Adrienne Defendi

Education

MFA, San José State University

Ph.D, Yale University

BA, New York University

Residencies / Commission / Curation

Curation, Unmoored, Chung 24 Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2025

Lucid Art Foundation-Three-Week Artist in Residence- Inverness, CA 2024

Artist residency, Cubberley Artist Studio Program (CASP), Palo Alto, CA 2023-2027

Curation, Our Mothers Ourselves: Legacies That Shape Us, Harvey Milk Photo Center, San Francisco, CA 2023

Residency/Commission, Art About Big Basin Redwoods State Park, CA 2023

Exhibitions

2025 31st Annual Members Exhibition, The Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA. See exhibition here.
Divergent Visions: Alternative Photo Practices, M.K. Contemporary Art Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
Forest Unseen, Petaluma Art Center, Petaluma, CA

2025 Members' Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA. See exhibition here.

2024 The 22nd Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Barcelona, Spain, 2024-2025

Among The Trees, Gray Loft Gallery, Oakland, CA

Center for Photographic Arts, 8 x 10 exhibition, Carmel, CA

Vision(ary) | Portraits of Cultures, Communities, and Environments, Griffin Museum of Photography & the Winchester Waterfield Summer Arts

Festival, Winchester, MA

Expand and Contract: Photography and Mixed Media, Honorable Mention, Los Angeles Center of Photography (LACH), Los Angeles, CA

see the online exhibit here

Krappy Kamera Competition, SOHO Photo Gallery, NYC

2023 The de Young Open 2023, de Young Musuem, San Francisco, CA

A Certain Slant of Light: Adrienne Defendi & Anna Rotty, curated by Arielle Rebek, Chung 24 Gallery, San Francisco, CA

To view art works, installation images and a recording of the Artists' Talk, click here.

International Juried Exhibition, Shana Lopes, juror, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA (online exhibit)

Our Mothers, Ourselves, curators, Adrienne Defendi & Ellen Konar, Harvey Milk Photo Center, San Francisco, CA

Texas Photographic Society's 35th Annual Members' Only Show, Keith Carter, juror, Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, Texas

See images on exhibit here)

2022 Unbound Trace - solo exhibition - Black Gallery, San José State Universtiy, San Jose, CA

RESTART, Patricia Hickson, juror, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA

Krappy Kamera International Competition, Debra Clomp Ching, juror, SOHO Gallery, NY, NY. See images on exhibit here.

Under the Sun and the Moon, Roula Seikaly and Jon Feinstein, curators, Humble Arts Foundation Group Show 70 (see the online exhibit)

2021 2021 International Juried Exhibition (online exhibition), Debra Klomp Ching and Darren Ching, jurors, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA

New Kinships: Community Dialogues and Interdisciplinary Connections, Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery, San José SU, San José, CA

Murphy & Cadogan Contemporary Arts Award Exhibition, SOMARts, San Francisco. For a virtual tour of the exhibit, click here.

Krappy Kamera 2021, Soho Photo Gallery, NYC (online), Ann Jastrab, juror. The diptych Set Free received Third Place.

Diptych, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX. The photograph The Gardens of Nothingness received the Director's Honorable Mention.

"Noir", Analog Forever (online exhibit), Blue Mitchell, juror. Click here to view the online gallery

2020 6th Annual Group Exhibit, Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY (online exhibit and catalog)

Horizons, Analog Forever (Horizons online exhibit)

Water, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX. The photograph Haiku I received the Director's Honorable Mention.

2019 Somerville Toy Camera Festival, Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, MA

Summertime, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX

In Your Mother Tongue: A Word and Image Dialogue, Griffin Gallery in the Lafayette City Center

Passageway Boston Downtown Crossing, Boston, MA

Dive In, Don't Take Pictures Magazine (online exhibit)

stARTup Art Fair, San Francisco, CA

KG + KYOTOGRAPHIE - Internationl Photography Festival, Kyoto, Japan

Holga Out of the Box International Competition,TCC PHOTO/SCULPTURE Gallery, Dallas, TX

Abstract Mind, CICA Museum, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Something Blue . . . , Gray Loft Gallery, Oakland, CA

2018 Of Dreams and Reality, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
Somerville Toy Camera Festival, Washing Street Art Gallery, Somerville, MA

Quién? Qué? Dónde? Griffin Gallery in the Lafayette City Center Passageway Boston Downtown Crossing, Boston, MA
Silicon Valley Plastic Camera Show, Santa Clara University Gallery, Santa Clara, CA

Significant Colour, PH1 Contemporary Photography Gallery, Budapest, Hungary

Tree Talk, Griffin Gallery in the Lafayette City Center Passageway Boston Downtown Crossing, Boston, MA
AnthropoScene, ARC Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2017 Dwelling in Possibility, Photolab Gallery, Berkeley, CA - Solo Show

Is Photography Enough? SPE, Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro, VT

Portraits without Faces, PH1 Contemporary Photography Gallery, Budapest, Hungary

Holga Out of the Box International Competition,TCC PHOTO/SCULPTURE Gallery, Dallas, TX - Best of Show

Light Leaked: Travel & Discovery, online exhibit juried by Ashley Kauschinger

Plastic Fantastic Show VIII, Lightbox Photographic Gallery, Astoria, OR

TPS 26: The International Competition, Stark Galleries College Station, TX

Don't Smile: The Female Gaze: Portraits, online exhibit juried by Ashley Kauschinger

RayKo's 10th International Juried Plastic Camera Show, RayKo Photo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2016 Holga Out of the Box International Competition,TCC PHOTO/SCULPTURE Gallery, Dallas, TX
Plastic Fantastic Show VII, LightBox Photographic Gallery, Astoria, OR.

Pinhole Show, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX. Juror's Prize.

RayKo's 9th International Juried Plastic Camera Show, RayKo Photo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Fishing for Iconography 2, Public Art Exhibit in Johnson City, TX

RayKo's 9th International Juried Plastic Camera Show, RayKo Photo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Plates to Pixels: Intimate Alchemy

2015 Contemporary Photography Exhibition, Czong Contemporary Art Institute (CICA), Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

Luminous: Light and Space, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR
Holga Out of the Box International Competition, TCC Photo Gallery, Longview, TX

Angles, Lines and Curves, Filoli Gallery, Woodside, CA

RayKo's 8th International Plastic Camera Show, RayKo Photo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2014 Upon Reflection, PHOTO, Oakland, CA.

The Plastic Fantastic Show V, LightBox Photographic Gallery, Astoria, OR

Shadow & Light, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR

RayKo's 7th International Plastic Camera Show, RayKo Photo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Affinities: A Collaboration (five photographers), AWE Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2013 Luminous Light: Radiant and Sublime, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR

Holga Out of the Box International Competition, TCC Photo Gallery, Longview, TX

Reconsidering the Horizon, PHOTO, Oakland, CA

RayKo's 6th International Plastic Camera Show, RayKo Photo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Krappy Kamera XV: International Competition, SOHO Photo, New York, NY

Center for Photographic Art Exhibition, Carmel, CA

Gallery Artists Exhibit: A Selection of Favorites, PHOTO, Oakland, CA

2012 Holga Out of the Box Inernational Competition, TCC Photo Gallery, Longview, TX
Bodily Awareness , PHOTO Gallery, Oakland, CA
Black & White: A Picture Show, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR
WaterWorks , Arc Gallery & Studios, San Francisco, CA

Accident, PHOTO Oakland, CA

Triton Museum of Art's 2012 Statewide Photography Competition, Santa Clara, CA

Texas Photographic Society's Annual Juried Members Only Show, Odessa, TX

Center for Photographic Art Juried Exhibition, Carmel, CA

2011 Three Artists Exhibit, SFMOMA Artists Gallery at Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA

Timescapes, Collaborate Art Gallery, Oakland, CA

Small Works, Photomedia Center’s Juried Member Show, Glass Growers Gallery, Erie, PA

AMERICA, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX

Plastic Fantastic II Toy Camera Show, LightBox Photographic Gallery, Astoria, OR
Krappy Kamera XIII: International Juried Competition, SOHO Photo, New York, NY

RayKo's 4th International Plastic Camera Show, RayKo Photo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

BAPC: Cultivating Photography, Arc Studios & Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2010 Holiday Salon Show, PHOTO Fine Art Photography Gallery, Oakland, CA

The HOLGA Show 2010, SAANS Downtown Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT

The Lensless Image, Castell Photography Gallery, Asheville, NC

Nostalgia: A Juried Photography Exhibit, Vermont PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT

RayKo's 3rd Annual Pinhole Camera Show, RayKo Photo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Krappy Kamera XII: International Juried Competition, SOHO Photo, New York, NY

SMaLL, Cordon|Potts Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2009 Home for the Holidays, Corden|Potts Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Photomedia Center’s 2009 Open Juried Exhibition, Bruce Gallery, Edinboro, PA

National Juried Plastic Camera Exhibition, RayKo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

TPS's 23rd Annual Members' Only Show, Dishman Art Museum, Beaumont, TX
ARTSoup 18, ArtworkSF group show, Bayshore Studios, San Francisco, CA

2008 The Way I See it, Norton Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

Photomedia Center's 2008 Open Juried Exhibition (online exhibit)

A Place Called America, Tomate Cafe, Berkeley, CA – solo exhibit

In My Backyard, Media Center, Palo Alto, CA – solo exhibit

Annual Juried Pinhole Photography Show, RayKo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Whimsy, RayKo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

10th Annual Krappy Camera Competition, SOHO Photo, New York, NY

It's Photography III, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA

National Plastic Camera Exhibition, RayKo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2007 Photomedia Center's 2007 Open Exhibition (online exhibit)

In Egypt and Below the Dumbarton Bridge: Two series on exhibit, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, San Mateo, CA

Captured Light, Norton Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

In the Garden, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA

Nature Made & Man Made, Synopsys, Inc., Mountain View, CA

Below the Dumbarton Bridge, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, San Mateo, CA

2006 Holga Show, Photomedia, Erie, PA

Landscape Revisited, Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, CA

The Remembrance series, Crane Place, Menlo Park, CA

The Northwest Eye, Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, CA

Captured Light, Norton Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

Size Matters, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, Ill

Spectrum 21: Bay Area Photographers, Modernbook Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

2005 2nd Biennial International Juried Exhibition. San Francisco, CA

Annual Art Competition, South Arkansas Arts Center, El Dorado, AR

14th Annual Palo Alto Weekly Photo Contest, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA

2004 Intuition. . . and the Photographer’s Landscape, Fusion Artspace, San Francisco, CA

The Northwest Eye, Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, CA

Krappy Kamera 6: National Krappy Kamera Competition, SOHO Photo, NY, NY

2003 The Northwest Eye, Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, CA

Traditions: The Blessing & The Curse, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, Ill

Landscape: Real or Imagined, Focus Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Publications & Press

Art & Artists, Alternative Photography, Edition 2, 2025

Vision(ary) | Portraits of Cultures, Communities, and Environments: Interview with the artist on her series Canopy Constellations (June 2024. Read the interview here.

The Hand: The Magazine for Reproduction-based Art, Issue 45 (August 2024); Issue 37 (August 2022); Issue 36 (May 2022)

Featured sale on Your Daily Photograph, April 14, 2020

HUQ: I Seek No Favor, created and conceived by Ashima Yadava, 1/22/2023

Trilogies LensWork Publishing, Anacortes, WA, 2022

On Death (Kris Graves Projects, LLC), 2019. On the Times Magazine Best 30 Photobooks 2019, you can view and purchase it here.

Don't Smile (Year Two: April 2017 - March 2018), 2018

Featured sale on "Nature Only," Your Daily Photograph, March 28, 2018
Relinquish portfolio featured on Lenscratch, August 10, 2017

Don't Take Pictures, “Photolucida 2017,” Kat Kiernan, May 3, 2017

Don't Smile: “The Female Gaze: Portraits,” 2017

All About Photo: RayKo 10th Annual Plastic Camera Show Award Winners, by Ann Jastrab, 2017

LensWork (no. 127 November-December), 2016

Featured sale on Your Daily Photograph, October 3, 2016

Seeing in SIXES, LensWork Publishing, Anacortes, WA, 2016

Don’t Take Pictures: Photo of the Day, February 29, 2016

Shots: Dreams (Number 127), 2015

Insight: Contemporary Image Making, Volume 7, Photomedia Center, 2014

The Holga Darkroom, "Adrienne Defendi: An Interview," by HolgaJen, June 26, 2014

PLAY! A Book Publication for Toys for Tots, Jody Shipka and Nic Nichols, editors, 2011

The Language of Light by novelist Meg Waite Clayton (paperback reissue, photo in Epilogue, summer 2011)

SFMOMA Magazine Blog, January 18, 2011

Shots: Children (Number 109), 2010

"Artists Pursue Their Creative Interests in the By Area Photographers Collective," The Daily Californian, Online, Sara Hayden, September 28, 2009

"Bruce Gallery's Latest Show Is Picture Perfect," The Spectator, September 17, 2009

High Quality, Lo-fi Photography, 2009

Light Leaks: Childhood (Issue 14), 2009

Light Leaks: Evidence (Issue 12), 2009

"SAANS Holga Show," Deseret News, Utah, Sunday, November 16, 2008

B&W Single Image Awards Annual, 2005

Yale Italian Poetry VIII, 2004-2005: thirteen images from the Remembrance series

"Location, Location, Location: Intuition and the Photographer's Landscape," John Baumann, Performers'/Artists' Voice #2, 2004

Awards + Honors

2024 Honorable Mention, Expand and Contract: Photography and Mixed Media, Los Angeles Center of Photography (LACH), Los Angeles, CA

2023 Artist Residency, Cubberley Artist Studio Program (CASP), 2023-2027, Palo Alto, CA

2021 Murphy & Cadogan Contemporary Arts Award

2021 Third Place, Krappy Kamera, Soho Photo Gallery, New York, NY

2021 Director's Honorable Mention Award, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX

2020 Director's Honorable Mention Award, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX

2017 Best of Show, Holga Out of the Box International Competition, TC Photo Gallery, Dallas, TX
2016 Juror’s Prize, Pinhole, A Smith Gallery, Johnson City, TX

2015 Critical Mass Finalist
2015 Honorable Mention, Holga Out of the Box, Longview, TX

2010 Honorable Mention, The HOLGA Show 2010, SAANS Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
2008 Best in Show, RayKo National Plastic Camera Show, San Francisco, CA

2008 Honorable Mention, It's Photography III, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA
2008 First Prize, The Way I See It, Norton Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
2006 Best in Show in Black & White, Photomedia Center, Erie, PA
2006 Honorable Mention, Captured Light, Norton Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

2005 Honorable Mention, Palo Alto Weekly Photo Contest, Palo Alto Art Center, CA
2005 Black & White Single Image Awards
2003 Juror’s Choice Award, The Northwest Eye, Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, CA

Collections

California State Parks

CICA Museum, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

Photomedia Center, Erie, PA

Private Collections

Representation

Chung 24 Gallery, Salon artist

Central & Grand Collection

SFMOMA Artists Gallery (2010- 2021)