Available through Transmission Gallery
Jeannie O'Connor - AIDS Self Portraits: Positive Art

Congrats to Jeannie O'Connor whose powerful portrait project put a face on the AIDS Crisis at its height in the Bay Area. The San Francisco Public Library added O'Connor's series to their collection in 2018  with a special exhibition on view at the San Francisco Main Library ​October 28th, 2023 - February 29th, 2024

The portraits were taken from 1989 to 1995 under a California Arts Council grant. At the time, there was no known cure and the social impact of an AIDS diagnosis was staggering. O'Connor put each subject in control as their portrait was taken by means of pneumatic bulb, which allowed them to operate the shutter and take agency in the moment. See a preview of the series on view in the Transmission Gallery Showroom and watch for details of the library exhibition coming soon.

More about the project: https://lightroom.adobe.com/shares/7e389eb6351b4b9d988680e688690d70

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Jeannie O'Connor

SECA Award winner, and Bay Area photographer and artist, Jeannie O'Connor explores a wide range of subjects with her camera in notable series of portraits, still life and cityscape.  The photographs may stand as a works on their own, or function as the  foundation for beautiful painterly and sculptural pieces that defy categorization. 

Past Exhibition at Transmission Gallery: Embedded Narratives

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Jeannie O'Connor CV

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

2019  “ A Charterflight into the Past: Berlin Senate Invitation Program , 50 years”,City Museum, 9/11-10/09
​2018  Made in Talavera, Museum of Ceramics Ruiz de Luna, Talavera, Spain 03/15-04/30
2016  4th Biennale of Fine Art Photography, Berlin , October
          Artists in Residence, School of Art, Talavera, Spain;May 26-June 12
2013  Recent Work, Sanskriti Kendra, Delhi, India March 2-22
2008 Affordable Art Fair, Battersea Park, London
2007 Dulwich Art Fair, London, England
2002 First to See the Light, Quay School of Art, Wanganui, New Zealand 1994 Foto Colorate, Il Diaframma Gallery, Milan
1992.  Photoarts, Jeanne O’Connor, Schloss Heidelberg, Germany

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 Jeannie O’Connor, Los Medanos College, April 17-May 17, Pittsburg, CA
2013 “ For the Birds”, 2015, Barbara Anderson Gallery, Berkeley, CA; Nov. 11-Jan. 19
2007 “Salvage”, Caffe Museo, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
2002 India Revisited, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery
           Jeannie O’Connor, Photo Collage, Baldwin Photographic Gallery, Middle Tennessee State University
2000 The Space Between, Michael Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco
1995   Salvage and Image, Bank of AmericaWorld Headquarters, Plaza Gallery, SF
           Michael Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco
           Susan Spiritus Gallery, Costa Mesa 1991 K Kimpton Gallery, San Francisco
1990  Bank of America, Concourse Gallery, San Francisco
1988  New Hand Colored Images, Susan Spiritus Gallery, Newport Beach
1986  Jeannie O’Connor , Susan Spiritus Gallery, Newport Beach

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITS
2019   Beyond Boundaries, Aperture Gallery; Lens Culture Juror’s award, Karen McQuaid, Photographers Gallery, London
            Emeryville Celebration of the Arts
2018   This Place, Berkeley Art Center, 02/03-03/04, Curated by Maria Porges2018 -13 Artmarket, KALA Gallery, May 15-18, Fort Mason, San Francisco
2017   Digital Art?Power of the Pixel, Berkeley Central Passages, Berkeley CA
           Nasty Girl Exhibition, New York, January 7-10
2017-2005 30th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibit, October 7-30, Emeryville, CA
           Family Portraits, Richmond Art Center, Jan 12-March 3, Juror’s Award
2014  Art of the Digital, April 14-May 14, San Francisco City College Art Gallery, SF
           Home:Shelter and Habitat in Contemporary Art, 1/10-3/8, Schneider Museum, Ashland, Or Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, Ca 9/5-11/17
2013   New Media Combinations, Berkeley Art Center, 9/6-11/17
           Peaceable Kingdom: Animals Real and Imagined, Bedford Gallery, March 3-May 19
2012   photola, Susan Spiritus Gallery, January 18-20
           Death is the Destination, August 9-September 21, Welch Galleries, GSU, Atlanta GA
           Digital Mixed Media, Petaluma Arts Center, June 29-September 9th
2011-14  artMRKT San Francisco, Concourse Exhibition Center, May 19-22
2011  Systems of Collecting, KALA Gallery, May 19-July 2, Curator: Lauren Davies
           Art of the Line,Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Feb 10-March 19,
           First Prize Black and White and Shades of Grey, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, May 3-31
           Habitat, Explorations of Home and Shelter in Contemporary Art,
           Bank of Commerce, Lafayette, Feb. 24-May13 , Carrie Lederer /Steve Pon
2010  Fine Art Photography:Beyond Digital, Petaluma Arts Center, Mar13-Ap 25
           Bioneers Conference, Marin Civic Center, San Rafael
2009 Printing on the Cutting Edge, Alameda Museum, Alameda
2008 Quiet Spaces, SFMOMA Artists Gallery, Feb 6-March 14
2008-6 photoLA, January 19-22, 1855 Main Street, Santa Monica
2005 absoluteart gallery, San Marino, California
2003 Color Selections, Susan Spiritus Gallery, Newport Beach
2001  Contemporary Photogravure, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
1998  Material Matters, Gensler Architecture, San Francisco
1996  K Kimpton Gallery, San Francisco
1995  Special Voices, California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa
1993  K Kimpton Gallery
1990  Michael Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco
1989  Chain Reaction, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery
          Painting and Photography, Susan Spiritus Gallery
          Four Directions, Michael Shapiro Gallery, San Francisco
1988 Primary States, Marymount Manhattan College, New York
1985  Alternative Processes, CEPA Gallery, Buffulo, New York
​1984 Color in Summer, Brooklyn Museum of Art
          Open Portfolio, Camerawork Gallery, San Francisco
          Altered Images: Two Approaches, College of Notre Dame Art Gallery, Belmont,
1983  Eight by Ten, Susan Spiritus Gallery, Newport Beach
1982  Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art / SECA Awards in Photography, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
          Phelan Awards in Photography, Camerawork Gallery, San Francisco
1981 LA Municipal Art Gallery , Barnsdall, Newcomers

EDUCATION

1969 M.A. in Painting, University of California, Berkeley
1967 B.A. in Art, University of California, Berkeley

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

2019  Lensculture Juror’s Award in Portrait series, Karen McQuaid, Photogaphers Gallery, London
2018  NEH Purchase Award, James Hormel Center, San Francisco Public Library , Aids Self Portrait Series
           Honorable Mention Awards , International Photography Awards, NY
           Honorable Mention, Julia Margaret Cameron Portrait Series
2016  Artist in Residence, Escuela de Arte de Talavera, Toledo , Spain April 4-May 5
           Family Portraiture, Richmond Art Center, Juror’s Award
2014  Best of ASMP –American Society of Media Photographers
2012  Artist Residency, Sanskriti Foundation, New Delhi, India Feb. 14-March 15
2011  Best in Show, Art of the Line, Feb. 10-March 19, Sebastopol Center for the Arts,
2008 Art in Public Places Purchase Award, City of Emeryville
2002-6 Artist in Schools Grant, Emery Schools, Emeryville
1984-6 Artists in Schools Grant, California Arts Council
1982   SECA Award, ( Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ( Painted film)
            Phelan Award in Photography, Camerawork Gallery, San Francisco ( painted film) 1979-82 Artists in Communities Grant, California Arts Council
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PUBLIC ART

2015 Courtyard Installation, Higby Apartment Building, Berkeley , CA
2013 Lifelong Medical Care, West Berkeley Health Center
2009-10 Berkeley Art Commission , Berkeley City Hall
2006 Kathak Dancers, Art Along the Avenue Program, Emeryville Public Art 2004 Alameda County Photography Survey: Highland Hospital Campus, Oakland

PUBLICATIONS

2020 Tricycle Magazine, 2/2020
2019 Bruce Aidells, Tyson foods website
2016 Telemundo , José Luis Orozco :Grammy Awards ( television)
Red Artenet, Spain
2014-15 Photo District News ( PDN) , Education issue , Fall 2014, May 2015 2013 A Lyric Architecture : New Classicists, Published by Images
ZYZZVA, Spring Issue Inquiring Mind Fall issue Tricycle Magazine, Winter issue
2012 aktuell Magazine, May 2012, Berlin, Germany
2011 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Seca Award Anniversary Catalog
KQED Arts Ready,Set,Collect:Systems of Collecting at KALA Art Institute, June
Collective Wisdom at KALA Gallery , East Bay Express, de Witt Cheng, June 2010 aktuell Magazine, November 2010, Berlin, Germany
Bayern 2 Public Radio website, 05-08 September 2010
San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday October 24, 2010
2009 American Bungalow magazine, No. 61, “ Learning from Greene and Greene” 2008 San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine: The House That Sausage Built 2000 Hue Magazine, June 2000, Guild.com
1999 Untitled, Friends of Photography
1998 Video: Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic, KQED T.V.
1995 Special Voices at the California Museum of Art, The Press Democrat, June 30
Language of Light, The Sonoma County Independent, July 13 1994 Foto Colorate al Diaframma, Il Observatore, Milan, October 8
Il Diaframma –Kodak, Tuttomilano & Lombardia, Republica
Video: Reconstructed Reality, The Art of Jeannie O’Connor, IV Studios 1992 Photo Art Heidelberg, Rhein-Nekar-Feitung, Sept. 11
International Arts Festival, City Journal, Mannheim-Karlsruhe, Sept. 2 1988 Black and White Leave Room for Color, Los Angeles Times, June 3 1986 The Ordinary Transformed, Artweek, Feb. 2, 1986
1984 Painting and Photography, Camerawork Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 1
King of the Streets, California Living , San Francisco Chronicle, June 24 1983 Color from the Heart , Darkroom Magazine, July, 1983
1982 SECA Awards, Artweek, Aug. 16
1981 Newcomers at Barnsdall, Los Angelos Times, Sept. 13
1980 Opening New Vistas, Oakland Tribune, March 9
1979 Photography, Artweek, August 25
1978 To Make a Difference, Ginn and Company
Sexual Imagery, Manipulated Prints, Artweek, March 4 1974 Untitled 7/8, Friends of Photography, Carmel
“ Never Give Up “, Film by Ann Hershey
“ On the Arts: Imogen Cunningham “, Ms. Magazine, April 1973 Working Women, KQED T.V., April 10
Phelan Awards Exhibit at the Oakland Museum, Artweek, April 17
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SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Bancroft Library Photography Archive, U.C. Berkeley Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris
San Francisco Public Library Archive, San Francisco Brooklyn Museum of Art
Center for Creative Photography, Tucson
Bank of America Headquarters, San Francisco
University of California, Mt. Zion
Stanford Medical Center, Palo Alto
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Clinics
Highland Hospital
Jay Geller
e bay
Tom Steyer
Michael Ton, Hong Kong
Stranahan Collection
Baldwin Photographic Gallery, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro Chris Columbus
David and Lucille Packard Foundation
Rubin Family Collection
Armstrong Steel
Morton and Amy Friedkin
David and Lucille Packard Foundation
Jill Hersh , John Keker, Susie Thompkins, Bruce Aidells
Armstrong Steel
Sigmund and Ellie Mae Anderman
Donald and Raine Rude
Dreyers and Edy’s Grand Ice Cream
Ellington Building, Jack London Square, Oakland