American, born Rochester, NY 1958, lives Chicago/Houston

Education
1987 Stanford University, Stanford, CA, MFA

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2007 Afternoon Hallucinogenic, Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, New York
2006 What the Child Saw, What the Lover Saw, What the Killer Saw, moniquemeloche, Chicago
2005 People Everywhere are Stoned, Mixture Contemporary Art, Houston
2004 People Everywhere are Tired, Modern Culture, New York
2003 Sleeping Beauty, Mixture Contemporary Art, Houston
2002 I Wait For You Every Night, Rice University Media Center, Houston
Swoon, Wall Installation, James Gallery, Houston
2001 Sublime, James Gallery, Houston

Selected Group Exhibitions
2007 Antennae, Houston Center For Photography, Houston
Collage in Chicago, Corbett Vs. Dempsey Gallery, Chicago
2006 In Sight, Recent Additions To The Permanent Collection,
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago,
In This House That I Call Home, Western Project, Los Angeles
Making/Breaking Two-person show with Anni Holm at the Moser Performing Arts Center at
University of St. Francis, Joliet, IL, curated by Matt Wilson and Paul Erschen
Full Frontal, Corbett Vs. Dempsey Gallery, Chicago
GEEP, Oresman Gallery, Smith College, Northampton, MA, curated by Atopia Projects
2005 Kiss Me Long and Hard, Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, New York
Pages, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign I Space Gallery, Chicago
curated by Buzz Spector
Post-Photography, Changing Role-Move Over Gallery, Naples, Italy
Girls of Summer, moniquemeloche, Chicago
No Monument, The Guest Room Project, Chicago
Dating Data, Josee Bienvenu Gallery, New York
2004 GEEP, Cell 77, Edinburgh, Scotland
John Sparagana & Laura Mosquera, Bright Showroom, Merchandise Mart Chicago
curated by Monique Meloche
Editor’s Choice, John Sparagana and Laura Mosquera, moniquemeloche, Chicago
State of Affairs, Savage Art Resources, Portland, OR, curated by Stuart Horodner
Sketchbook: Collaboraction, Chopin Theatre, Chicago
You’re No Photographer, Bad Dog Gallery, DeKalb, IL curated by Geoffrey Smith
2003 re: LAX, DCKT Gallery, New York
Collectible, Northern Illinois University Gallery, Chicago
2002 Pasted On, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago
Re-Action, Jan Weiner Gallery, Kansas City, MO
John Sparagana, Ann Strautberg, Dornith Doherty: FotoFest 2002, James Gallery, Houston
2001 Beefcake/Cheesecake: Sex,Flesh,Money,and Dreams. Orange County Center for Contemporary
Art, Santa Ana, CA
Operating Systems. Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
Collage 2001. Etherington Gallery, Vineyard Haven, MA
2000 Eros. Municipal Exhibition Hall, LaRoque Thimbault, France
Shake the Coat, Northpark University Gallery, Chicago
Teenie Weenie, Lawndale Art Center, Houston
1999 It Looks Easy Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago
Is This a Joke or What? Feminism, Humor and Contemporary Art in Texas, O’Kane Gallery,
University of Houston-Downtown, Houston

Selected Bibliography
2008 Bal, Mieke & John Sparagana. Sleeping Beauty, A One Artist Dictionary University of Chicago
Press. 26 essays by Bal in response to 26 images from Sparagana. Forthcoming.
2007 Mathes, Bettina. Das Kreuz mit dem Kopftuch. Geschichte und Wirkungen eines Symbols,
Aufbau Verlag, discussion of two pieces from the Sleeping Beauty series, Forthcoming.
DeVun, Leah. “Reviews: John Sparagana, ‘What the Child Saw, What the Lover Saw, What the
Killer Saw’.” Glasstire; Texas Visual Art Online
2006 Artner, Alan. “Small Parts, Big Picture.” Chicago Tribune, Nov 3, Art section, p. 29
A.M. “John Sparagana: ‘What the Child Saw, What the Lover Saw, What the Killer Saw’”
flavorpill Chicgao, Issue 112: Midterm Flavor, November 7
Bielstein, Susan. Permissions, A Survival Guide: Blunt Talk about Art as Intellectual Property.
University of Chicago Press, 2006.
2005 Elms, Anthony.”Reviews: Pages” ’Time Out Chicago, November 17-24, p.56.
Hawkins, Margaret. “Girls of Summer About More Than Having Fun” Chicago Sun Times,
July 29, p. 24
A.F. ‘Girls of Summer’, flavorpill Chicago, issue 44 July 19.
Devadanam, Steven. ”Abusing Models: This season’s look is distressed in John Sparagana’s
“People Everywhere Are Stoned”. Houston Press, p. 37, April 7-13
Hinkel, Joanne. “Connecting with Culture: Art Brushes with Human Kind”
Centerstage Chicago, July 22.
Hearne Pardee. ‘People Everywhere are Tired’. AC Institute, #3, Winter, 2005.
2004 Ferrera, Annette. “An Artful Deception: John Sparagana’s states of distress”, Ten by Ten,
Project,vol 3 #2 + cover
Bowie, Chas. ‘State of Affairs’, Portland Mercury, April 22.
French, Christopher. “Sharing Two Distinct Perspectives,” Houston Chronicle, April 3 pp.3D,10D.
Jahn, Jeff. ‘State of Affairs’, NW Drizzle Monthly Arts, Music, and Culture E-Zine, May, 2004
2003 “What Have You Done For Me Lately?” Atopia Projects, Project #1.99 February
“Collecting Remains in Eye of the Beholder,” The Chicago Tribune March 7, 2003.
Hawkins, Margaret. “Collectible”, The Chicago Sun Times, February 7, 2003
2002 “Reviews, Re:Action” New Art Examiner, May
“For Every Action” The Kansas City Star, January 18, 2002,.
“Re:Action” Review Magazine, February, 2002, Kansas City, MO
“Reviews, I Wait For You Every Night” Glasstire: Texas Visual Arts Online, April, 2002

Teaching Experience
1997-Present Rice University, Houston, TX, Associate Professor
1989-1997 Rice University, Houston, TX, Assistant Professor

Lectures, Panels, and Critiques
2005 School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Fiber and Material Studies Department, Slide Lecture and Graduate Critiques
Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Panel: “Plasticitiy and Emergence”
American University, Washington, D.C., Slide Lecture, Graduate Critique

2004 Brown University, Providence, RI, Slide Lecture, Undergraduate Critiques
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX, Slide Lecture
Rice University, Houston, TX, Panel: Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing”

2002 School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Graduate Art History Seminar, Slide Lecture
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO, Slide Lecture, Undergraduate Critiques
Society For Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO, Slide Lecture
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, Slide Lecture, Graduate Critiiques

1998 Glassel School, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX, Guest Critic
University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, Side Lecture, Graduate Critiques
1997 University of Illinois at Chicago, Graduate Review Panel

1996 Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, Slide Lecture, Undergraduate Critiques
Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, NM, Slide Lecture
Bennington College, Bennington, VT, Slide Lecture, Undergraduate Critiques
Rice University School of Architecture, Houston, TX, Slide Lecture

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