Scheck, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI

Between the Personal & the Political, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI

Artists Invite Artists, Cold City Gallery, Toronto, Ont.

Flaneur, curated by Evelyn Leong, Barbara Fendrick Gallery, NYC

Crisis in Agriculture, curated by Sydney Waller, Gallery 53, Cooperstown, N.Y.

SPE Regional, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, N.Y

Taking Liberties, curator, Anthony Bannon, NY State Museum , Albany, N.Y.

1984 Regional Exhibition, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, N.Y.

1983 Gender Construction, Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY1982

Collected Visions, Women's Studio Workshop, Rosendale, N.Y.

Biennial Exhibition, Everson Museum, Syracuse, N.Y.

1978 Three Women Photographers, Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, NY

1975 Photography Council, New Orleans, LA

Images, New Orleans, LA

1973 Downtown Gallery, New Orleans, LA

1971 Zamora Gallery, Mexico City

1968 Galeria de Bellas Artes, Mexico City

International Press Club, Mexico City

SELECTED LECTURES/VISITING ARTIST

2015 Temple Emanuel, Utica, NY

University of Tennesee, Chattanooga, TN

2014 Presenter, National Conference, Society for Photographic Education , Baltimore,

2013 Jewish Museum, Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) Ukraine

2011 Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute, Utica, NY

2010 F.I.L.M., Film Program, Slide Presentation, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY

Lunch Hour Series, MWPAI, Utica, NY

2009 Diversity & Social Justice Program, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY

2008 Yekaterinburg Academy for Contemporary Art, Yekaterinburg, Russia

2007 Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY

2006 State University of New York, Oswego, NY

2005 Jan van Eyck Art Academy, Maastricht, NL

Visual Arts Speakers Series, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY

University of Fl, Tallahassee, Society for Photographic Education SE conference

Colgate University, Art Department

Cornell University, Society for Photographic Education NE conference, Ithaca, NY

2004 Onondaga Community College, Syracuse, NY

2003 Colgate University, co-sponsored by Art Departments with Peace Studies

2002 Society for Photographic Education, National Conference, Las Vegas, NE

2001 State University of New York, Albany, NY

1999 Cultural Resource Council, Syracuse, NY

1998 University of Louisville, Louisville, KY

University of Toledo, Toledo, OH

1997 Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA

Society for Photographic Education, National Conference, Dallas, TX

1996 Museo de Arta, Timisoara, Romania

1995 Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

Matrilineage Conference, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

1994 Soros Foundation, Prague, Czech Republic

Queens College, NYC

1992 Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

ARTISTS BOOKS

2012 Where Will You Spend Eternity?, post industrial color photographs

1999 Return - photos and text - edition of 1500 – funded by NYFA Catalogue Project

1972 Inside Eye, a book without words - edition of 50 handmade books

1968 A Specter is Haunting the World , an artist book in collection of ICAIC, Havana,

1965 Libro Sin Palabras - edition of 50 hand made books

Dibujos de Vida y Muerte, published by El Corno Emplumado, Mexico City

SELECTED PRINT

Aint–Bad Magazine, A-B, Vol 3 Issue #1 2015

Photo Art Magazine, Check Republic, March 2014

Rangefinder Magazine, Photo Finish by David Carol

Fractionmagazine.com, review, by Ellen Wallenstein

The Art of Caring, New Orleans Museum o f Art, New Orleans, LA 200

Stone Canoe, Number 3, Spring 2009, Syracuse University

Lucie Awards, coffee table book 2009

Photographic Possibilities 3/e, Robert Hirsch, Focal Point Press 2008

Sculpture Space 30th Anniversary Catalogue, 2007

Shots 98, Portfolio Issue, Winter 2007

The Elements of Photography, textbook, Focal Point Press, 2007

Private #32, thematic issue, “Night,” Castel Bulognese, Italy, Spring 2006

Black &White Magazine, US July/August, 2005

Exit, Madrid, Spain, Issue #19, 2005

Photography 8th Edition, textbook, London, Stone, Upton, Prentice-Hall, NJ 2004

Tools of Her Ministry: The Art of Sister Gertrude Morgan, NYC Folk Art Museum

Exposure, Journal of the Society for Photographic Education, Volume 36:2, 2003

Submersia, Barcelona, Spain, June 2002

Camera Austria, Graz, Austria, Issues #74, May 2001

Fotografija, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Fall 1999

New Observations,, A Memory Palace, guest edited by Charlie Citron, Spring 1999

Corcoran Views, Washington, D.C, Winter 1998

Calumet Photographic , Volume #8 1998

Confrontation, CW Post Campus of Long Island University - Spring 1997

Heritage, Magazine of the NY Historical Association, Winter 1996

Der Alltag, Berlin, Germany - 1996

Whitewalls , Chicago, Ill - 1995

Outtakes, New York City - 1995

Culturefront, New York Council on the Humanities - 1994

New Mexico Photographer - 1994

Contact Sheet, Light Work, Syracuse, NY - 1990/92/95

Frontiers - Women's Studies, U of New Mexico Press ‘87/91/94

Photography for the Art Market, Kathryn Marx - Amphoto 1988

Appearances, New York City - 1986

Afterimage, Rochester, N.Y. - 1985

Venus & Mars, Paul McCartney, album poster - 1975

Petersen’s Photographic - 1974

Revista del Norte, Mexico City - 1974

Texas Review - 1973

New Orleans Review - 1973

El Corno Emplumado - 1973

Revista Comunidad, Mexico City - 1969

Revista de la Universidad, Mexico City – 1968

SELECTED ONLINE EXHIBITIONS / Interviews / websites

http://www.artphotoindex.com/SylviadeSwaan

www.sylviadeswaan.com

http://www.artphotomag.com/magazine/2014/March15/flipviewerxpress.html

http://www.fototazo.com/2012/09/the-image-sylvia-de-swaan-war-game.htmlhttp://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/3425690

http://www.viewbookphotostory.com/2010/08/return/

http://rfotofolio.com/2013/03/19/sylvia-de-swaan/

http://vanishedworld.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/i-walked-endlessly/http://www.emptykingdom.com/main/featured/sylvia-de-swaan/

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow

Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

Rare Book Collection, Burke Library Hamilton College, Clinton, NY

William Benton Museum, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

State University of NewYork, Cobleskill, NY

The Center for Book Arts

Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY

Light Work, Syracuse. NY

Museum of Modern Art, New York City – artist books EDUCATION

Hunter College, New York City

High School of Music & Art

www.sylviadeswaan.net