Robert Flynt

We look to (and at) images to find information: practical, aesthetic, erotic, and points between or overlapping. We are often seduced; we believe the photograph’s illusory diorama of a point in time, the map or chart’s authoritative organization of fact. My primary concern is to re-imagine the human body - in relation to its own assumed/perceived structure, as well as to “others” (other bodies, spaces, systems). Each image is the intersection of two layers: one a photograph I have taken of a figure (usually underwater), the other a found photograph or textbook diagram. In combining two often contradictory vocabularies, I am hoping to subvert their ostensible subject while harnessing their respective power(s). The goal is a meaning beyond or between the boundaries of their individual language: the authority of the diagram, the inscribed ideals of the classical art reference, the sentimentality or “family values” of the vernacular found photograph. Juxtaposed to the metaphoric submerged or fragmented figure, a jangling dialog is created that ranges from the reinforcing to the ridiculous.

Can we finally see more than we know?

Resume

SELECTED SOLO/SHARED EXHIBITIONS & INSTALLATIONS:

2008
Antipedes festival, Le Quartz, Brest, France
Haven Arts Center, Bronx, NY
Brattleboro Museum of Art, Brattleboro, VT

2006
Katzen Arts Center, American University (“Body Languages” with Mary Coble) Washington, DC

2004
ClampArt, New York, NY
G2 Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
Maus Habitos, Porto, Portugal

2001
Wessel+O’Connor Gallery, New York ([Your] Numbered Days artist book)
Maus Habitos, Porto & Igreja da Misericordia, Leiria, Portugal: Partial Disclosures installation (catalog)

2000
Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal : Partial Disclosures installation
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI : Partial Disclosures installation
The Schoolhouse Center, Provincetown, MA

1998
C.E.P.A. Gallery, Buffalo, NY: Blind Trust: installation (“Ruins in Reverse” exhibitions/catalog)
Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA:Partial Disclosures installation

1997
Gomez Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX (catalog; essay by Mark Johnstone)
Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
“The Works” International Arts Festival, Edmonton, Canada: Blind Trust installation
G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
Witkin Gallery, New York, NY

1996
Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (Compound Fracture, Twin Palms monograph premier)
New Arts Program Gallery, Kutztown, PA: Frail Shelter installation
Donna Beam Fine Art Gallery, UNLV, Las Vegas, NV: Blind Trust installation

1995
Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA

1994
Temple University Gallery, Philadelphia, PA: Blind Trust installation/artist book; text by Chris Packard
Gomez Gallery, Baltimore, MD

1993
Nye Gomez Gallery, Baltimore, MD

1992
Witkin Gallery, New York, NY (Lifejacket artist book/catalog; texts by K. Larsen, J. McMahon, R. Ehmke)
Anderes Ufer, Berlin, Germany (installation)
Galerie Fotomania, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA : Skin Deep installation

1991
Southern Light Gallery, Amarillo, TX

1990
Witkin Gallery, New York, NY

1988
Midtown Y Photography Gallery, New York, NY
Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA: Shallow Anatomies installation

1986
Chicago Books, New York, NY (window installation)

1985
Nexus Gallery, Atlanta, GA (installations)
C.E.P.A. Gallery, Buffalo, NY: public bus installation project

1984
MoMing Gallery, Chicago, IL (installations)

The Harkness Center, New York, NY

1983
Maison Jean Villar & Manufacture Laugier, Avignon, France
DTW Gallery, New York, NY

1981
Bates College, Lewiston, ME (catalog, essay by Brian Wallis)


SELECTED COLLECTIONS:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
The International Center of Photography, New York
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Baltimore Museum of Art
DeCordova Museum of Art, Lincoln, MA
Worcester (MA) Art Museum
Nash Editions Collection
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
City of Phoenix, AZ


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS:

2007
"Expressive Bodies", Kinsey Institute at Herron Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
"Latent Image", Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, AZ

2006
"Surface Tension", Brighton Photo Fringe, Brighton, UK
"Past is Present", Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY
"New to View", Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA
"The Body Familiar", Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA

2005
George Billis Gallery LA, Culver City, CA

2004
“Hidden Histories”, The New Art Gallery, Walsall, UK (catalog)
“Anxiety and Desire”, Metropolitan State College of Denver, CO

2003
“How Human”, International Center of Photography, New York, NY
“Other Waters”, G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
“Boys of Summer” Clampart, New York, NY

2002
“Facing AIDS” traveling international exhibition and publication, Umbrage Editions
“Everyman”, San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco, CA (catalog)
“20th Anniversary Exhibition”, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
“Invisible Cities” , Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY
“Photo Festival”, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY

2001
“The Last Picture Show” & “Appearances”, Wessel+O’Connor Gallery, New York, NY
“Focus on the Future: Digital Photography”, University of Alabama, Birmingham

2000
“Anatomically Incorrect”, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
“Directors Choice” Museum of the Ozarks, AR & Portland State University, OR

1999
“Rattling the Frame”, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
“Clothes Off”, Witkin Gallery, New York, NY

1998
“Waterproof”, Expo ‘98, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal ( & book)
“Bodies in Flux”, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, U. of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC (Partial Disclosures)

1997
“Exhibit A”, Illinois State University Galleries, Normal, IL: Blind Trust installation
“Seeing Jazz”, Smithsonian International Gallery, Washington, DC (& tour)
“Homo Genius”, Tyler Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

1996
“Dearest Comrades”, Wessel+O’Connor Gallery, New York, NY
“Bathers”, Washington Center for Photography, Washington, DC
“New in the Nineties”, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
“Nash Editions”, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH (& tour)
“Masculine Measures”, J.M.Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI

1995
“Camera Invisibile”, Temple Abroad Gallery, Rome, Italy
“X-Sightings”, Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, NY
“The Body Photographic”, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, LA (Blind Trust; catalog)
“In the Face of AIDS”, Hobart/William Smith College, Geneva, NY (Blind Trust)
“Blind Spot”, The MAC, Dallas TX & SoHo Festival, Christinerose Gallery, New York, NY

1994
“Sea Change”, Josh Baer Gallery, New York, NY
“25th Anniversary Exhibition” Witkin Gallery, New York, NY ( & book)

1993
“Proof Positive” & “Queering Family Values”, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD (catalog)

1992
“New Photography 8”, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (Lifejacket catalog)
“Medicine Body”, Illinois State University Galleries, Normal, IL
“De Man”, Brouwersgracht Twee Drie Acht, Amsterdam, The Netherland
“Queer Bodies”, Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA (catalog)
“Body Evidence”, P.S. 122 Gallery, New York, NY (Life/Safety/Water/Saving installation)
“The Frame: Multiplied & Extended”, Security Pacific Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA

1991
“Interactions”, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA (catalog)
“The Body in Question”, Burden Gallery, New York, NY (Aperture/catalog)

1990
“AIDS=AID” & “Beams”, The BAUhouse, Baltimore, MD
“Place, Geography, & Change”, Film in the Cities Gallery, St. Paul, MN
“3x5”, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX (installations)

1989
“Choices” Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL

1987
“Subjective/Objective Images”, L.A.C.P.S., Los Angeles, CA

1986
“Tampered Vision”, Old Dominion University Gallery, Norfolk, VA (installation)

1985
C.E.P.A. Gallery, Buffalo, NY (installation)
SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA (installation)

1984
“Artists & Photographic Installations”, 1708 E. Main Gallery, Richmond, VA (installation/catalog)
Piezo Electric Gallery at Kamikaze Club, New York, NY

1983
“Terminal New York”, Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn, NY (installations)
“Altered Color”, Cameravision, Los Angeles, CA (installation)

1982
“Photo Start”, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY (catalog)

1981
Foto Gallery, New York, NY

SELECTED COMMISSIONS:

2008
Collaborating visual artist for Body-Scan, Benoit Lachambre and Su-Feh Lee, Le Quartz, Brest, France and tour (2009)

2003
Collaborative elements/projections for The Yellow Room , Yoshiko Chuma, Daghdha Dance Co., Ireland

1990
Projections/set for The Undead, (Cooper/Houston-Jones/Brosius), L.A.C.E. (CA), The Kitchen (NY) & tour
Slide suite for Benoit Lachambre concert, DanceWorks, Toronto, Canada

1989
Set for Allies, Bebe Miller & Co., Brooklyn Academy of Music/Next Wave Festival & tour

1988
Slide suite for Jeff McMahon concert, P.S. 122, New York, NY
Slide suite for Ishmael Houston-Jones concert, The Kitchen, New York, NY

1986
Slide suite for P.S. 122 Field Trips, New England and New York tour


MONOGRAPH BOOKS:

2001
[Your] Numbered Days, artist book, Bethany Johns Design, self publish

1996
Compound Fracture, Twin Palms Publishers (A.I.G.A. Best Books of the Year award)

1994
Blind Trust, collaborative artist book, texts:Chris Packard/David Deitcher; Temple University & self publish

1992
Lifejacket, artist book, Bethany Johns Design, self publish


ANTHOLOGIES:

2007
Hommes Pour Hommes Pierre Borhan, Editions des Deux Terres (Man To Man, English edition)
Nash Editions; Photography and the Art of Digital Printing, Garrett White, ed., New Riders

2005
Self-Exposure Reed Massengill, Universe Publishing/Rizzoli
Umbigo; Co-ordinates of the Body in Contemporary Art, Coutinho et. al. Umbigo Portugal

2004
Male Bodies: Photographic History of the Male Nude , Emmanuel Cooper, Prestel Publishers
Hidden Histories, Michael Petry, Artmedia Press

2003
Facing AIDS: Imaging the Global Epidemic , Umbrage Editions
Sixième Sens: Science et Paranormal, Varvogolis/Robin, eds., Editions du Chêne, Paris

1999
Adonis, M. Olley, Thunder’s Mouth Press (Homme, Carlton Books)

1998
À Prova de Água/Waterproof­ , Jorge Calado, Edition Stemmle
Master Breasts, Melissa Harris, ed. , Aperture
The Passionate Camera, Deborah Bright, ed. , Routledge
The Male Nude, David Leddick, ed. Taschen Books

1997
Seeing Jazz, , E. Goldson, ed., Smithsonian SITES/Chronicle Books
Beasts, , David Sprigle, ed., Foto Factory Press

1996
Whitman’s Men, Berman & Groff, eds., Universe Press/Rizzoli

1995
Fully Exposed, Emmanuel Cooper , Routledge

1994
Uncontrollable Bodies, ,Sappington & Stallings, eds., Bay Press
Witkin Gallery 25, Lumiere Press, essay by Peter Bunnell

1993
Running Scared, Peter Lehman, Temple University Press
Der Traum vom Fliegen, Deutsche Fototage GmbH, Frankfurt

1992
Exploring Color Photography, Robert Hirsch, Brown & Benchmark


SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND REVIEWS:

Afterimage (5-6/99),
Aperture (#121,#143, #166),
Art & Understanding (8/94)
Art in America (2/93),
Baltimore Alternative (v.8,#5)
Baltimore Sun (5/4/93 & 12/2/97)
Blind Spot (#2 & #7)
Camerawork (v.24 #1, 1997,v.26 #2, 1999, v.29 #2, 2002)
The Critical Eye (on-line magazine, 4/98)
Contact Sheet (Light Work, Syracuse, NY#94)
Contents Magazine (#16)
Darkroom Photography (1/90)
Edmonton Journal (Canada, 7/4/97)
Euros (Berlin, #11 & #39)
Exposure (#36:1, 2003)
Eyemazing (#4/2006)
Männeraktuell (10/93 & 6/97)
New Art Examiner (11/89)
New York Native (3/16/92 )
New York Times (11/15/92)
Noname Magazine (#8, 3/07)
Out Magazine (11/95, 12/96, 1/07)
Perspektief (#42, 10/91)
Photo Metro (#100)
Pref (Paris, #22 10/07 & #25 4/08)
Quiver (Tyler School of Art, PA#12)
Seven Seas (Tokyo, #71, 7/94)
Smithsonian (V.23 #10)
Umbigo (Portugal, #5,03)
Views (PRC, Boston, v.9, #4)
Village Voice (3/24/92, 12/8/92, 5/8/01)
Voices (Buffalo,NY 9&10/98)
Washington Blade (4/23/993)
Wedge (#2)
XXX Fruit (#2).

RELATED WORK, SELECTED RESIDENCIES & GRANTS:

2008
Visiting Artist, Temple University Rome and John Cabot University, Rome

2005
Panelist, Inaugural Regional Triennial, Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY

2004
Peter S. Reed Foundation Grant

2001
Visiting Artist, Burren College of Art, Ireland
Visiting Artist, Arizona State University, & University of Arizona

2000 & 2001
Visiting Artist, Glasgow School of Art, Scotland
Visiting Artist, SUNY New Paltz, NY

1998- ongoing
Faculty/Independent study projects, School of Visual Arts, New York

1998
Residency fellowship, The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH

1997
Featured speaker, “Border Subjects” conference, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Guest Lecturer, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
Panelist, “Art Evo” symposium, “The Works” Arts Festival, Edmonton, Canada
Fellowship/residency/regional grant juror, Light Work, Syracuse, New York
Visiting Artist, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1996
Artist in Residence, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
Panelist, “Artists Respond to AIDS”, College Art Association Conference, Boston, MA

1995
Fellowship grant in photography, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (NEA regrant)
Visiting Artist, Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy

1994
Panelist, “Masculinity & Photography”, American Photography Institute, NYU, New York, NY

since 1989
Book & CD covers for numerous publishers (Grove, Knopf, Simon & Schuster, Virgin Records, etc.)

1989-1994
Co-curator with Dona Ann McAdams, SpaceCase Gallery, P.S. 122, New York, NY

1991
Visiting Artist, Fachhochschule Bielefeld, Germany

1989
Art Matters Inc. grant for Bebe Miller commission, Next Wave Festival

1986
New works grant, Mass. Council on the Arts & Humanities/N.E.F.A. for P.S.122 Field Trips

1980-1982
Photographer/graphics consultant, Modern Art Consultants, New York, NY

since 1981
Photo documentation/collaborative projects with numerous performance artists & dancers


EDUCATION:

1979
Post-graduate work in printmaking, Tyler School of Art, Rome, Italy

1978
B.F.A. with highest honors, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA

1976 & 1974
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME

1975
New York Studio School in Paris

1974-1976
Attended Wesleyan University and School for Visual Arts of Boston University