About

 

read.cv/_brandon

BIO/CV

Brandon Alvendia, an artist, curator, and educator, actively promotes artist-run initiatives across North America, fostering community-driven exhibitions, events, and publications. As Co-Founder of artLedge, BEN RUSSELL, The Storefront, and Silver Galleon Press, he served as Independent Curators International's Curatorial Research Fellow in 2021, focusing on projects in the Mississippi River Basin. He also spearheaded the revival of the MDW project, expanding its reach across the central Midwest to support a growing ecosystem of hyperlocal art scenes from the region, working together to build lasting coalitions of purposeful, artist-led action.

In addition to his curatorial work, Brandon has extensive teaching experience at institutions including the School of The Art Institute, UIC, and Columbia College, all located in Chicago. Brandon holds degrees from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Additionally, he has participated in programs such as the Copycat Academy in Toronto and the ICI Curatorial Intensive in New Orleans.

 

Brandon Warren Alvendia

b. 1977, Chicago

 

Education

Masters of Fine Arts, University of Illinois at Chicago. 2007

Bachelor of Fine Arts, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2003

 

Awards and recognition

Graham and Heartfield Foundation Research Fellowship, ICI, 2021

Travel Fellowship to Venice Biennale, Independent Curators International, 2015

Twice named Chicago’s Top 50 Artists’ Artists by NewCity, 2012 & 2014

Full sponsorship by The City of Toronto and L’Oreal for The Luminato Festival, 2014

Named Chicago’s “king of conceptual art writing”, Bad At Sports, 2014

Named “Best Artist” by the Chicago Reader, 2011

Propeller Fund, Warhol Foundation (Gallery 400 and threewalls, Chicago), 2010

pFac curatorial research grant, Columbia College Chicago, 2010

ASDF Makes Grant, 2009

UIC Larsen Fellow Recipient, 2005-2006

 

Selected projects

2022

MdW Fair (Curatorial Lead), Chicago and other venues central midwest.

 

2021

(solo) Jungle Boogie 2 : Portrait of the Artist as a Colossal Wreck, Coprosperity, Catskill, NY

 

2020

The Love Bug (Fwd : LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU), Live internet performance series for public intimacies, curated by Abigail Satinsky, Tufts University Art Galleries (SMFA at Tufts), Boston.

OFFICE PARTY 2: Post-Conference Online Mixer, Networking Event, and Zoom Happening (for the 6th COMMONFIELD Convening), Participatory livestream.

The Quarantine Times (w/Public Media Institute), Saturday editor, Online publication and participatory livestream.

 

2019

(solo) Nosebleed Section, Rainbo Club, Chicago, IL

 

2018

Daily Trumpet (organized by Jonathan Horowitz), Instagram project

No Chill, UIC Great Space, Chicago, IL

Forget about Fred Hampton, Co-Prosperity, Chicago, IL

Bail or No?, Nightingale Cinema, Chicago, IL

Up like the sun, down like a pancake (organized by Kelly Lloyd), ICA Baltimore, MD

Heaven is a Place, Heaven Gallery (Curated by Jesse Malmed), Chicago, IL

 

2017

IDLE HANDS, Pilot Projects, Philadelphia, PA

U do U at ACRE, Steuben, WI

168 Hours in Portland, Maine, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME

Dangerous Professors, Triumph, Chicago, IL

Standards Variance, Public Access, Chicago, IL

 

2016

Being There (curated by Von Zweck and Duguid), ADDS DONNA, Chicago, IL

A Rule by Nobody (curated by Third Object), Sector 2337, Chicago, IL

Housewarming, ADDS DONNA, Chicago, IL

Long View / Long Game, College of DuPage Gallery, Glen Ellyn, IL

Unlisted Art Fair (w/ Romero&Satinsky), Icebox at Crane Arts, Philadelphia, PA

PDF Objects (curated by Jason Lazarus and Sean Ward), Mana, Chicago, IL

David Artledge presents artLedge (w/ Caleb Lyons), Roots & Culture, Chicago, IL

 

2015

The Great Good Place, threewalls, Chicago, IL

EDC GTD CAD, MPSTN, Fox River Grove, IL

Inside/Within, Mana Contemporary, Chicago, IL

Talk is Cheap (Romero/Rios/Alvendia) Live to Tape, Links Hall, Chicago, IL

PostScript curated by 7x8 (with Mel Holeng and Thomas Mader), artQ13, Rome, IT

vaportrails, Venice Biennale collateral project, Venice, Italy

Documentia (Curated by Erik Wenzel), SideCar, Hammond, IN

Title Variable (performance), Sector 2337, Chicago, IL

Visitation Rites (Organized by Chris Smith), The Franklin, Chicago, IL

 

2014

The Middle (with Abigail Satinsky), Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE, MAAF, Chicago, IL

Copycat Academy Performance (with Hannah Hurtzig), Toronto, ON

A5, Lubimirov-Easton Uk, (for Athina Art Fair) Athens, Greece

No Brakes, TRUNK SHOW, Chicago, IL

Untitled multi-dimensional lecture (with Rios/Romero), Links Hall, Chicago, IL

 

2013

Theater of Revolt, Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, University of Chicago

Chambres d’Amis, Institute for American Art, Portland, ME

A modest occupation (curated by Abigail Satinsky), Luminary Arts, St.Louis, MO

One and Three Balloons (with Ryan Weber), IIT Chicago-Kent, Chicago, IL

SOFA KING WHAT, Sofa King, Chicago, IL

 

2012

Big Bouquet (with Escape Group), ACRE at the NADA Fair, Miami, FL

America(n) (organized by Lucky Pierre), DEFIBRILLATOR, Chicago, IL

The Makeshift Reader (with threewalls), EXPO Chicago 2012, Chicago, IL

The Anarchist Cookbook Lite (with Jason Lazarus), VersionFest 12, Chicago, IL

The Impossibility of a Hangover in the Mind of Someone Drinking, The Hills Esthetic Center (Ewert/Kaplan/Kloss), Chicago, IL

It’s a Small World (organized by Hennesy Youngman), Family Business, NY

 

2011

Root Cellar CSA, threewalls, Chicago, IL

Thoughts Said Then Forgotten, Mess Hall, Chicago, IL

Friends Forever (The Return of Camp Gay), Monument 2, Chicago, IL

Hang in There (curated by Jason Lazarus), Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago, IL

Brief Histories (curated by Isak Berbic and Faws Kabra) Sharjah, UAE

The Storefront feat. Silver Galleon Press, MDW Fair, Chicago, IL

 

2010

FAIR USE, Glass Curtain Gallery, Columbia College, Chicago, IL

ALPHABETIZATION (curated by Ania Szremski), Noble & Superior, Chicago, IL

Nomadic Studios (with The Stockyard Institute), Depaul Art Museum, Chicago, IL

BASEMENT SHOW (with PARKING SPACE), Country Club Gallery, Chicago, IL

FUTURE SHOCK, Green Lantern Gallery, Chicago, IL

Ornament and Crime (and Crime), ADDS DONNA, Chicago, IL

 

2009

Harvest (with Harold Arts), Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL

Entry Points, Subvision Festival (with i-cabin), Hamburg, Germany

Artist Run Chicago (as artLedge), Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL

NEXT Fair (with Waymaker Gallery), Chicago, IL

DARK FAIR (with Track House), Kolnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany

End of Analog (curated by Eric Fleischauer), R&C, Chicago, IL

 

2008

Lost in Your Eyes (with Paul Pfeiffer), Leroy Neiman Gallery, NY,NY

Ten years at Locust Projects (with JMOCA), Locust Projects, Miami, FL

Eros, c’est la vie, London Biennale (organized by David Medalla), London, UK

The Vanishing Point, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL

Final Reduction Sale (with Old Gold), Milwaukee International, Milwaukee, WI

 

2007

vaportrails in Miami, South Beach 2007, (various locations) Miami, FL

End Times, Lasso gallery at the Butchershop, Chicago, IL

Not for Sale (with i-cabin), Zoo Art Fair, UK

Formfit 2007, The Great Space, Chicago, IL

Spring Break Chicago 2007, artLedge at Roots and Culture CAC, Chicago, IL

UIC Graduate Thesis Exhibition, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL

 

2006

Neo Dolce (curated by Michael Smoler), High Energy Constructs, LA, CA.

Vomitorium w/ Agitprop (organized by Philip von Zweck), 40000, Chicago, IL

Road Trip (with Tony Tasset), Gallery 400, Chicago, IL

artLedge at the Milwaukee International, Milwaukee, WI.

Satellites (with i-cabin), Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, NY, NY

To London, From Chicago, with Love artLedge, i-cabin, UK.

paintings (with Jason Starr and Caleb Lyons), JMOCA, Los Angeles, CA.

small paintings (curated by Katie Geha), Ulrich Museum, Wichita, KS.

Peace Tower, Whitney Museum, NY, NY

High School Style (organized by Yutake Sone), VONZWECK, Chicago, IL

 

2005

Collective Instillation, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE

vaportrails at the 51st Venice Biennale, (various locations) Venice, Italy

BYO-resource, i-cabin, London, UK

Spring Break Chicago 2005, artLedge at the Butcher Shop, Chicago, IL

 

2004

Find Rest, Iron Gate Studios, Austin, TX.

Stray Show (with General Store), Chicago, IL.

Drunk vs. Stoned, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, NY, NY

Video HQ, Gallery HQ, Kansas City, KS

 

2003

Shoebox (organized by Bridge Magazine), 1R gallery, Chicago, IL

Illinois Arts Week Public Video Art, Western Blue Line CTA platform, Chicago, IL

Recreation Ground, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL

Sunday Morning (with Justin Hansch), BFA thesis, SAIC Gallery 2, Chicago, IL

 

2002

the most political show ever!!!, LG Space, SAIC, Chicago,IL.

 

Ongoing projects:

ATLAS DRIFT, 2015-present

ATLAS DRIFT is a nomadic research platform initiated through the Independent Curators International Curatorial Intensive that took place in New Orleans in conjunction with The Prospect 3 Biennial. The platform examines and promotes alternative artist-run networks and DIY production operating at the periphery of contemporary art market centers and maintains a special focus on regional North American cities and beyond.

 

Silver Galleon Press, 2008-present

Silver Galleon Press is an art-publishing house focused on producing and distributing artist books and critical texts. Started as an on-demand press reprinting inexpensive pirated and open source texts, the project has branched out to produce collaborative artists’ books and installations. In addition, the press has worked in a nomadic format creating platforms for generative onsite publishing and gallery installation pieces.

 

Selected Publication History

Filipino-American Artist Directory, Winter 2018

Standards Variance (self-published w/ Greg Ruffing), Spring 2017

Long View/Long Game (Catalog editor), Fall 2016

PHONEBOOK 4 (published by threewalls), Fall 2015

ISSUE 28, Toronto, Fall 2014

The Grand Hotel Abyss, The Economy Magazine, Chicago 2014

Printing Always Printing, CAW & Locust Projects, 2014

Firmament (catalog essay for CARDINAL CROSS, CHICAGO), 2014

The Day I Met Raivo Puusemp, Northwestern University Block Museum, 2014

PETTY THEFT, What’s the T/Bad at Sports, 2013

Wobbly Misconduct (with Josh Reames), CAW and LVL3, 2012

FAIR USE (curatorial statement), Glass Curtain Gallery, 2010

FLAT 4 (with Ben Russell), edited by E.C. Brown, 2010

Hot Mess, Hoffman and Lyons at the Green Lantern
 (catalog essay), 2009

The Only Place is Now, UIC 2006-2008, edited by Dana Carter and Matt Jinks, 2008

 

Lectures/Visiting Artist Invitations

ICI Curator’s Forum Invitational EXPO Chicago, Fall 2018

Loyola University BFA Senior Thesis Seminar, Spring 2018

SAIC Junior Photography Seminar & Contemporary Practices, Spring 2018

SAIC Junior Special Topics Course: Power in the Studio, Fall 2017

Why Make Art Now?, Launch Invitational Residency, Chicago, IL, Summer 2017

Office Hours, Chicago Artist Coalition, Chicago, IL - Winter 2016

Making It (panel), Gallery 400 @ UIC, Chicago, IL - Fall 2016

College of DuPage Visiting Artist Lecture Series – Spring 2016

I Like Your Work hosted by VIA, LA and Inside/Within, Chicago - 2015

Prospect 3, Independent Curators International symposium - 2015

SAIC Curatorial Practices dept. – Fall 2013 & Fall 2014 (produced exhibition)

SAIC Contemporary Practices - 2013 & 2014 (produced exhibition & publications)

SAIC Interlink Visiting Artist Program – 2013 (lecture and MFA studio visits)

SAIC Art History dept., History of Artists’ Books, 2012 (produced publication)

Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago ‘Artist Connect’ series, 2011 (lecture)

SAIC Photo dept. (visiting critic) – 2010 & 2013

 

Retired projects

The Storefront at 2606 N. California, 2010- 2014                  

The Storefront was a multi-purpose non-commercial/non-non-profit institution-as-art project that operates according to the logic of a gift economy. Its mission was to support temporary and/or long-term projects by local cultural producers. Emphasis was given to process-oriented public participatory projects.

 

BEN RUSSELL (with Ben Russell), 2009-2011

Co-curated by artists Brandon Alvendia and Ben Russell. Participating artists were invited to produce and exhibit work that is in accordance with the title/theme of each show. Participating artists included: Paul Chan, Melanie Schiff, Deborah Stratman, Tom Marioni, Michael Snow, Semiconductor among other local and international artists.

 

vaportrails, 2005-2015

A grouping of artworks is transported by airplane in carry-on bag, wallet or similar container. The work is displayed and documented across various international art tourist venues. Objects are created by the curator through instructions or obtained from the artists’ studios and then displayed online for archival purposes.

 

artLedge (with Caleb Lyons), 2004-2007

artLedge was an experimental platform committed to presenting projects created specifically for the unique parameters of the architecture. artLedge has also been hosted by different venues in the United States and Great Britain.

 

Residencies

Guest Program, tag-team studios, Bergen, Norway, Spring 2016

Independent Curators International, Curatorial Intensive, Winter 2015

Copycat Academy (organized by Hannah Hurtzig), Toronto, ON, Summer 2014

Summer Studio Residency, Sullivan Studios, SAIC, Summer 2010

ACRE, Steuben, Wisconsin, Summer 2010

Harold Arts Residency, Chesterhill, Ohio, Summer 2009

InCUBATE CITY resident (as Silver Galleon Press), Chicago, Illinois, Fall 2008

ATC Fall Artist-in-Residence (with Caleb Lyons), Chicago, Illinois, Fall 2006

 

Press

Tinari, Anastasia, Documentia/Side Car, Newcity, March 27, 2015

Foumberg, J., " Most Anticipated Art Exhibitions," Chicago Magazine, Sept., 2015

Staff Selection #27, “Top 50 Artists’ Artists” NewCity, Chicago, Sept. 18, 2014

Named Chicago’s “king of conceptual art writing”, Bad At Sports, 2014

Staff Selection #46, “Top 50 Artists’ Artists” Newcity Chicago, Sept 19, 2012

Stabler, Bert, “Beach Party IV”, Newcity Chicago, Sept. 12, 2011

Stabler, Bert, “Best Artist in Chicago 2011” Chicago Reader, July 2011

Picard, Caroline, “At the Center: Brandon Alvendia, art:21 blog, January 11, 2011

Foumberg, Jason, “Portrait of the Artist as Curator”, NewCity Chicago, Mar 2010

Weinberg, Lauren, “All rights deserved?”, TimeOut Chicago, February 25, 2010

Kirsch, Corinna, “RUSE at BEN RUSSELL gallery”, Chicago Now, July 9, 2009

Waxman, Lori, “Artist-run, laid bare at HPAC”, Chicago Tribune, June 2009

Artner, Alan, “End of Analog” Chicago Tribune, March 2009

MacQuaide, Carrie, “In Living Color” The Daily Northwestern, 2/9/06

Nusser, Madeline, “Spring Break 2005″ Time Out Chicago, April 21, 2005

Hannum, Terence, “Exit Strategies for the Here and Now” http://panel-house.com

Wenzel, Erik, “Groin-Grabbingly Transcendent” Regulator, September 2003

 

Collection

Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago Artist Book Collection, Chicago, IL

Northwestern University Artist Book Collection, Evanston, IL

Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, SAIC, Chicago, IL

College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL

Tag-Team Studios, Bergen, Norway

 

Professional Experience

Juror, Bemis Art Center Residency Program, 2020

Advisory Board, Visiting Artist Programmer, Juror -

ACRE Residency, Chicago, Il & Steuben Wisconsin, 2012-present

Juror, Chicago Artist Book Fair, 2017


Juror - Propeller Fund Grant, Gallery 400 and threewalls, 
2012-2013 award cycle

Advisory Board - threewalls, Chicago 2012-2013

 

Teaching experience

Lecturer, Messy, Complex, Layered, SAIC, Chicago, 2019-2020

LAUNCH Residency Artist Mentor, Chicago Artist Coalition, Summer 2018

Visiting Artist Faculty, Maine College of Art MFA program, 2017-2019

Part-Time Faculty – Foundations, New Genres, & Senior Thesis Seminars

Columbia College Chicago, Illinois
, 2007 – present


Woodworking For Teens Instructor, Evanston Art Center, Spring 2017

Co-Instructor
, Street-Level Youth Media, Chicago, Illinois
, Summer 2007

Part-Time Faculty - Sculpture I,
 University of Illinois at Chicago, 2006/07 and 2011/12

Art Instructor - Grades 6-12
, Josephinum Academy, Chicago, Illinois, 2003 - 2005