Bartender by Summer HS winner Jonathan Gitelson

Jonathan Gitelson
Currently residing in Chicago, IL

website: http://www.thegit.net

Work Statement
I started taking pictures in 1996 while studying literature at Marlboro College in VT. I have since gone on to complete my M.F.A. at Columbia College in Chicago.

My work consists of a variety of projects which focus on the minutiae of everyday life. I work in a variety of media ranging from photographs to artist's books to videos to web based pieces.

Four people who have recently inspired me are Sophie Calle, Michel Gondry, Miranda July and Tom Friedman.

The photographs that I am submitting are from my artist's book entitled, "Dream Job." I scanned the local want ads and then digitally inserted my dream jobs (one per page). The accompanying photographs are meant to represent the person who would answer the imagined ad.

Prints from this series have been acquired by The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Milwaukee Art Museum and the Lasalle Bank collection.

Bio
I was born (1975) and raised in Mount Kisco, NY. I attended college at Marlboro College in Vermont where I majored in Literature and Photography (1997). Following college, I moved to Guatemala where I taught photography and later moved on to live in Boston and Philadelphia before moving to Chicago in 2001.

I received my M.F.A. from Columbia College in 2004 and have since worked as an adjunct professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College and The University of Illinois Chicago.

Since graduating in 2004, I have regularly exhibited throughout the US, Canada and Europe. I have also had work acquired by numerous institutions (most recently The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago) and have published my work regularly (most recently in the Spring issue of Camera Austria).

I am also currently working on a public art commission for the Chicago Transit Authority which will result in a 10' x 45' permanent glass and mosaic mural in the Armitage Brown Line subway station.