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Oscar Palacio

Professor of Art

close-up black and white headshot of oscar palacio

Oscar Palacio is a Colombian-born, Boston-based photographer who is a Professor of Art in Lesley’s College of Art & Design. He received his MFA in photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 1998 and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Miami in 1992.

His work is included in the permanent collections of the Harvard Art Museums, Yale University Art Gallery, the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Addison Gallery of American Art.

Artist residencies include the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA; and Light Work, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. 

Publications

2021

  • Best, Makeda. "Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography since 1970 Catalog," Harvard Art Museums Press
  • Werner, Thomas. "The Business of Fine Art Photography," Routledge Press

2020

  • Hass, Karen. "Sowing the Seeds, What Will You Remember," May 20

2018

  • Révy, Suzanne. "Contemplating the View, What Will You Remember," October 24

2015

  • Kobasa, Stephen V. "Inventing a Pond, Big Red and Shiny," April 1
  • Lynch, Mark. "deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum: Walden Revisited," Inquiry, WICN Public Radio, January 14

2014

  • Blaustein, Jonathan "This Week in Photography Books: Oscar Palacio," aPhotoEditor, August 29
  • Palacio, Oscar. “Blue Velvet.” The Photographer's Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas. Ed. Jason Fulford and Gregory Halpern. New York, NY: Aperture, p. 262.
  • McQuaid, Cate. "Artists show poetic, playful takes on Thoreau at deCordova," The Boston Globe, December 4
  • Shea, Andrea. "Thoreau's Experiment In Simplicity And Solitude Inspires DeCordova Artists," The ARTery, November 7

2013

  • Palacio, Oscar. "American Places," The Arts at California College of Integral Studies.

2012

  • Palacio, Oscar. "Transitions-Rochester: the Great Yellow Father," Visual Studies Workshop Press.

2011

  • Rafferty, Rebecca. Art Feature-Transitions Rochester, City Newspaper, October 11.
  • Low, Stuart. "Three Galleries Create an Urban Portrait of Rochester," Democrat and Chronicle, August 21
  • Low, Stuart. "Eastman House Marks Civil War Anniversary with Monumental Exhibit," Democrat and Chronicle, Feb 6

2010

  • Feeney, Mark. "In Matters of Their Perspective, Photographers Serve Realities Differently," Boston Globe, August 3

2009

2008

  • Bey, Dawoud. "Are We There Yet? Exhibition Brochure," GASP and Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
  • Artner, Alan G. "Journeying beyond Vacation," Chicago Tribune, August 21.
  • Weinberg, Lauren. "Are We There Yet?", Time Out Chicago, Aug 7-13: Issue 180.
  • Hopkins, Randi. "Naughty by Nature," The Boston Phoenix, July 9.

2007

  • McQuaid, Cate. "Group Shows build on Architecture and Science," The Boston Globe, July 5: E 8 Style.

2006

  • Ford, Rosemary. "Students portray world view in mural,"The Eagle-Tribune, January 20: 12.

2005

  • Sherman, Mary. "Visual Arts: December Highlights," Unfamiliar Territory, 29 November:
  • Howards, Ellen. "Finding Subtleties in the Commonplace," ArtsMedia, November-December: 12-13
  • Millis, Christopher. "Close…and Intimate?", The Boston Phoenix, 29 July–August 4, sec. Arts + Entertainment: 20.

2004

  • Ford, Rosemary. "No Place like Home: Students’ everyday lives inspire photography show," The Eagle-Tribune, December 17: Arts 25.
  • Aletti, Vince. "Voice Choices: ‘Drop Out’," The Village Voice, 11 August.
  • “Goings on about Town”, The New Yorker, 23 August
  • Johnson, Ken. "Art Guide: ‘Drop Out’," The New York Times, 6 August: Weekend.
  • Mullarkey, Maureen. "Gallery Going," The New York Sun, 5 Aug.: Arts and Letters.
  • McQuaid, Cate. "Galleries," The Boston Globe, 1 October: C20 Weekend.
  • Ortiz, Lori. "The Importance of Absence," OffOffOff.com, 4 August:

2003

  • Carroll, Joseph. "Opening the Road," Communication Arts, March – April: 26+.
  • Gaston, Diana. "Gallery Walk: Boston," Art on Paper, April: 70.
  • Horton, C. Sean. "Asphalt: Elias Fine Art," Art New England, February/March: 29.
  • Koslow Miller, Francine. "Focus on: Oscar Palacio," Art on Paper, November/December
  • Schneider Enríquez, Mary. "Oscar Palacio at Elias Fine Art," ArtNexus, December

2003/February 2004

  • Silver, Joanne. "The Edge Picks: Visual Arts", Boston Herald, 19 September: E3
  • Temin, Christine. "Photo Exhibits offer Intimate Glimpses of Life," The Boston Globe, 3 October: D18 Weekend.

2002

  • Brown, Leslie. "PRC Members Exhibition," In the Loupe, July-August.
  • Dassel, Sara. "Photography: Making a Life out Making Art," Art New England, June-July: 10+.
  • Temin, Christine. "Exhibit on Asphalt Offers Surface with a Smile," The Boston Globe, November: C1+.

2001

  • Koslow Miller, Francine. "Reviews: Margins by Oscar Palacio," Elias Fine Art, Tema Celeste, November-December: 84.
  • McQuaid, Cate. "Tender Images of Desire and Rejection: Art of the Ordinary," The Boston Globe, 12 October: D11.
  • Seefelt Lesieutre, Susie. "Exploring Things Mayan and Modern: A History of Latin American Arts at Harvard," DRCLAS News, Winter. Harvard University. 10 January. 2004

1999

  • Bischoff, Dan. "The Look of Originality," Sunday Star-Ledger, 7 February, sec. 4:11+.

1998

  • Aletti, Vince. "What’s Up," The Village Voice, 28 July: 131.

1997

  • Nineteen Ninety-Seven: The Golden Light Awards Winners’ Catalog, The Maine Photographic Workshops

1996

  • “En VII Concurso Comfenalco Premian Fotografias”, El Colombiano, 6 July: 16A.
  • “Fotografia en el Terreno de la Ciudad, la Naturaleza de Oscar Palacio”, El Colombiano, 16 August: 3E
  • Montoya, R. Las Fotografias de Oscar Palacio, Agenda Cultural, Universidad de Antioquia, 9 August.
  • Vergara, Andres. Fotografias de Oscar Palacio, El Mundo, 13 August, sec. Vida: 3.

Exhibitions

2021

  • "Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography since 1970," Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA

2019

  • "Core Faculty Exhibition," Roberts Gallery, Lunder Arts Center, Lesley University, Cambridge MA

2018-19

  • "Contemplating the View: American Landscape Photographs," Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA

2018

  • "Anthropocene," Cleveland Print Room, Cleveland, OH

2017

  • "STARE," curated by Karen Haas, Lane Curator of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston City Hall, Boston, MA

2014-15

  • "Walden, revisited," deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA

2014

  • "Visionary Vistas," Carole Calo Gallery, Stonehill College, Easton, MA

2012

  • "Transitions-Rochester," Fotodok, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • "Brief Monuments: Making and Unmaking Memory," The Orison Project, Essex, CT

2011

  • "80@80," Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
  • "Transitions-Rochester," Visual Studies Workshop and George Eastman House International Museum of Photography & Film, Rochester, NY
  • "Still Here, Contemporary Artists and the Civil War," George Eastman House International Museum of Photography & Film, Rochester, NY
  • "Whose History?" Contemporary Photography of Plymouth, Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, MA

2010

  • "deCordova Museum Biennial," deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
  • "Seeing is Believing," Concord Art Association, Concord, MA

2008

  • "Are We There Yet?," GASP/Gallery Artists Studio Projects, Brookline, MA and Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL (curator: Dawoud Bey)
  • "Dilated Dialogues," Art Up, Pittsburgh, PA

2006

  • "Growing the Addison: Recent Acquisitions," Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
  • "In Focus: 75 Years of Collecting American Photography," Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA

2005

  • "Some Color," Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA

2004

  • "Drop Out," Julie Saul Gallery, New York, NY

2003

  • "Photographing Undomesticated Interiors," Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA
  • "Foundation on Parade 2003," St. Botolph Club Foundation, St. Botolph Club, Boston, MA
  • "2003 HCP Fellowship," Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX

2002

  • "Asphalt," Elias Fine Art, Allston, MA (curator: Joseph Carroll).
  • National Juried Show, juried by Maria Christina Villaseñor, Associate Curator, Guggenheim Museum, LBI Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Newark, NJ
  • PRC Members Exhibition, juried by Diana Gaston, Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA

2001

  • "New Directions ’01," juried by Charlotta Kotik, Curator of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
  • National Prize Show, juried by Maxwell Anderson, Director, Whitney Museum of American Art, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA

2000

  • "Look Back, Look Forward," Elias Fine Art, Allston, MA.
  • "Perspectiva Latina: Latin American Artists from New England," Brush Art Gallery and Studios, Lowell, MA

1999

  • International Juried Show, juried by Lisa Dennison: Deputy Director and Chief Curator Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Newark, NJ

1998

  • "Summer Salon V," Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY
  • "Polter-Zeitgeist: A Survey of Mischievous Art," juried by Ann Wilson Lloyd, Art Editor for Art in America, Cape Museum of Fine Arts, Cape Cod, MA
  • "Photowork ’98," juried by Lisa Dennison, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Barrett House Galleries, Poughkeepsie, NY,

1997

  • "New Directions ‘97," juried by Jennifer Blessing, Associate Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Barrett House Galleries, Poughkeepsie, NY
  • Ernst Haas Awards Exhibition, Jacob Javits Center, New York, NY

1995

  • National Juried Show, juried by Elizabeth Smith, Curator, LA MoCA, Gallery 57, Los Angeles, CA

1992

  • Architecture, School of Architecture Gallery, University of Miami, Miami, FL

Lectures and Panels

2019

  • Guest Artist, American Places, Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies (AFVS) at Harvard University, Cambridge MA, October 28
  • Presenter, Mapping Home, Cold Hollow Sculpture Park, Enosburg Falls, VT, October 12
  • Presenter, Navigating Photography, Professor Susan Ashbrook, Art and Nature course, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA

2017

  • Panelist, Conversation with Robin Kelsey, Dean of Harvard University School of Art and Architecture, Center for American Political Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
  • Conference Presenter, Mapping Home: Global Crises of Place, North American Refugee Health Conference, Toronto, Canada
  • Presenter, American History Revisited, David Odo’s Student Tour Guides Program for Harvard Art Museums, Center for American Political Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
  • Presenter, American Places, Nights at PRC, , Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA
  • Presenter, Symposium of Visual Literacy, Lesley University, MA

2016

  • Artist Talk, American Places, School of Art, College of the Arts, Kent State University, Kent, OH
  • Presenter, Mapping Home: Global Crisis of Place, Professor Arlene Dallalfar, Media and Representation course, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA
  • Presenter, Mapping Home: a Global Crisis of Place, with panelists Nisha Sajnani, Director of Drama Therapy, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, NY; Marjorie Agosín, Poet and Activist, Latin American Studies, Wellesley College, MA; Dr. Richard Mollica, MD, MAR, Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT), Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, MA

2014

  • Presenter, Walking Adventure: Walden Pond, in collaboration with Deb Todd Wheeler, Walden Pond State Reservation, Concord MA
  • Panelist, Digital Imaging and its Relationship to the Arts, Education, and Therapy, Creativity Commons, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA

2012

  • Artist Talk, American Places, Alfred University, Alfred, NY

2011

  • Presenter, Navigating Photography, Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
  • Presenter, Wish You Were Here Lecture, George Eastman House International Museum of Photography & Film, Rochester, NY

2010

  • Presenter, Gallery Talk, deCordova Museum Biennial Exhibition, deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA

2009

  • Panelist, Art21 Season 5, MFA Photography Seminar, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY

2006

  • Presenter, Light Conversation Seminar, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

2004

  • Presenter, Gallery Talk: In-between, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA

2003

  • Presenter, My Favourite Twentieth Century Photograph from the Permanent Collection, Friends of Photography program, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

2000

  • Panelist, Perspectivas Latinas, Bridging Cultures, Brush Art Gallery, Lowell, MA

1999

  • Panelist, Is There Geography in the Art World? Moderator: Dan Elias, Elias Fine Art, Boston, MA

Grants

2021

  • New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) Public Art Learning Fund Grant, Boston, MA

2020

  • Mass Humanities Grant, Centering Latinx Pedagogy in Humanities Classrooms at Lawrence Highschool, Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS), Lesley University, Cambridge, MA

 

Permanent Collections

  • Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA 
  • California College of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA
  • Center for American Political Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
  • Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ
  • Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
  • Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA
  • Maine Photographic Workshops, Rockport, ME
  • Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Boston, MA
  • MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA
  • SEI Investments, Oaks, PA
  • Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
  • Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia

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