Robert POLIDORI

Born in 1951 in Montreal, Canada
Becomes a citizen of the United States in 2010 Currently lives in Santa Monica, California

Robert Polidori is one of the world’s most acclaimed photographers of human habitats and environments. Creating meticulously detailed, large-format color film photographs, Polidori’s images record a visual citation of both past history and the present times within the confines of a single frame.

Born in Montreal, Polidori moved to the United States as a child. Polidori began his career in avant-garde film, assisting Jonas Mekas at the Anthology Film Archives in New York, an experience that critically shaped his approach to photography. While living in Paris in the early 1980s, he began documenting the restoration of Versailles, and has continued over a 30 year period to photograph the ongoing changes.

Polidori’s additional projects include Havana, Chernobyl, and the aftermath of the flooding post Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. His current work deals with population and urban growth through photographing “dendritic” cities around the world, including Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro and Amman.

Since 2015, Robert Polidori and his family live and work in Ojai, California.

Chronology

1980 - State University of New York, Buffalo, M.A., Film

Publications

2015 - RIO, Steidl, Göttingen
2014 - Chronophagia: Selected Works 1984­2009, Steidl Göttingen 2014 Eye & I, Steidl, Göttingen
2009 - Parcour Muséologique Revisité, 3 Volumes, Steidl Göttingen 2009 Robert Polidori: Fotografias, IMS, Rio de Janeiro
2006 - After the Flood, Steidl, Göttingen
2005 - Robert Polidori’s Metropolis, Steidl Göttingen
2002 - Zones of Exclusion – Pripyat and Chernobyl, Steidl, Göttingen 2004 Havana, Steidl, Göttingen

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2015 -
Robert Polidori, Camera Work, Berlin, Germany
Robert Polidori, Exteriors and Interiors, Galerie Karsten Greve, Köln Robert Polidori, Versailles, Edwynn Houk Gallery, Zurich
2014 -
Robert Polidori, Spuren der Zeit, Museum Bad Arolsen, Bad Arolsen, Germany Versailles, The Memories of Walls, Fontana Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands Robert Polidori, Selected Works, Erie Art Museum, Erie, Pennsylvania
2013 -
Robert Polidori, Versailles, Mary Boone Gallery, New York City, NY Robert Polidori, La Mémoire des Murs, Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris Robert Polidori, Selected Works, Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell, IA Robert Polidori, Secrets de Versailles, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal
2012 -
Robert Polidori, World Inventory, Weinstein Gallery, Minneaolis, MN
Robert Polidori, Retrospective, Galleria Carla Sozzani, 10 Corso Como, Seoul Robert Polidori & Jonas Mekas, Portraits, Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, NY
2011 -
Robert Polidori, Versailles, Galleria Carla Sozzani Milano
Robert Polidori, Ars Memorativa, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Robert Polidori, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2010 -
Robert Polidori, Camera Work, Berlin
Robert Polidori, Versailles, Flowers Gallery, London
Robert Polidori, Versailles, Arthur Rogers Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2009 -
Robert Polidori, Fotografias, Instituto Moreira Salles, São Paulo Robert Polidori, Fotografias, Instituto Moreira Salles, Rio de Janeiro Robert Polidori, Musée d’Art Contemporain, Motreal
2008 -
Robert Polidori, After The Flood, Ogden Museum, New Orleans, LA
Robert Polidori, Camera Work, Berlin
Robert Polidori, Versailles, Etats Transitoires, Flowers Glalery, London
Robert Polidori, Versailles, Etats Transitoires, Nicholas Metiier Gallery, Toronoto Robert Polidori, Versailles, Etats Transitoires, Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, NY Robert Polidori, After the Flood, Aurthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2007 -
Robert Polidori, After The Flood, Jarach Gallery, Venezia
Robert Polidori, After the Flood, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto
2006 -
New Orleans, After the Flood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Fotofrafien, Martin Groius­Bau Museum, Berlin
Robert Polidori, Chernobyl, Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, NY
After The Flood, Flowers East, London
2005 - Robert Polidori, Flowers Central, London Chernobyl, Nocholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto
2004 -
Havana, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
Robert Polidori, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, MN Robert Polidori, Contact, Toronto
2003 - Robert Polidori, Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, NY
2000 - Robert Polidori, Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, NY
1999 -
Robert Polidori, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, MN Robert Polidori, Robert Miller Gallery, Mineapolis, MN Robert Polidori, Gallery One, Toronto
1997 -
Robert Polidori, Institut du Monde Arabe, Aris
Robert Polidori, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY
1991 - Robert Polidori, Galerie Jacques Gordat, Paris
1990 - Robert Polidori, Galerie Urbi et Orbi, Paris
1988 - Robert Polidori, Atelier des Cannettes, Mois de la Photo, Paris
1983 - Robert Polidori, Braathen Fine Arts, New York, NY
1979 - Robert Polidori, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, New York, NY
1975 - Robert Polidori, Whitney Museum of Art­ New Filmmakers Program, New York, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions

2014 -
Acchrochage, Galerie Karsten Greve AG, St. Moritz Kûnstlerräume, Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne / Köln
2013 -
Scale, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
Memory Theatre 2013, Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY Preview 2013, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2012 -
Interieurs: Angela Grauerholz, Lynne Cohen & Robert Polidori, Art 45, Montreal
Group Show, Sundaram Tagore, Gallery, Hong Kong
Beyond Words: Photography in The New Yorker, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing Jonas Mekas / Robert Polidori, Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York City, NY
Past as Prologue, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2011 -
Spectrum: East/ West/ Beyond, Sundaram Tagore Gallery­ Hong Kong, SAR
Celebrating Noma’s Centennial, New Orleans Museum of Art NOMA, New Orleans, LA The Interior World, Danziger Galler, New York City, NY
Fifteen Years, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis MN
Structure, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
Summer 2011, Weinstein Gallery, Minnewapolis, MN
Process, Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York city, NY
Winter 2011, Weistein Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Yangtze­ The Long River, Camera Work, Berlin
2010 -
Bredaphoto 2010, Bredaphoto, International Photo Festival, Breda
Il ventre dell’architetto, Jarach Gallery, Venice
Photography, Flowers Galleries, London
Art of Caring­ A Look at Life Through Photography, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati, OH DIVERSIDADE E AFINIDADES: Universo x reverso, Espaço Cultural Contemporaneo, Brasilia Summer 2010, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
40 Years On: Selection of Works by Artists Affiliated to Flowers Over the Past 40 years, Flowers Galleries, London
2009 -
Stigmata, Musée de l’Elysee, Lausanne
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Alec Soth: Fashion Magazine/ Robert Polidori, Versailles/ Nicholas Africano: Sculpture, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
The Art of Caring: A Look at Life Through Photography, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA Wonderland, McClain Gallery, Houston TX
Trouble in Paradise: Examining the Discord between Nature and Society, Tuscon Museum of Art, Tuscon, AZ
2008 -
The Interior: Contemporary Photographic Views, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, MN Somewhen, Jarach Gallery, Venice
Remembering Dakota, North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND Remembering Dakota, Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, WI
Brasil des Focos, Paços das Artes, São Paulo
2007 -
New Works by Gallery Artists, Flowers Galleries, London
Says the Junk in the Yard, Flowers Galleries, London
Brasil des Focos [o olho de fora], Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
2006 -
The Living is Easy, Flowers Gallery London
New Work, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
Peintres de la vie moderne, Donation, Caisse des Dépôts'
Photograph Collection, Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris The Living is Easy, Flowers Gallery, London
PAPER, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
2005 -
Epilogue, Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
Atomica, Lombard­Freid Projects, New York, NY
Season Preview: New WOrk by Gallery Artists, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
2004 -
De Wereld Deugt, Wijzelf Helaas Wat Minder, de Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam Photography at Colby, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME
2003 - Esther Haase­ Kuba, Camera Work, Berlin
2001 - Grant Selwyn Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA
1999 - Preview IV, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 1998 Weinstein Gallery New York, NY
1997 - Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY
1994 - Conseil General de la Nievre, Nevers
1989 - Chicago Art Institue, Chicago, IL
1982 - Braathen Fine Arts, New York, NY
1981 - P.S.I., Long Island City, New York
1980 - Braathen­Gallozzi Gallery, New York, NY
1978 - International Center of Photography, New York, NY 1975 Bykert Gallery, New York, NY

Awards

1998 - World Press Award for Art
1999 - Alfred Eisenstadt Award for Magazine Photography, Architecture
2000 - Alfred Eisenstadt Award for Magazine Photography, Architecture
1998­ - Staff photographer, New Yorker Magazine
2006­ - Deutscher Fotobuchpreis for After the Flood
2008 - Liliane Bettencourt Prix de la Photographie for Parcours Muséologique Revisité

Collections

Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris Château de Versailles, Versailles Colby College, Waterville, Maine First National City Bank, New York Fondacion La Caixa, Barcelona Grinnell College, Iowa
Instituto Moreira Salles, Brazil
La Caisse des Depôts et Consignations, Paris
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
Musée d’art contemporain, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Museum of Modern Art, New York
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans New York University, New York Princeton University
The Berman Collection, Los Angeles The Centre Pompidou, Paris
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles The Link Group, Chicago
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Santander Bank, New York
UBS
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Yale University, New Haven
See all

Books from Robert POLIDORI