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