About Ginevra

Baltimore City - Station North A&E District
Ginevra Shay is an artist and curator living and working in Baltimore, Maryland.  Ginevra was the 2019 Mollie Ruprecht Visiting Artist at the University of Vermont and a 2018 Maryland Individual Artist Award Recipient for Photography. Their work has been featured and reviewed online in Artforum and Artnews and in print in Washington Post, GUP Magazine, DeStandaard Belgium, Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore Magazine, and BmoreArt Magazine.

Ginevra exhibits… more

Sweet Broth, A Cure For Those Windows (Pt 1 of 2)

As Ginvera Shay completes a two month Color Darkroom Residency, Full Circle Gallery is excited to host her first solo exhibition. With a deep framework of conceptual objectives, Shay's chromogenic creations utilize experimentation, humor, and fiction to translate her personal experiences. And rather than strict adherence to conventions in color printing practices, Shay pushes her exposures in the darkroom in search of bold, duotone-like palettes. Shay’s photography and studio practice are in many ways inextricable from her site-specific curatorial work, which reflect one another through their investment in fostering an openness of exchange and dismantling passive engagement. Photography and sculpture are employed to depict poetic moments of observation and adaptation. A 2018 Maryland Individual Artist Award Recipient, Shay's recent two-person exhibition "A Big Toe Touches A Green Tomato", with Roxana Azar at Resort, was featured online in Artforum and ARTnews. And in September, Phroom released an interview with shay (read it here!) She has lectured and participated in panels at the Queens Museum, the Oakland Museum, American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, College Art Associate's National Conference, and the Society For Photographic Education National Conference. Ginevra was invited to participate in Yale University Art Gallery’s 2017 intensive on photo book publishing, and was selected to be part of the inaugural 2018 Ardesia Projects photography residency in Daverio, Italy. Her work and publications are in the libraries of Yale University Art Gallery Library, The International Center for Photography, Indie Photobook Library, Houston Center for Photography, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
  • Le Bonheur
    Le Bonheur
    Le Bonheur Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) Diptych 24 x 40” Edition of 3
  • Installation view of "Le Bonheur" and "Sweet Broth, A Cure For Those Windows"
    Installation view of "Le Bonheur" and "Sweet Broth, A Cure For Those Windows"
    Le Bonheur Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) Diptych 24 x 40” Edition of 3 and Sweet Broth, A Cure For Those Windows Silver Gelatin Prints (Printed by the artist) 80 x 128” (32, 20 x 16” Photographs)
  • Ray Johnson
    Ray Johnson
    Ray Johnson Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) 24 x 20” Edition of 3
  • María Tinaut
    María Tinaut
    María Tinaut Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) 19 x 16” Edition of 3
  • Installation view of "Ray Johnson" and "María Tinaut"
    Installation view of "Ray Johnson" and "María Tinaut"
    Ray Johnson Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) 24 x 20” Edition of 3 and María Tinaut Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) 19 x 16” Edition of 3
  • Tarp (Self Portrait)
    Tarp (Self Portrait)
    Tarp (Self Portrait) Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) 24 x 20” Edition of 3
  • Je Tu Il Elle
    Je Tu Il Elle
    Je Tu Il Elle Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) 24 x 20” Edition of 3
  • Installation view of "Tarp (Self Portrait)" and "Je Tu Il Elle"
    Installation view of "Tarp (Self Portrait)" and "Je Tu Il Elle"
    Tarp (Self Portrait) Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) 24 x 20” Edition of 3 and Je Tu Il Elle Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) 24 x 20” Edition of 3
  • Rip, Reclining Nude
    Rip, Reclining Nude
    Rip, Reclining Nude Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) 20 x 16” Edition of 3
  • Red Nude
    Red Nude
    Red Nude Chromogenic Photograph (Printed by the artist) 20 x 16” Edition of 3

We No Longer See It

We No Longer See It

LVL3 Gallery
Chicago, IL
Jan 9th - Feb 7th, 2016

We No Longer See It: a two-person show featuring new works by Dan Rizzo-Orr and Ginevra Shay. Chicago-based Rizzo-Orr explores structures of art history and the translation of painting through his processes. Baltimore-based Shay focuses on material investigation as a way to map modern cityscapes and aesthetic shifts. "We No Longer See It" brings these two artists together to complement the different approaches of casting an understanding upon images that allow history to unravel.

  • Cut, put, place, hold. Move to the side. Wait. Hold Still. Cut. Replace. Tape. Hold. Lights On. Lights off. Wait
    Cut, put, place, hold. Move to the side. Wait. Hold Still. Cut. Replace. Tape. Hold. Lights On. Lights off. Wait
    Cut, put, place, hold. Move to the side. Wait. Hold Still. Cut. Replace. Tape. Hold. Lights On. Lights off. Wait 2016 
Gelatin Silver Print 8.5 ft x 7 ft (Grid of 25 Individual 20 x 16 in photographs)
  • Installation view of "A Smile and A Face" and "Cut, put, place, hold. Move to the side. Wait. Hold Still. Cut. Replace. Tape. Hold. Lights On. Lights off. Wait"
    Installation view of "A Smile and A Face" and "Cut, put, place, hold. Move to the side. Wait. Hold Still. Cut. Replace. Tape. Hold. Lights On. Lights off. Wait"
    A Smile and A Face 2016 
Copper Slag with Polymer, Gelatin Silver Prints with Bleach, and Concrete, on Wood Panel 40 x 34" and Cut, put, place, hold. Move to the side. Wait. Hold Still. Cut. Replace. Tape. Hold. Lights On. Lights off. Wait 
 2016 Silver Gelatin Photograph 8.5 ft x 7 ft (Grid of 25 Individual 20 x 16 in photographs)
  • A Smile and A Face
    A Smile and A Face
    A Smile and A Face 2016 
Copper Slag with Polymer, Gelatin Silver Prints with Bleach, and Concrete, on Wood Panel 40 x 34"
  • Hedge With Holes
    Hedge With Holes
    Hedge with Holes 2016 
Copper Slag with Polymer, Gelatin Silver Prints with Bleach on Found OSB 4 ft x 3 ft x 1 in
  • Installation view of "We No Longer See It"
    Installation view of "We No Longer See It"
    Cut, put, place, hold. Move to the side. Wait. Hold Still. Cut. Replace. Tape. Hold. Lights On. Lights off. Wait 
 2016 
 Silver Gelatin Photograph 8.5 ft x 7 ft (Grid of 25 Individual 20 x 16 in photographs) and Hedge with Holes 2016
 Copper Slag with Polymer, Gelatin Silver Prints with Bleach on Found OSB 4 ft x 3 ft x 1 in *Yellow Sculpture by Dan Rizzo-Orr*
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    we no longer see it20.jpg
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    we no longer see it03 (2).jpg

Raum Bilder

Raum Bilder explores how societies utilizes the proliferation of images in print and media as a means of distraction within a dystopian late-capitalist landscape. I’m interested in the ways re-appropriated images can be used to construct a new visual landscape, one that can critique and challenge the need for distraction through narrative spectacle — though, my dioramas were initially conceived as a means to dissolve the prescribed meaning or use of the photographic image. I’ve been pulling source imagery from advertisements and articles within mass produced publications. Through the dioramas I’ve been able to strip these images of their initial content and focus on their tonal quality, form, and texture — the photograph becoming a paint stroke, or other mark, to build new meaning and purpose within a reimagined landscape.
  • raumbilder_6.jpg
    raumbilder_6.jpg
    2014 24.5x30.5" Archival Inkjet Print
  • raumbilder_5.jpg
    raumbilder_5.jpg
    2014 24.5x30.5" Archival Inkjet Print
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    raumbilder_4_c.jpg
    2014 24.5x30.5" Archival Inkjet Print
  • raumbilder_3.jpg
    raumbilder_3.jpg
    2014 24.5x30.5" Archival Inkjet Print
  • raumbilder_1.jpg
    raumbilder_1.jpg
    2014 24.5x30.5" Archival Inkjet Print
  • raumbilder_2.jpg
    raumbilder_2.jpg
    2014 24.5x30.5" Archival Inkjet Print

Brondelidded

Bronzelidded continues my interests in dismantling the photographic medium and the deconstruction of images. Immediately preceding Bronzelidded, I had spent a year making a series titled Lesser Chains, executed in a black and white darkroom without the use of a camera. It was important for me to abandon the camera for a moment and make photographs with the most minimum of means. After exhausting my set parameters for image making, and finishing the series, I decided to start a new body of work where I used bleach to destroy the remaining photographs from Lesser Chains. These manipulated prints became the Bronzelidded series. It was exciting to make photos that were unfixed, imperfect, and ever-changing.

Created for an exhibition at Yale University Art Gallery and now in their collection.
  • bronzelidded006_j_2.jpg
    bronzelidded006_j_2.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • bronzelidded010_j_web3.jpg
    bronzelidded010_j_web3.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • bronzelidded009_j_web_2.jpg
    bronzelidded009_j_web_2.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • bronzelidded008_j_web_2.jpg
    bronzelidded008_j_web_2.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • bronzelidded007_j_web_2.jpg
    bronzelidded007_j_web_2.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • bronzelidded004_j_2.jpg
    bronzelidded004_j_2.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • bronzelidded002_j_web_2.jpg
    bronzelidded002_j_web_2.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • bronzelidded3_web_2.jpg
    bronzelidded3_web_2.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • bronzelidded005_j_web_2.jpg
    bronzelidded005_j_web_2.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • bronzelidded012_j_web.jpg
    bronzelidded012_j_web.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1

Lesser Chains (pt 1)

Lesser Chains (of Being) stems from my long-standing skepticism regarding photography and its relationship to mass culture. Though I was trained in traditional darkroom methods, and having early on pursued direct, documentary, decisive-moment style image making, I became wary of the ease with which images could be used to manipulate society. I felt a need to rebuild my practice, tossing out anything I deemed inessential. To this end, I temporarily abandoned both the camera and the world external to the darkroom.  Early images from Lesser Chains were as simple and direct of photographic experiences as I could articulate; they are the record of the choreography of my body engaging with the chemistry and space of the darkroom. Slowly, I began to re-incorporate the use of the camera in documenting the world, albeit in a different way. Fragments of architecture began to appear as grounds in some of these prints.
  • stream-dots.jpg
    stream-dots.jpg
    2013 11x14" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • untitled-9_ginevrashay_web.jpg
    untitled-9_ginevrashay_web.jpg
    2013 11x14" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • smoke_ginevrashay.jpg
    smoke_ginevrashay.jpg
    2013 11x14" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • rip_ginevrashay.jpg
    rip_ginevrashay.jpg
    2013 11x14" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • lesserchains_ginevrashay_newspots.jpg
    lesserchains_ginevrashay_newspots.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • lesserchains_ginevrashay_cello.jpg
    lesserchains_ginevrashay_cello.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • lesserchains_ginevra_shay_geo.jpg
    lesserchains_ginevra_shay_geo.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • lesserchains_ginevra_shay_dots.jpg
    lesserchains_ginevra_shay_dots.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • bubbles_ginevrashay.jpg
    bubbles_ginevrashay.jpg
    2013 11x14" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • driedpaint_ginevrashay_web.jpg
    driedpaint_ginevrashay_web.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1

Lesser Chains (pt 2)

Lesser Chains (of Being) stems from my long-standing skepticism regarding photography and its relationship to mass culture. Though I was trained in traditional darkroom methods, and having early on pursued direct, documentary, decisive-moment style image making, I became wary of the ease with which images could be used to manipulate society. I felt a need to rebuild my practice, tossing out anything I deemed inessential. To this end, I temporarily abandoned both the camera and the world external to the darkroom.  Early images from Lesser Chains were as simple and direct of photographic experiences as I could articulate; they are the record of the choreography of my body engaging with the chemistry and space of the darkroom. Slowly, I began to re-incorporate the use of the camera in documenting the world, albeit in a different way. Fragments of architecture began to appear as grounds in some of these prints.
  • os_ginevrashay.jpg
    os_ginevrashay.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • wigglels_ginevrashay.jpg
    wigglels_ginevrashay.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • ss_ginevrashay.jpg
    ss_ginevrashay.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • smilie_ginevrashay.jpg
    smilie_ginevrashay.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • newus_ginevrashay.jpg
    newus_ginevrashay.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • spiral_ginevrashay.jpg
    spiral_ginevrashay.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1
  • balloonanimals_ginevrashay.jpg
    balloonanimals_ginevrashay.jpg
    2014 8x10" Unique Gelatin Silver Print 1/1

Paintings on Found Photographs for Shay/Bouché

Paintings on Found Photographs for a publication created with artist James Bouché. Two separate artists’ books that were conceptualized and printed together by Ginevra Shay and James Bouché. Each book explores non-traditional photographic processes. Ginevra's zine is a series of 16 paintings on found photographs. James' zine is composed of 16 scans of personal objects with talismanic qualities.


Published March 2013
Edition of 100
Two Zines
32 pages total
Risograph Printed
Saddle Stitch Bound
5.5x8"

Available at Printed Matter in NYC

In the following collections:

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Rock Paper Sissors, Oakland, CA
International Center for Photography, New York, NY
Arts & Sciences PROJECTS, New York, NY
Parallel Art Space, in Queens, NY
950 Hart Gallery in Bushwick, NY
Indie Photobook Library, Washington, DC
Houston Center of Photography, Houston, TX
Bethel University Collection of Artist Books & Publications, St. Paul, MN
Little Brown Mushroom Books, St. Paul, MN
Open Space Library, Baltimore, MD
Memorial Library at 17 Cox, Beverly, MA
Salford Zine Library, in Manchester, UK
Work Flow, Brighton, UK
  • shaybouche2.jpg
    shaybouche2.jpg
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    newpainting15_ginevrashay_resize.jpg
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    newpainting10_ginevrashay_resize.jpg
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    newpainting11_ginevrashay_resize.jpg
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    newpainting3_ginevrashay_resize.jpg
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    newpainting16_ginevrashay_resize.jpg
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    newpainting13_ginevrashay_resize.jpg
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    newpainting_ginevrashay_resize.jpg
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    newpainting6_ginevrashay_resize.jpg