USA    Manuel Morquecho    

 

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EDUCATION
2009, courses with photographers Alan Benchoam and Daniel Chauche, Guatemala City.
2010-12, La Fototeca, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
2013-14, Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA), professional digital photography certificate, Washington, D.C.

EXHIBITIONS
2019 (December 4-8), World Wide Art – Artavita, group exhibition, Miami, Florida.
2019 (October 18 – November 30), the Atlanta Photography Group Gallery: “Alan Avery Selects,” group exhibition, Atlanta, Giorgia.
2019 (September 12 – November 6), Atlanta Photography Group’s Airport 2019 group exhibition, Atlanta, Georgia.
2019 (June 4th – 11th), Onishi Gallery, solo exhibition, New York City.
2019 (May 22th – 26th), London Art Biennale, group exhibition, London.
2019 (April 26th – 28th), Leslie-Lohman Space Project, group exhibition, New York City.
2019 (February 15th – 17th), Parallax Art Fair, group exhibition, London.
2018 (August 11th – 19th), Biennale Chianciano Art Museum, Chianciano, Italy.
2018 (July, October), Parallax Art Fair, group exhibition, London.
2018 (July 9th – 20th), Onishi Gallery, group exhibition, New York City.
2018 (June 7th – 29th), group exhibition Pronouns, FxCollaborative architects, New York City.
2018, World Bank art collection exhibition, Washington D.C.
2018 (February 13th- – 24th), Onishi Gallery, winter show group exhibition, New York City.
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, group exhibition, Washington D.C.
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, IPS, group exhibition, Washington D.C.
2018, 2017, World Bank art collection exhibition, Washington D.C.
2017, Artefest, Latinos in Philanthropy, Washington D.C.
2015, New York Foundation for the Arts, group exhibition, New York City.
2014, CDIA, solo exhibition, Washington D.C.
2013, Morquecho art gallery, solo exhibition, Washington, D.C.
2012, Morquecho art gallery, solo exhibition Antigua, Guatemala.
2010, Embassy of Argentina, group exhibition, Guatemala City.

Awards
2nd Prize in Photography, IPS, Washington DC, June 2019.
2nd Prize in Photography, London Art Biennale, May 2019.
3rd Prize, Focus on the Story, Washington DC International Photo Festival, April 2019.
Circle Foundation for the Arts (CFA) Artist of the Year Award and Grant 2018-19, finalist certificate (100 Artists were selected for a finalist award, 863 artists participated in the contest worldwide), January 2019.
Onishi Gallery Solo Exhibition Award (September 2018—selection among 45 artists).
1st Prize Leonardo award for photography at the 2018 Chianciano biennale (11th – 19th August 2018).
The 2017-18 Washington D.C. Government Art & Humanities Fellowship.
The 2016-17 Washington D.C. Government Art & Humanities Fellowship.
Image Transition selected by National Geographic as one of the best for entries to the Gift of Life—your shot (May 2017).
Image Transition selected by Lensculture among the top-rated entries in magnum photography awards 2017.
Image my Memories selected by Lensculture among the top 7 percent of all entries received, portrait awards, 2016.
IPS Photographer of the Year 2015-16.
IPS Rookie of the Year, 2013-14.

Publications
Dialogue through Time—book commemorating the 50th anniversary exhibition of the IPS.

Curator Activities
2014, curator for the IPS exhibition at CDIA, Washington D.C.
2016, curator for the 50th anniversary exhibition of the IPS, Washington D.C.

I am a late-comer to photography or even to the artistic world. However, I always have had a passion for photography even since I was a young boy growing up in a small town in Central Mexico. I worked from a young age in my uncle’s bakery to draw my parents’ attention since I was part of a big family (I had eleven other brothers and sisters). The smell of fresh baked bread that awake my senses and my story and that of my family became unforgettable moments that remained in my mind like pictures, and later on the story behind several of my future images. I decided to leave my parents’ home when I was 18 years old and find ways to support myself, postponing my dream to become a fine art photographer for many years.

I finally had the opportunity to start studying photography in 2009 when I lived in Guatemala and later on in Washington DC at Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts, graduating in 2014. Since then I have not stopped living my passion and continued to make progress in finding the uniqueness of the narrative behind my images. This uniqueness explores “a fine line that teeters on fantasy and reality.” Although I explores different types of photography in black and white and in color, I have focused on staging my images to better capture this fine line—the world as I see it, feel it and imagine it—and let my fantasy wonder around without any “walls.” I even go as far as designing myself the clothing that many of my models wear in my theatrical images.

Fine Art Photography has allowed me to grasp this uniqueness in an instant, without the distortions caused by the passage of time and the changes in feelings, thereby creating timeless portrayals of my imagination and desires. Moreover, even though my Mexican heritage weighs heavily behind my images, they break national boundaries by transporting the viewers to an unidentifiable interior place of great beauty, peace, and reconciliation.

I have had several solo and group exhibitions in Guatemala, Washington DC, New York City, London and Italy. I am a member of the International Photographic Society (IPS) and have received several awards, including the 2018 Leonardo First Prize for Photography and Digital Art, twice the Washington DC Government Art & Humanities Fellowship, and IPS photographer of the year. My works belong to private and public collections in many countries. I have also curated photographic exhibitions, such as IPS’s 50thanniversary (2017), resulting in the publication of the Society’s first photography book entitled Dialogue through Time.

The journey that I started ten years ago will only end when my heartbeats stop. I am convinced that my art will continue to seduce the viewers to the point that they would be able to feel my images, not just see them, by somehow witnessing their own world and fantasies reflected in my images.




 


1. The Change #3, 2020 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 800

2. Burning Reality #3, 2021 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 800

3. Like withered flowers #3, 2019 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 800

4. Shy #3, 2020 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 800


5. Holding My Wings #3, 2015 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 800

6. Trensition #3, 2015 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 800

7. The Empty Chair #3, 2013 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 800

 

8. Waiting For Your Return #3, 2013 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 1000

9. A Hope in Life #3, 2015 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 1000

10. A Place in Heaven #3, 2016 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 1000

11. The End #3, 2018 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 1000

12. Into-The-Darkness, 2018 Photography 14x11 in | 35.5x30 cm., Price US$ 1000