RODRIGO VALENZUELA

Rodrigo Valenzuela’s work in photography, video and installation is rooted in contradictory traditions of documentary and fiction, often involving narratives around immigration and the working class. Valenzuela (b. 1982, Santiago, Chile) completed an art history degree at the University of Chile (2004), then worked in construction while making art over his first decade in the United States. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Evergreen State College and an MFA at University of Washington (2012). He is a professor of art at University of California Los Angeles.

Valenzuela’s many residencies include Light Work in Syracuse, NY; a Core Fellowship at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Skowhegan, ME; Bemis Center, NE and the Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY. In addition to Upfor, solo exhibitions include OCMA in Santa Ana, CA; Portland Art Museum, OR; Klowden Mann, Los Angeles; Laurence Miller Gallery, New York; the McColl Center, Charlotte; Galerie Lisa Kandlhofer, Vienna; Frye Art Museum, Seattle and Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Santiago. Accolades include a 2017 Painters and Sculptors Grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, an Artist Trust Arts Innovator Award and inclusion in Open Sessions 10 at The Drawing Center, New York.

Valenzuela’s next solo exhibition opens at Upfor in September and October 2019.