Chicago Alliance of Visual Artists: Featured Artist

It was a great privilage to be CAVA's featured artist for October and November 2023.

FEATURED CAVA ARTIST

XAVIER NUEZ is an acclaimed, award-winning photographer whose unusual, innovative and painterly approach to lighting and photography has created a distinct celebration of all things scary, ugly, or boring. As he says, "You don't need to stand in front of something interesting to be a better photographer."

Thirty years ago, Nuez had an epiphany: by mastering light, he could begin to find all the beauty he knew was hiding in the shadows. His striking and powerful artworks are a culmination of years obsessively dedicated to understanding light and color, and from having a compassion for and sensitivity to those things often unacknowledged and ignored by society. He became determined to elevate overlooked things — the ordinary and boring, the shunned, scary, ugly, and outcast — to take on an unexpected, monumental status.

Nuez's photographs have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries internationally, including the Illinois State Museum in Chicago, IL; the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art in California; the Instituto Cervantes Chicago; the Attleboro Art Museum in Massachusetts; and the San Diego Art Institute. His work is in numerous collections worldwide, including those of the Illinois State Museum; the University of Richmond Museum in Virginia; the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND; the Norfolk Southern Collection; the Vicente Fox Library and Museum in Mexico; and the private collections of Mr. Danny DeVito and Ms. Angela Lansbury. The New York Times has called his Alleys & Ruins photographic series “a masterpiece.”

Xavier’s family is from Spain. He was born in Montreal, and lives in Chicago. He and his wife Nikki manage their Chicago photography studio in the Albany Carroll Arts Building, where they present extensive hands-on "Light Painting" workshops, exploring the photographic techniques Xavier has developed over the years.  In between exhibitions and class sessions, they travel the U.S., presenting his work at many of the nation's best art fairs. Two or three nights a week he can be found at Johnny’s IceHouse playing hockey.

To learn more about Xavier, and to see the schedule of "Light Painting workshops and portfolios of his thematic work, click here to visit his website.

CAVA website