The 5 curators who will put together the principal exhibitions of contemporary U.S. photography for the FotoFest represent some of the leading voices in contemporary photographic art today and they will bring a cross-cultural perspective to the Biennial. In addition to the exhibitions produced by FotoFest, the 13th edition of FotoFest Biennial features hundreds of exhibitions at participating spaces across the city. They include every major museum and non-profit art space, galleries, corporate office spaces and dozens of retail and restaurant spaces. In the program: the Meeting Place Portfolio Review, the Fine Print Auction, workshops, forums, talks, film and video.
Wendy Watriss and Fred Baldwin, Founding Directors of FotoFest,
announced the theme, dates and curators for the upcoming and thirteenth FotoFest Biennial, the longest running
and most acclaimed photography biennial in the United States. Five curators are invited to put together the exhibition
program, which focuses on Contemporary U.S. Photography. The upcoming Biennial takes place March 12 through
April 25, 2010 in Houston, Texas. The FotoFest 2010 Biennial will also see the return of its most popular programs: the
Meeting Place Portfolio Review, the FotoFest Fine Print Auction, the FotoFest Workshops, as well as exhibitions, forums,
talks, film and video programs that will encompass the whole city of Houston for a month and a half.
"We think it is the right time to explore the fascinating trends that have emerged in the practice of photography in the
U.S. We expect the works will also reflect the formidable changes and challenges that are engulfing our country," said
Fred Baldwin, FotoFest Chairman and Co-founder. "We believe that the vision of the five curators who will develop the
exhibitions will contribute immensely to this presentation, and we are very much looking forward to collaborating with
them. They are all U.S.-born or based, and represent, or have worked with, major U.S. and international museums."
The five curators who will put together the principal exhibitions of contemporary U.S. photography for the FotoFest 2010
Biennial are CHARLOTTE COTTON, Senior Curator of Photography for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and
Associate Curator EDWARD ROBINSON; NATASHA EGAN, Associate Director and Curator, Museum of Contemporary
Photography, Columbia College, Chicago; GILBERT VICARIO, Curator of the Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa
and former Assistant Curator of Latin American Art and Latino Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston; AARON SCHUMAN,
editor and co-founder of Seesaw, an avant-garde online journal of photography, and an independent curator and critic
with a strong commitment to U.S. photography. Together, they represent some of the leading voices in contemporary
photographic art today and they will bring a cross-cultural perspective to the Biennial.
"This is an exciting process. We expect to see work across the full gamut of art practice," says Wendy Watriss, FotoFest
Artistic Director and Co-founder. "We have invited these curators because of their knowledge and innovative way of looking at art and photography. They think seriously about the relationship between meaning and visual content, which will
be illustrated in the FotoFest 2010 Biennial Exhibitions as well as in our Biennial catalogue and series of forums on
curating."
In addition to the exhibitions produced by FotoFest, The FotoFest 2010 Biennial features hundreds of exhibitions at
participating spaces across the city of Houston. These spaces include every major museum and non-profit art space,
most commercial galleries, corporate office spaces and dozens of retail and restaurant spaces. A full program of the
FotoFest 2010 Biennial exhibitions and all the peripheral exhibitions and programs taking place during the month and a
half-long, citywide event will be released later in the year.
One of the most successful and ground-breaking programs of the FotoFest Biennial is the Meeting Place Portfolio
Review, March 12 – April 1, 2010. The Meeting Place is the largest, most international program of its kind in the world
and presents an unparalleled opportunity for photographic artists to present their work to some of the most important
professionals in the field from around the world — museum curators, gallery owners, magazine editors, representatives
of photography agencies, collectors and publishers.
During the course of the 16-day event, over 150 professionals from the U.S. and 20 other countries will review the work of
500 artists. The event has become a launching pad for many careers. The FotoFest Biennial originated the modern portfolio review and established a format that has been copied and replicated across the world, from China to Brazil, and from
Portland, Oregon to Madrid, Spain.
The Meeting Place offers four sessions of four day reviews and photographers are guaranteed a minimum of four formal
appointments per day in addition to informal reviews. Portfolios need not relate to the general Biennial theme. The Initial
Registration period for the 2010 Meeting Place was June 1 – July 13, 2009, but registrations are still being accepted as
cancellations will take place. A list of
reviewers invited to the 2010 Meeting Place is posted at http://www.fotofest.org/biennial2010/meetingplace/reviewers.htm
and is updated regularly.
Information on Biennial Workshops, Seminars and Symposia, organized by FotoFest, is available at http://www.fotofest.org/biennial2010/seminars.htm. FotoFest 2010 Workshops offer an in-depth experience with online media tools and multimedia programming, applicable to art and editorial work exploring sound, video, animation, hyperlinks and inter-connection to social media networks. Curatorial Dialogues and Symposia will provide an inside look and critique of curating in
the contemporary art world.
About FotoFest
Founded in 1983 and based in Houston, Texas, FotoFest is a non-profit organization promoting photographic arts and
education. FotoFest is recognized for its discovery and presentation of important talent, contemporary and historical,
from around the world, its commitment to presenting important social ideas through the photographic arts, its
groundbreaking exhibitions and its portfolio review program, The International Meeting Place. FotoFest has curated and
commissioned exhibitions of photo-based art from Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. In
addition to year-round art exhibitions and programming, FotoFest’s school-based education program, Literacy Through
Photography, uses photography to stimulate visual literacy, writing and analytical thinking.
The FotoFest Biennial is the first international Biennial of Photography and Photo-related Art in the United States.
Through the FotoFest Biennial and its year-round art programs, FotoFest is known as a platforms for art and ideas,
combining museum-quality art with important social and aesthetic issues. FotoFest curated exhibitions give priority to
the works of important but little-known photographic artists from the U.S. and around the world.
Info: Fotofest International
1113 Vine Street #101 Houston ph 713-223-5522
FotoFest Exhibitions are located at FotoFest Headquarters Gallery and eight other locations in Houston.
General information and exhibit tours for adults and students are available at FotoFest Headquarters Gallery
March 12–April 25, 2010
Press Facilities, Workshops, Curatorial Talks, Biennial Bookstores and Book Signings, Fine Print Auction, International Portfolio Reviews, and Evenings with the Artists take place at The Double-tree Hotel Houston Downtown
March 12–April 1, 2010
For Further information, interviews and visuals, please contact:
Vinod Hopson FotoFest Press 713.223.5522 ext 26, press3@fotofest.org
Opening Friday, March 12
FotoFest Headquarters Gallery
1113 Vine Street, TX 77002 Downtown Houston
ph 713-223-5522 (FF)
FotoFest Headquarters Hotel
The Doubletree Hotel Houston
Downtown 400 Dallas Street, 77002