About
photo by: Liza François
Artist bio:
Simone Fischer-Rios (b.1991, Portland, OR) is a multidisciplinary visual artist who specializes in documentary photography, alt printmaking, archives, installation, and sculpture. She earned a BS in gender studies & philosophy at Portland State University in 2013, and an MFA in Visual Studies at Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2020. Simone now lives and makes art in Fort Worth, Texas as an artist and serves as the gallery manager of contemporary art gallery Artspace111.
Artist Statement:
Simone photographs and prints as a source of repetitive visual storytelling. Her work asks aesthetic questions about memory as landscape and obsession through motifs of western glamour, bad lighting and street photography. Simone explores Minor White’s ideas on the photo “equivalent”, emotive abstraction, and photo materiality. Conceptually using steel, photography, and other ubiquitous materials of industry to coalesce internalized ideas about identity, time, and social disorder. Simone likes to translate being a girl through traditionally "masculine" mediums like photography and steel/metal work. Through these embedded tensions, she finds a way to visually present her own duality.
History:
Simone was the recipient of The Regional Arts & Culture Council’s Make|Learn|Build Grant in 2022 and 2021; and the Oregon Arts Commission Arts Relief Grant in 2022. Simone’s most recent solo exhibition just wait until next year, April 2023 presented by After/Time Gallery in Portland, OR. Pour the Water as I Leave, The Nines Gallery, Blue Sky Gallery generously supported by Converge 45 (Portland, OR) August 2023. Simone’s first institutional solo exhibition UNINCORPORATED located in the B10 Gallery at Pacific Northwest College of Art at Willamette University in 2022. Simone was selected as the Artist-in-Residence for the Intermedia Program at PNCA for Fall 2021 semester where she curated the BFA intermedia program student group show Future Ephemera. Simone co-curated the 2022 MFA Low Residency Thesis Exhibition Series Every Corner is Alive at PNCA. Simone has exhibited her third solo exhibition OFFAL (2021) at Astoria Visual Arts in Astoria, Oregon. Simone was the 2021 artist-in-residence at After/Time Gallery where she produced her first publication ANTITOURS v1 and solo exhibition A Sermon for Crows (2021). She has exhibited internationally at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany (2020). In October 2019, Simone attended the Caldera Arts Artist in Residence program in Sisters, OR. Her work has been collected by the Visual Chronicle of Portland (2022). Simone has worked on two feature-length films Showing Up (2021) directed by Kelly Reichardt and Sometimes I Think About Dying (2022) directed by Rachel Lambert. Simone is the artistic director and still photographer for Daniela Repas feature film Pour the Water as I Leave (2022) & photographer for Repas short film Dogs of Home in 2020. Simone’s photography has been published in Juxtapoz Magazine (Spring 2023), Artillery Magazine and Bomb Magazine.
Simone Fischer-Rios || Curricula Vitae
Contact info:
Education:
2020 Pacific Northwest College of Art
MFA, Visual Studies
2013 Portland State University
BS, Gender Studies
Minor in Philosophy
Solo Exhibitions:
2024 Third Thursday Pop-up at Game Theory, Fort Worth, Texas.
2023 Pour the Water as I Leave, Nines Gallery, Converge 45, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR.
2023 just wait until next year, After/Time Gallery, Portland, OR.
2022 UNINCORPORATED, B10 Gallery, artist-in-residence PNCA at Willamette University,
Portland, Oregon
2021 OFFAL, curated by: Laurel V. McLaughlin. Astoria Visual Arts Gallery, Astoria, Oregon
2021 a sermon for crows, curated by Todd Molinari. After/Time Gallery. Portland, Oregon
2020 TWO THIRTEEN, Glass Gallery, PNCA, February. Portland, Oregon
Group Exhibitions:
2024 Together We Make it Happen, Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Fort Worth, TX.
2023 My Private Property, curated by Lusi Lukova, Carnation Contemporary. Portland, OR.
2023 Pour the Water as I Leave, curated by Sator Projects, Portland, OR.
2023 Everything but the Kitchen Sink, Electric Storm Gallery, Billings, Montana.
2022 Home. Maddox Gallery. Portland, OR.
2021 The Terrible Ordeal of Being Known, curated by Oliver Myhre. 511
Contemporary Art and Culture Gallery, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland,
Oregon
2020 MFA Thesis Exhibition, 511 Gallery, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon
2020 404 Error Not Found, Online Art Show, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland,
Oregon
2020 Internal Gaze, Glass Gallery: Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon
2020 PenPal Photography, Atrium Gallery: Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon
2019 PenPal Photography, Galerie 52: Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen, Germany
2019 Incite/Insight, MFA First Year Exhibition, Glass Building: Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon
2018 511 VS 1.0, MFA Exhibition, The Lodge Gallery: Portland, Oregon
Public Collections:
2023 The Visual Chronicle of Portland, Photography Collection. Portland, OR.
Curation:
2024 Animal Crackers, Jim Malone, Artspace111, Fort Worth, TX.
2024 About Time, Jim Woodson, Artspace111, Fort Worth, TX.
2024 Talisman, Layla Luna, Artspace111, Fort Worth, TX.
2024 Big, Bold Texas, Jon Flaming, Artspace111, Fort Worth, TX.
2024 Bang, Bang: A Show About Texas, Tyler Casey, Artspace111, Fort Worth, TX.
2024 Time for Color, J.C. Pace III, Artspace111, Fort Worth, TX.
2023 Visual Studies MFA Thesis Exhibition, PNCA, Portland, OR.
2022 Every Corner is Alive, Low-Residency MFA Thesis Exhibition Series, PNCA, Portland, Oregon
2021 Future Ephemera, Intermedia Student Exhibition, Center of Contemporary Art & Culture,
PNCA, Portland, Oregon
Grants:
2023 Converge 45 exhibition grant recipient, Converge45.
2022 Artist Resilience Grant recipient, Oregon Arts Commission .
2022 Make|Learn|Build grant Region Arts & Culture Council recipient
2021 Make|Learn|Build grant Region Arts & Culture Council recipient
Lectures:
2024 Talisman, Artist Talk, Layla Luna, Artspace111, Fort Worth, TX.
2024 Big, Bold Texas, Artist Talk, Jon Flaming, Artspace111, Fort Worth, Texas.
2024 Bang, Bang: A Show About Texas, Artist Talk, Tyler Casey, Artspace111, Fort Worth, Texas.
2024 Time for Color Artist Talk, J.C. Pace III, Artspace111, Fort Worth, Texas.
2023 Renewal Artist Talk, Panel Discussion with Carol Benson, Erika Huddleston, Allie Regan-Dickerson, Janet Chafee,Artspace111, Fort Worth, Texas.
2023 just wait until next year, Panel Discussion with Raphael House PDX, After/Time Gallery, Portland, Oregon.
2023 Alumni Artist Lecture, Lemelson Gallery, PNCA, Portland, Oregon.
2023 Pour the Water as I Leave, Panel Discussion, Sator Projects, Portland, Oregon.
2021 OFFAL: undergraduate BFA intermedia lecture, PNCA, Portland Oregon.
2021 a sermon for crows: ideas on rage, artist talk (virtual), Portland, Oregon
2020 B&W Photo Process (virtual), Portland State University, Portland, Oregon
2020 TWO THIRTEEN, Glass Gallery: Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon
2019 PenPal Photography, Galerie 52: Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen, Germany
(via skype)
2016 The Gendered Politics of Leisure in Portland, Lewis & Clark Gender Symposium, Portland, Oregon
Residencies:
2021 PNCA at Willamette University, Artist-in-Residence, Intermedia Department, Portland,
Oregon
2021 After/Time Gallery Artist Residency, Portland, Oregon
2019 Caldera Arts Residency, Sisters, Oregon
Publicity:
2021 Art Review: Simone Fischer at Astoria Visual Arts. Written by Kyle Cohlmia. Artswatch
Oregon. Nov. 2021.
2021 Oregon Artswatch Newsletter feature: OFFAL. Written by Lindsay Costello. Oregon
Artswatch. Nov. 2021.
2021 OFFAL Editors Pick for Variable West. Written by: Ameila Rina. Variable West.
2021 Walking Down 82nd Avenue with Simone Fischer Part 1 & II.
Interview written by Laurel V. Mclaughlin. Art & About PDX. June 2021.
Publications:
2023 Artillery Magazine, “CONVERGE 45: Art and Politics Along Portland’s Parallel” by: Shana Nys Dambrot.
2023 Bomb Magazine, Artist Interview with Derek Franklin.
2023 Juxtapoz Magazine, Alicia Vidal interview, Spring Issue 2023.
2023 JWUNY catalog, published by After/Time Gallery.
2022 DADDY, Jen Sova, et. al., publication, After/Time Gallery. Portland, OR
2021 ANTITOURS, publication in tandem with Sermon for Crows solo exhibition,
After/Time Gallery.
Community Projects:
2018-current Salvation Gardens, Community garden and horticulture learning space. Portland, OR
2020 Artist Mask Project, founded with my Grandmother in March 2020, we have made over 7,000
masks for our community since the pandemic hit. Portland, OR.
Professional Experience:
2023-Current Gallery Manager, Artspace111. Fort Worth, Texas.
2015-2024 Art documentation photographer, art galleries & freelance.
2022-2023 Communications & MFA Thesis Event Coordinator, Hallie Ford School of Graduate
Studies, Pacific Northwest College of Art at Willamette University. Portland, OR.
2022 Interim WITS Office Manager, Technology Department, PNCA
at Willamette University. Portland, OR.
2022 Assistant Studio Documentary Photographer, PNCA, Portland, OR.
2022 Digital Print Specialist, Digital Print Studio, PNCA, Portland, OR.
2021- 2023 MFA Mentor, Visual Studies, PNCA, Portland, OR
2021-2022 Still Photographer, set art director, Pour the Water as I Leave, Portland, OR.
2021 Set Art Director, Pour the Water as I Leave, Portland, OR.
2021 Production assistant, film: How to be Human, Astoria, OR
2021 Art Assistant, film: Showing Up, A24 Productions. Portland, OR
2019 - 2020 Glass Studio Manager, PNCA. Portland, OR
2019 Time Based Festival TBA, Photographer, PICA. Portland, OR
2019 Artslandia Magazine, Photographer. Portland, OR
2018 Willamette Week, Freelance Photographer. Portland, OR.
Contact Simone:
email: simonef.pdx@gmail.com
IG: @simonefischerr