About
Victoria F. Gaitán uses human meat puppets in flesh and blood still lifes. The images are calling-cards from explorations of internal worlds, illness, in-between states, shared delusions and hells, stillness, memory, interpretations of pain, private and public intimacies, trauma, beauty, conditioned responses and gender and race in relation to objectification and ornamentation.
“Characterized by an over-abundance of earthly delights often found in Flemish Baroque Golden Age still life paintings, the images depict the rich colors and textures of food overflowing on the table and from the mouths of the female subject. Gaitán juxtaposes a plethora of alluring earthly treats with a morbid reminder of their ephemeral nature. She conjures an insistent but unattainable desire, a feeling enmeshed with the eating disorders these photographs also call to mind. Gaitán’s women appear compelled to binge, smeared with the sugary goo they are consuming to excess. They are confrontational in their performative awareness; their expressive eyes meet our own amidst the beautiful wreckage of indulgence and ornament. Still, despite this explicit point of contact, we are uncertain whether the women are confident exhibitionists or pleading victims.”
—Andrea Pollan, Director of Curator’s Office, Washington DC.
Exhibition essay for Foto Baroque: Victoria F. Gaitán & Cecilia Paredes
Résumé
Education:
B.A., University of S.A., photography major, 1993 – Australia
Art & Photo intern, Rolling Stone magazine, 1996, 1997, 1998 – NYC., USA.
Upcoming:
WPA Select 2013 – Washington, DC, February – March, 2013
SCOPE Art Fair – New York, March, 2013
PULSE Art Fair – New York, May, 2013
Fairs:
Art Palm Beach – Palm Beach, January, 2013
Art Miami/Aqua – Miami, December, 2012
Solo Exhibitions:
“Scenes of Mild Peril”: Solo, curated by Jamie L. Smith, PhD & Leigh Conner at Conner Contemporary Art, Washington, DC., November 5th – December 17th 2011
“Sweet-Meat Cherry-Whip Flip”: Solo, curated by Al Miner, Jayme McLellan & Jefferson Pinder, at Artisphere, Arlington, VA., January 2011
Selected Exhibtions:
Habitat for Humanity and Artnet charity auction, juried, Woolly Mammoth Theater, Washington, DC., March 2012
‘Vulnerable’, pop-up in Brooklyn, NY. – April 2012
Washington Project for the Arts’ Annual Auction Gala, Washington, DC., 2012
(e)merge art fair: Conner Contemporary Art, Capitol Skyline Hotel, Washington, DC., Sept. 2011
“The Final Girl”: Curated by Adam Dwight, at WPA, Washington, DC., June 2011
“Self Portrait as a Rockstar”: Curated by Gary Kachadourian, Current Gallery, Baltimore, MD., 2011
Transformer Gallery Annual Auction: Washington, DC., 2010
“Foto Baroque”: Curated by Andrea Pollan at Curator’s Office for Fotoweek, Washington, DC., 2010
“Visions De La Morte”: Open call, Queens Museum of Art, NY., 2010
“Portray”: Curated by Frank Hallam Day at Addison/Ripley Fine Art, Washington, DC., 2010
“Mixology II”: Curated by Andrea Pollan at Curator’s Office, Washington, DC., 2010
“By Request”: Curated by Jeffry Cudlin at Flashpoint Gallery, Washington, DC., 2010
“Beautiful”: Curated by Joanne Bauer at G.R.A.C.E, Reston, VA., 2010
“Empty Time”: Curated by Trevor Young at The Fridge DC, Washington, DC., 2010
“Cream”: Curated by Mera Rubell for WPA’s 30th Annual Auction, at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington DC., 2009
“Portrait 2.0”: Curated by Michael Pollack at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center for Fotoweek DC, Silver Spring, MD., 2009
Transformer Gallery annual auction, Washington, DC., 2009
“Picturing Politics”: Curated by Rex Weil at Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA., 2008
Selected Awards/Grants:
Queens Trust Award, 1996 — Australia
South Australian Department of Arts & Cultural Heritage, 1993 & 1994 — Australia
Australian Network for Art & Technology (A.N.A.T), 1994 — Australia
Experimental Art Foundation – Studio Residency 1994 — Australia
National Association for Visual Arts (N.A.V.A.), 1993, 1992, 1993 — Australia
Selected Press:
Palm Beach Post – January 2013
Washington City Paper: “Girls Gone Mild”, review by Kriston Capps — November 2011
Meets Obsession: “Photo Diary”, article by Mei Tan — November 2011
Brightest Young Things: “BYT Year in Art”, article by Rachel Eisley — November 2011
Artnet.com: “Emerge Art Fair Slouching Towards Washington” review by Walter Robinson — September 2011
Meets Obsession magazine: “Victoria F. Gaitán”, article by Justin Brill — August 2011
The Washington Post: “The Scene: Academy 2011”, article about the launch for the book, 100 DC Artists, by F. Lennox Campello — July 2011
The Washington Post: Review for “The Final Girl”, by Mark Jenkins — June 2011
Brightest Young Things: “Inside The Artist Studio–Victoria F. Gaitán”, article by Sveltana Legetic, January 2011
T.B.D.com: “Becoming Victoria F. Gaitán” article by Maura Judkis, January 2010
We Love D.C.: “We Love Arts: Victoria F. Gaitán”, interview by Max Cook, May 2010
The Washington Post: Review for “By Request”, by Jessica Dawson, July 2010
The Washington Post: Review for ‘Beautiful’, by Jessica Dawson, June 2010
Daily Campello Art News: “Artist Interview: Victoria F. Gaitán”, interview by F. Lennox Campello, February 2010
Bluff: “A Little Chat with Victoria F. Gaitán”: interview by Chanan Delivuk, February 2010
The Washington Post: Review for ‘Cream’, by Jessica Dawson, December 2009
The Washington Post: Article for ‘Cream’, by Jessica Dawson, December 2009
Falls Church News Press: Review for ‘Portrait 2.0′, by Kevin Mellema, November 2009
The Washington Post: Review for ‘Picturing Politics’, by Jessica Dawson, August 2008
Community:
Instructor, Introduction to Digital Photography, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA. — Spring 2012
Panelist, Fall Portfolio Reviews at The Art Institute of Washington, Professor Sonya A. Lawyer — October 2012
Visiting artist, American University, Professor Mia Feuer, Washington, DC. – February 2011
Panelist, Fotoweek DC 2011, Fotoweek DC Central, Washington, DC. — November 2011
Visiting Artist, Gender and 20th Century Art, George Washington University, Professor Leah Curran, Washington, DC. — November 2011
Panelist, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, Professor Leah Perry, American University, Washington, DC. — March 2011
Visiting Artist, Prince George’s County College, Professor John James Anderson, Maryland – December 2010
Panelist, Exhibition Talk for “Beautiful” at G.R.A.C.E, with Pink Line Project, Reston, VA. — May 2010
Exhibition Artist Talk, “Beautiful” at G.R.A.C.E, Reston, VA. — May 2010
Panelist, Fall Portfolio Reviews at The Art Institute of Washington, Professor Sonya A. Lawyer — October 2009
Panelist for exhibition “Picturing Politics” at the Arlington Arts Center — September 2009
