• MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  
• BFA, SUNY New Paltz
  

In his photo-based work, John Opera combines a deep interest in the visual characteristics of natural and scientific phenomena with a rigorous experimental approach to the techniques and apparatuses that define and produce photographs. Opera frequently revisits antiquated—but far from exhausted—photographic tools and processes, including pinhole imaging, and more recently, cyanotype and anthotype.

He earned his BFA from SUNY New Paltz (1998) and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2005).

Opera’s recent exhibitions include: DOCUMENT (Lisbon), The Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), Transformer Station (Cleveland), Paris Photo (Paris), June Art Fair (Basel), Rhode Island Center for Photography (Providence), Mrs. Gallery (New York), Carriage Trade (New York), Foreland Campus for Contemporary Art (Catskill), and The Burchfield-Penney Art Center (Buffalo).

His work has been the subject of a two-person exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis and is featured in the second volume of MP3, co-published by Aperture and the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago). His work is part of the permanent collections of the DePaul Museum of Art (Chicago), the Burchfield-Penney Art Center (Buffalo), and the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis), among other institutions.

Opera’s work has been reviewed by Artforum, Artforum.com, The New Yorker, Flash Art, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Rail, The Buffalo News, and Chicago Artist Writers, among other publications.

John Opera

Blinds IV, 2014

Chemically altered cyanotype on stretched linen, 48 x 34 inches

• ART 365LAB - Experimental Photography
• ART 470LAB - Photography - An Art Practice