Eleonora Ronconi
July 18 – September 1, 2019
Reception July 18, 2019 7 PM
Gallery Talk July 18, 2019 6:15 PM
What Will You Remember’s Review
Statement
I have lived in California since 1998, but Buenos Aires remains my home – it anchors and feeds my soul.
I’ve always believed that we are three-dimensional beings, constantly living in the context of place. Everything we experience, everything we recall is intractably embedded in a specifc node of time and space. In my quest to adapt to living in the United States – in a place that is not mine, I began to lose my connection to myself, my identity and my grounding.
On one of my trips to Buenos Aires in 2011 with my camera in hand, I decided to revisit the place I knew so well and start at the beginning. I photographed things that have been a very important part of my life – family photographs, my first communion dress, my aunt’s house, places I’d visited with my father who passed away when I was a teenager. Like a jig saw puzzle, the pieces started coming together, re-creating my history and journey, reconstructing a life that had begun to feel no longer in sharp focus.
Just as I started this reconstruction of time and place, my aunt was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. When I told her about my project, she told me how much she enjoyed photography when she was young and with tears in her eyes, she said “I am so happy you decided to photograph your home and collect your memories, because I am losing mine… so go out there, see for me, remember for me, you shall be my eyes”.
I am her eyes now, but also mine. As she slowly forgets who she is, I remember who I am. This journey has allowed me to rediscover the universal quest of self, collecting the pieces that had been left behind and occupying the spaces that had been left vacant. -ER
Bio
Eleonora Ronconi was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her work focuses on memory, family and documenting the idea of home, based on her experiences as an immigrant.
After four years in Medical School, she had a change of heart and received a BA in Scientific Literary Translation and Conference Interpreting in her hometown of Buenos Aires.
She has taken intensive photographic workshops at Santa Fe Photography Workshops, Maine Media Workshops and LACP among others. Workshop instructors included Sam Abell, Ed Kashi, Mary Ellen Mark and Cig Harvey.
Her work has been selected to participate in several exhibitions at the Triton Museum, Griffin Museum, Building Bridges Art Gallery, Rayko Photo Center, Verve Gallery and San Francisco Arts Commission in the US, Festival de la Luz in Buenos Aires, and Fotofever in Paris among others. Her first solo exhibition was in her native Buenos Aires in 2009.
Her photographs have been featured in publications such as A Photo Editor, Aesthetica Magazine, Le Journal de la Photographie, Palo Alto Weekly, Lenscratch and Fraction Magazine among others.
She has resided and worked in California since 1998.
CV
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 Seras mis ojos, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
2011 Online exhibition “Emerging Artist”, VERVE Gallery, Santa Fe
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (select)
2019 Context, Filter Photo, Chicago, IL
2018 Colorado Photographic Art Center, Denver, CO
2017 Fotofever, Paris
2017 California Rising, Fabrik Gallery, Culver City, CA
2017 Foresaken, SE Center for Photography, Greenville, SC
2017 LACP, Annual Juried Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA
2017 All Women Are Dangerous, Building Bridges Art Gallery, Bergamot Station, Los Angeles, CA
2017 9Topics, Arthill Gallery, London, UK
2016 Same but different, New York Center for Photographic Art, NY
2015 Fotofever Fair, Fabrik Projects Booth, Paris
2015 The Rights of Summer, Ripe Art Gallery, Huntington, NY
2015 Still, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX
2015 Portfolio Showcase, Davis Orton Gallery, NY
2014 Poemas revelados, Escuela Argentina de Fotografía, Festival de la Luz, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2014 Illuminate the Arts, Street Art Project, San Francisco, CA
2014 The Perimeter of the World, Rayko Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 20th Juried Exhibition, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
2014 Open Show LA
2014 Six Shooters, Venice Arts, Los Angeles, CA
2013 MobileMagic Exhibit, LightBox Gallery, Astoria, OR
2013 19th Juried Exhibition, Griffin Museum of Photography, MA
2013 Paper @ The Adobe, Adobe Gallery, Castro Valley, CA
2013 New Directions: Beautiful My Desire, Wall Space Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2013 Take Me Away, San Francisco Arts Commission, SF City Hall
2012 (Un)familiar, APA SF Curator’s Voice Exhibition, Carte Blanche, San Francisco, CA
2012 Altered images, Prix de la Photographie, Paris
2012 MOPLA + Smashbox Group Show, Smashbox Studios, Culver City, CA
2012 Statewide Photography Exhibition, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
2012 iSpy: Camera Phone Photography, The Kiernan Gallery, Lexington, VA
2011 Dreams, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
2011 9 photographers, The Lightroom Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2011 Portraits, Adobe Gallery, Castro Valley, CA
2011 The Pints & Pixels Competition, MOPLA, Hollywood, CA
2011 Pixels@OCCCA, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA
2011 Human+Being, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
2011 Annual Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
2010 Dominant Color, The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards
2010 Por(trait) Revealed, RayKo Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Annual Exhibition, Palo Alto Art Center, CA
2010 Gala Exhibition for the 10th Anniversary of the Friends of Hue Foundation, San Jose, CA
2009 Magic in the Mix, Photo Central Gallery, Hayward, CA
2008 Group Book exhibition, ModernBook Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
AWARDS
2018 Top 200, Critical Mass
2018 Director’s Choice, Colorado Photographic Art Center
2016 Honorable mention and Juror’s Selection, Same but Different, NY
2015 Best in Show, The Rights of Summer, NY
2012 Finalist Critical Mass
2012 Honorable Mention, (Un)familiar, APA SF Curator’s Voice Exhibition, Carte Blanche Gallery, San Francisco
2012 Honorable Mention, Altered Images, Prix de la Photographie Paris
2012 Honorable Mention, Statewide Photography Exhibition, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara
2011 Honorable Mention, What happens at night, Terra Bella exhibition
2010 Special Mention of the Jury, Dominant Color, The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards
2010 Third place and Special Mention of the Jury, Palo Alto Weekly Contest
PRINT
2015 Adore Chroma Magazine, January Issue
2013 Aesthetica Magazine, Issue 55 (printed and online feature)
2013 Fraction Yearbook 2012
2012 The Santa Clara Weekly
2011 P1xels publication, OCCCA April Issue
2011 Center for Photographic Art Juried Exhibition Catalog
2010 Palo Alto Weekly
2009 Tri-City Voice Newspaper
2009 Department of Labor, Maine
2008 Newsletter Friends of Hue Foundation
ONLINE
2017 Underexposed Magazine, April
2015 Photo of the Day, Don’t Take Pictures
2015 Lenscratch, Finding Home
2013 Wall Space Gallery Flat File (Of Lights and Shadows)
2013 Wall Space Gallery Flat File (Once Upon A Time)
2012 Fraction Magazine
2012 F Stop Magazine
2012 June, July and August Le Journal de la Photographie
2012 OriginArte, Buenos Aires, April feature
2011 Dead Porcupine Magazine, Italy
2011 Lenscratch Blog August
