Curriculum Vitae
Michael Somoroff
112 Prince Street, New York, N.Y. 10012, tel. 212.226.3933
email:somo2@mac.com
Born 1957, New York City.
Solo Exhibitions
2008
Kunst-Station Sankt Peter Köln, “The Red Sea”, Monumental Wood Sculpture
Kunst-Station Sankt Peter Köln, “Genesis”, Video Animation during Easter Mass
Deborah Colton Gallery Offsite Houston, TX, ”The Absence of the Subject”, Photo and Video Installation
2007
BravinLee Offsite, Chelsea, New York City, USA., “Illumination”, Video Environment Installation
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, USA., “Illumination I”, Monumental Sculpture Installation
2006
Rothko Chapel, Houston, TX, “Illumination I” Monumental Sculpture Installation
Art Fairs
2008 Art Cologne, Galerie Briggite Schenk
2007 Art Miami, Franklin Parrasch Gallery
2007 Art Miami, Westwood Gallery
2007 Art Paris/Abu Dhabi, Galerie Briggite Schenk/Deborah Colton Gallery
Group Exhibitions
2008
IN-SITE, Governor’s Island, NY, USA Members of the Sculptors Guild
2007
VITAMIN W, The Wonder Factor, Newark, NJ, USA.
Yun Bai, Monica Castillo, Rodbey Dickson, Anne Dushanko Dobek,
Fred Fleisher, Shingo Francis, Asha Ganpat, Lynne Dian Gulezian,
Ruth Hardinger, James Jack, Jeremy Kost, David Meanix,
Pablo Orendain, Hermes Payrhuber, Michael Rees, Lereen Rowley, Michael Somoroff, Lyann Sullivan, Carlo Vialu
2005
ARCO, Steven Sacks, Bitsforms Gallery,
Chelsea, New York City, USA.
Michael Joaquin Grey, Lynn Hirshman, Yael Kanarek, Michael Najjar,
Michael Rees, Michael Somoroff
“Touch and Temperature” curated by Michael Rees
Steven Sacks, Bitsforms Gallery, Chelsea, New York City,
Matthew Barney, Lowell Boyers, Mary Ellen Carroll, Peter Dudek,
John Gerrard, Alex Grey, Grahm Guerra, Mara Haseline, Yael Kanarek, Golan Levin, Fabian Marcaccio, Steve Miller, Michael Najjar, Joseph, Nechvatal, Sabina Ott, Casey Reas, Katie Schimert, Makai Smith, Michael Somoroff, Ted T. Stanke, James Stewart, Mary Ann Strandell
“Touch and Temperature” curated by Michael Rees
Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, Texas, in collaboration with Steven Sacks, Bitsforms Gallery, Chelsea, New York City,
Matthew Barney, Lowell Boyers, Mary Ellen Carroll, Peter Dudek, John Gerrard, Alex Grey, Michael Joaquin Grey, Grahm Guerra, Mara Haseltine, Yael Kanarek, Golan Levin, Fabian Marcaccio, Steve Miller, Michael Najjar, Joseph, Nechvatal, Sabina Ott, Casey Reas, Katie Schimert, Makai Smith, Michael Somoroff, Teg T. Stanke, James Stewart, Mary Ann Strandell
Deborah Colton Gallery, in collaboration with Steven Sacks.
“Integrating the Digital Consciousness,” Art Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
Michael Rees, Michael Somoroff, Yael Kanarek & Manfred Mohr
2003
“Consciousness and Process: The Digital in Sculpture, Photography, Animation.”
Michael Rees & Michael Somoroff
Silvermine Guild Art Center, New Canaan, CT, USA.
“Digital Consciousness, Michael Somoroff, Michael Rees” during Art Cologne Dieter Zeibig, K99, Köln, Germany
Steve Sacks, Bitsforms Gallery, Chelsea, New York City, USA.
“The Physics of Spirituality”, Westwood Gallery, Soho, New York City, USA.
John Marc Edwards, Leonid Lamm, Michael Rees, Gary Gissler, Jeffrey Maron, Mary Ann Strandell, Helmut Grill, Komar & Melamid, Michael Somoroff, Doug Henders, David Noonan, Tibor Szenmenyey-Nagy, Ellen Kooi, Peter Rose, Tim White
1996
AICP Group Show
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI, USA.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, USA.
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI, USA.
State Museum of Technique and Design, Warsaw.
Museum of Design and the ARCHA Theatre, Praque.
State Gallery of Art, Sopot, Poland.
1994
AICP Group Show
Los Angeles, County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI, USA.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, USA.
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Ga, USA.
Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI, USA.
State Museum of Technique and Design, Warsaw.
Museum of Design and the ARCHA Theatre, Praque.
State Gallery of Art, Sopot, Poland.
Mucsarnok Palace of Art, Budapest.
1986
Canon Gallery, Vienna.
Frankfurt Kunstverein, “Men Seeing Men”, Frankfurt, Germany.
1985
Photokina, “Modern Color Photography,” curated by Manfred Heiting, Köln, Germany.
Olympus Galerie, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
1984
Olympus Galerie, Hamburg, Germany.
1980
Photokina, “Sixty Years of Photography”, Köln, Germany.
1978
Rizzoli International, New York City.
Saratoga Art Gallery, Saratoga, New York, USA.
Terrain Gallery, 144 Green St., New York City, USA.
New School for Social Research, New York City, USA.
1975
Morris County College, Randolph, New Jersey, USA
Selected Public Collections
Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA.
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA.
Smithsonian Institute, Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
Library, Washington DC, USA.
Museum f. Kunst u. Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany.
ICP-International Center of Photography, New York City, USA.
Commisions
2002 Thomas Ruff, sculpture, “Word”, Düsseldorf, Germany.
1985 Wolkenkratzer Art Journal, cover art.
1979 Spring Mills Corp., Scana-mural installation, New York City, USA.
Selected Corporate Collections
AMB Generali, Aachen, Germany.
Bogner GMBH, Wiernsheim, Germany.
Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt, Germany.
Eastman-Kodak Company, Rochester, NY.
Estee Lauder, New York, NY.
Forbes, New York, NY.
Gruner & Jahr, Hamburg, Germany.
Hakuhodo, Tokyo, Japan.
Hasselblad Corporation, Stockholm, Sweden.
Hearst Publications, New York, NY.
Hugo Boss, Metzingen, Germany.
ITT, White Plains, NY.
Jahreszeiten-Verlag GMBH, Hamburg, Germany.
British American Tobacco, London, England.
Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ.
Joop, Hamburg, Germany.
Konica, Tokyo, Japan.
Meade Paper, El Paso, TX.
Pfizer, New York, NY.
Reemtsma, Hamburg, Germany.
Seagrams, Pernod Ricard, London, UK.
Sony Corporations, Tokyo, Japan.
Spring Mills Corporation, New York, NY.
Swissair, Zürich, Switzerland.
Time-Warner, New York, NY.
Unilever, New York.
Selected Private Collections
Ghada Amir, New York, NY.
Jean-Charles Blais, Paris, France.
Luc Bondy, Berlin, Germany.
Cornelius Bossers, Hamburg, Germany.
Klaus Maria Brandaur, Vienna, Austria.
Brassai Estate, Paris, France.
Cornell Capa, New York, NY.
Jeffrey and Bunnie Dell, East Hampton, NY.
Alan De Perrain, Paris, France.
Doris Dorrie, Munich, Germany.
Christoph Eshenbach, Paris, France.
Andreas Feininger Estate, New York, NY.
Jurgen Flimm, Hamburg, Germany.
Steven Forbes, New York, NY.
Justus Franz, Hamburg, Germany.
Benny Goodman Estate, New York, NY.
Herbert Gronemeyer, Köln, Germany.
Michael Gross, Munich, Germany.
Bettina Hahn, Hamburg, Germany.
Claus Herrhauser Estate, Frankfurt, Germany.
Joachin Holy, Metzingen, Germany.
Horst P. Horst Estate, New York, NY.
Dereck Jarman Estate, London, UK.
Wolfgang Joop, Hamburg, Germany.
Art Mane Estate, New York, NY.
Andre Kertesz Estate, New York, NY.
Yuri Klemenko, Moscow, Russian Republic.
Dr. Frank Klion, New York, NY.
Komar & Malemide, New York, NY.
Manfred Lahnstein, Hamburg, Germany.
Leonid and Ina Lam, New York, NY.
Henri Lartigue Estate, New York, NY.
Suze Lothar, Hamburg, Germany.
Eva Mattes, Hamburg, Germany.
Mary McFadden, New York, NY.
McLaughlin-Gill Estate, New York, NY.
Francis McGlaughlin-Gill, New York, NY.
Duane Michaels, New York, NY.
Henry Nannen, Emden, Germany.
Lowell Nesbitt Estate, New York, NY.
Helmut Newton, Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Ernst Neizvestny, New York, NY.
Paolo Portoghesi, Milano, Italy.
Leonard Raver Estate, New York, NY,
Thomas Ruff, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Munich, Germany.
Doris Runge, Bamberg, Germany.
Michael and Debbie Salzer, New York, NY.
Hiekki Saramonto, Helsinki, Finland.
Heribert Sasse, Berlin, Germany.
Manfred Schell, Köln, Germany.
Peter Schmidt, Hamburg, Germany.
Harriet Selling, Milano, Italy.
Garcia Seville, Barcelona, Spain.
Wolfram Siebeck, Munich, Germany.
Jean-Luop Sief, Paris, France.
Leonid Sokov, New York, NY.
Maja Stalleroyler, Frankfurt, Germany.
Bert Stern, New York, NY.
Ralph Towner, New York, NY.
Tomi Ungerer, South Ireland.
Princess Alexandra Von Hanover, Hannover, Germany.
H.C. Wagner, Hamburg, Germany.
Peter Zadek, Hamburg, Germany.
Dieter Zeibig, Köln, Germany.
Selected Awards, Grants & Honors
2004 Board Member, The Sculptor’s Guild of America
2003 Honorary Committee, Sculpture Center Queens, New York.
2001 Honorary Member of the judging committee Director’s Guild of America Film Festival
1996 AICP Gold Metal, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA.
1994 AICP Gold Metal, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA.
1992 Mobius Award
1991 Canadian Besse Award, 2 Gold Lion Awards, Cannes, France.
1990 2 Gold Lion Awards, Cannes, France.
1988 Shortlist Award, Cannes, France. Gold Lion Award, Cannes, France.
1987 Member of the Director’s Guild of America. Kodak book Prize
1985-1987 Director of Photography for the Schleswig Holstein. Music Festival, Hamburg, Germany.
1981 Nikon Corporation – The Philharmonic Project.
1979 3 Clios. Andy Award of Merit
1978 Creativity Award-CA Magazine
Society of Publication Designers Award
Eastman Kodak Co. - The Philharmonic Project-Grant.
Spring Mills Corporation Installation
1977-1982 N.Y. Art Director’s Club
Selected Public Appearances
2008
Kunst-Station Sankt Peter Köln Lecture: The Red Sea/Revelations, Transformations
2007
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum: Conversation with Michael Somoroff and David Anfam
2006
Jung Center, Houston, Texas, USA. Lecture: Michael Somoroff, Illumination I
2005
The Rothko Chapel, “Michael Somoroff and Michael Rees: Lecture: Imagining The Real”, Houston, Texas, USA.
“Michael Somoroff and Michael Rees in Dialogue”, 92nd St. NY,
MAKOR Program
2004
“The New Paradigm” with Donald Kuspit, State University of New York
Rotonda InterAktiv, “A New Model of Reality, Michael Somoroff Speaks”
Deborah Colton Gallery, in collaboration with Steve Sacks,
“Integrating The Digital Consciousness”, Art Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
Artist Talk, Michael Somoroff, Michael Rees & Manfred Mohr.
2003
“Meet the Artist – Michael Somoroff & Michael Rees”,
Silvermine Arts guild, New Canaan, CT, USA.
2002
3sat Kultur Zeit, Art Cologne
Oct.29, 2003, German National Television
1999
Steve Sacks Presents: Meet the Artist, Michael Rees
Köln City Marketing, Köln, Germany.
1997
A.P.N.Y – Kodak Panel
1995
Symposium: “Media In A Postmodern World”, Hamburg, Düsseldorf,
Frankfurt, Germany.
1994
CNN Television
1979
CNBC Television
Fashion Institute of Technology, guest lecturer – New York City, USA.
ICP-International Center of Photography, NYC, guest lecturer.
Cooper Union, guest speaker – New York City, USA.
Parsons School of Design, guest lecturer – New York City, USA.
Selected Curatorial
2003 “The Physics of Spirituality”, co-curator Westwood Gallery, Soho, New York City, USA.
John Marc Edwards, Leonid Lamm, Michael Rees, Gary Gissler,
Jeffrey Maron, Mary Ann Strandell, Helmut Grill, Komar & Melamid, Michael Somoroff, Doug Henders, David Noonan,
Tibor Szemenyey-Nagy, Ellen Kooi, Peter Rose, Tim White.
Selected Bibliography
BOOKS
2007 Image of the Not-Seen: Search for Understanding, The Rothko Chapel Art Series
Illumination I at the Rothko Chapel by David Anfam and Christopher Rothko
2005 The Rothko Chapel Lectures: Imagining The Real, by Michael Somoroff and Michael Rees, CoCo Foundation
2004 Spiritualism and Mysticism in Recent Jewish Art by Matthew Baigell, Rutgers University Press
“You Should See Yourself” Jewish Identity in Post Modern
2003 Maximalist Interiors, by Encarna castillo, Page One Press-Loft Publications, Barcelona, Spain.
Lofts-Designer and Design, by H.Kliczkowski, Loft Publications, Barcelona Spain.
American Culture, Rutgers University Press.
Abschied von der Realitat, Rowohlt Verlag 1988.
The Children of Europe, Nicolaische Verlag 1988.
Manner sehen Manner, Photographie Verlag 1986.
The Great Color Exibition, Color 50 years. PhotoKina Koln 1986.
Somoroff, Claude Perrain Gallery, Paris 1986.
The Vegetables Series, International Center of Photography 1985.
PERIODICALS
“He’ll Take Manhattan”, Profile, Penthouse Magazine, Sept. 1992.
“Heir Power”, Profile, Penthouse Magazine, Feb. 1991.
“The Last Boss”, Penthouse Magazine, Dec. 1990.
Interview: James Schaefer, Omni Magazine, Dec. 1989.
“Karriere Mit Takt und Stöckchen”, Zeit Magazin, March 1987.
“Dame mit Profile”, Zeit Magazine, June 1986.
“Signalement”, Professional Fotografie, May 1986.
“Der Schwierige”, Zeit Magazine, Feb. 1986.
Interview: Jacques Vallee, Omni Magazine, June 1980.
Cover Wolkenkrazer Art Journal, Dec. 1985.
Interview: Dereck Jarman, Wolkenkratzer Art Journal, Dec. 1985.
1985 Edition Photography Annual, American Photographer, Dec. 1985.
“Das Geschäft Mit Den Kindern”, Zeit Magazin, Nov. 1985.
“Striking Bodies”, Gala Magazine, June 1985.
“Der Frauen”, Stern Magazin, March 1985.
“Vitamine fur die Kunst: Somoroff’s”, VIF-Das Gourmet Journal, Feb.1983.
Interview: Thomas Gold, Omni Magazine, Feb. 1981.
Cover, American Photographer, Dec. 1980.
Interview: Arno Penzias, Omni Magazine, March 1980.
Cover, Art Directions Magazine, Sept. 1979.
Interview: James M. Beggs, Omni Magazine, Sept. 1979.
“Hidden Powers Plays In Conversation”, Psychology Today, May 1979.
“A Piece of New York”, Cue New York Magazine, Jan. 1979.
“Natural Packages”, Omni Magazine, Nov. 1978.
Critical Reviews
Elizabeth Bard, “A 50-Year-Old Upstart Redefines Emerging”, New York Times, June 17, 2007
Elizabeth Bard, “Michael Somoroff”, Contemporary, 2007
Donald Kuspit, “A New Sacred Space: Michael Somoroff’s Illumination I” Per Contra Winter 2006-2007
Donald Kuspit, “Representing Time: Michael Somoroff’s Query”, 2004.
Thomas Ruff, “We Can Simply Look at It”, 2003.
Donald Kuspit, “Michael Somoroff: Photography as Lived Consciousness of Timespace”, 2002.
Lionel Fourneaux, “Photographer’s Known”, 1986.
“Who’s Who in der Fotografie”, Stern Magazin, pg.228, 1985.
Cornell Capa, “Somoroff”, 1985.
Herman Hoeneveld, “Michael Somoroff, New York-Hamburg”, May 1986.
Ben Lifson, “Michael Somoroff”, Popular Photography Magazine, Feb. 1980.
Recent Writings
“Imagining the Real”, 2005.
“Bitforms”, 2004.
“The Instant”, fwd. for catalog “Maripol”, 2004.
“The New Paradigm”, fwd. for catalog “JonMarc Edwards”, 2003.
“Consciousness, Language and the Art of Photography”, 2002.
“The Purpose of Art in a Post Modern World”, 2002.
Education
New School for Social Research, New York City, USA.
Studied with, George Tice, Black and White printing and photography
Apprentice to Ben Rose
Studio Manager Micheal O’Neill
Studio Manager Ben Somoroff