Clarissa Bonet is an artist based in Chicago whose work explores issues of the built environment in both a physical and psychological context. She holds an MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago and a BS in Photography from the University of Central Florida.
Bonet’s work has been exhibited at the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Aperture Foundation, Magenta Foundation, and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, among others.
Her work has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, CNN Photo, Chicago Magazine, Harpers Bizarre, Juxtapoz, and The Eye of Photography, and many other publications both nationally and internationally.
Bonet’s photographs are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Southeast Museum of Photography, Haggerty Museum of Art, University Club Chicago, and the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection.
Most recently, she received an Individual Artist Grant and Fellowship Finalist award from the Illinois Arts Council. Her work also won inclusion in “The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today'' at The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Lives/Works: Chicago, Illinois
Gallery Representation
Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
La Galerie Rouge, Paris, France
Education
2012 Master of Fine Arts in Photography, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, IL
2008 Bachelor of Science in Photography, University of Central Florida, Daytona Beach, FL
2006 Associate of Science in Photographic Technology, Daytona State College, Daytona Beach, FL
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Clarissa Bonet: Chasing Light, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL
2019 Urban Constructs, Southeast Museum of Photography, FL
2019 City Space, SFO Museum, San Francisco, CA
2019 City Space, University Club Chicago, Chicago, IL
2017 Urban Constructs, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL
2016 City Space + Stray Light, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL
2014 City Space, Workspace Gallery, Lincoln, NB
2012 City Space, Perspective Gallery, Evanston, IL
2012 City Space, Calumet Gallery, Chicago, IL
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Made in Chicago, La Galerie Rouge, Paris, France
The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today, The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington,
DC, and on national tour
Expo Chicago, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Beyond the Frame, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
Hasselblad Heroine Exhibition, PhotoSCHWEIZ, Zürich, Switzerland
2021 Gallery Artists 2.0, Catherine Edelman Gallery
Study Hall: All We Carry, Pratt College of Art and Design, Utica, NY
2020 What Does Democracy Look Like?, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
Photography & ___________ Multiple artist collaborations, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
2019 The City (And a Few Lonely People), Clamp Art, NYC
AINT-BAD: COLLOBRATIONS, Laney Contemporary Fine Art, GA
Expo Chicago, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL
2018 New Midwest Photography, James Watrous Gallery, Madison WI
Photo London, Catherine Edelman Gallery, London, UK
AIPAD The Photography Show, Catherine Edelman Gallery, New York, NY
2017 Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
New Bauhaus Chicago: Experiment Photography, Bauhaus Archive Museum, Berlin, Germany
Art Miami, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Miami, FL
re:collection, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL
Expo Chicago, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Gallery Artist 2017, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL
2016 AIPAD The Photography Show, Catherine Edelman Gallery, New York, NY
City Beautiful, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Chicago, IL
Expo Chicago, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Beneath Metropolis, Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
2015 PDN's 30, Photoville, New York, NY
Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Ballarat, Australia
PDN's 30, Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, CA
2014 Summer Open, Aperture Foundation, New York, NY
Flash Forward, Magenta Foundation, Flash Forward Festival, Boston, MA
Der Greif , A Process – The exhibition, Augsburg, Germany
2013 Chicago Style, David Weinberg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Flash Forward, Magenta Foundation, Photofusion London, UK
Flash Forward , Neubacher Shor Contemporary, Toronto, CA
Chicago Project V, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, IL
Never a lovely so real, Chicago Loop Alliance, Chicago, IL
Philadelphia Photo Arts Contemporary Photography Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA
City Space, Clarissa Bonet + Umbra Julie Renee Jones, Pictura Gallery, Bloomington, IN
Critical Mass 2012 Exhibition, Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Critical Mass 2012 Exhibition, Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona, FL
Archetype Drift, Johalla Project, Chicago, IL
6th International Open, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
2012 Light, David Weinberg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Kiblind en Grand, Paris, France
Slideluck Potshow, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel
The Curator, PDN Search for outstanding and undiscovered fine art photography, Pier 3 at Brooklyn
Bridge Park, New York, NY
Albert P. Weisman Exhibition, Chicago, IL
Lens 2012, Perspective Gallery, Evanston, IL
Portraits, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
2011 Albert P. Weisman Exhibition, Chicago, IL
Pingyao Photo Festival, Pingyao, China
Departures, The Southeast Museum of Photography exhibition space at the Lyonia Environmental Center, Deltona, Florida
2008 Departures, Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL
Collections
Columbia College Chicago
JP Morgan Chase Collection
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Southeast Museum of Photography
The Haggerty Museum
University Club Chicago
University of Michigan Museum of Art
Grants/Awards/Residencies
2022 Fellowship Finalist, Illinois Arts Council Agency
Individual Artists Grant, Illinois Arts Council Agency
Shortlist Belfast Photo Festival, UK
2021 Finalist in The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Competition, The Smithsonian’s National Portrait
Gallery, Washington, DC
Shortlist Belfast Photo Festival, UK
2020 Chicago Individual Artists Grant, DCASE
2020 Individual Artists Grant, Illinois Arts Council
2018 Chicago Individual Artists Grant, DCASE
2017 Chicago Individual Artists Grant, DCASE
2016 Latitude Chicago, Artist in Residence, January
2015 PDN's 30 New and Emerging Photographers to Watch
2014 Chicago Individual Artists Grant, DCASE
2013 Short List, The Cord prize, Juror Charlotte Cotton and Diana Edkins
2013 Flash Forward Emerging Photographers, Magenta Foundation
2012 Critical Mass top 50
2012 The Curator, PDN Search for outstanding and undiscovered fine art photography
2012 Jurors Choice Award and Members Choice Award, Lens 2012, Perspective Gallery, Evanston IL
2012 Albert P. Weisman Award, Columbia College Chicago
2011 Albert P. Weisman Award, Columbia College Chicago
2009 Follett Fellowship, Graduate Student Scholarship, Columbia College Chicago
2008 Portfolio Award, Southeast Museum of Photography
Visiting Artist
2019 University of Central FL / Daytona State College
2019 Woodlands Academy
2018 Perspective Gallery
2017 Society of Photographic Education Midwest Regional Conference
2017 University of North Texas
2016 Latitude Chicago
2015 University of Dayton
2014 The Pitch Project
2014 Metropolitan Community College
2013 University of Central Florida
2013 Daytona State College