As an immigrant from Budapest, Hungary to New York City by way of Paris, I transitioned from soft-communism to hyper-capitalism, and from an analog upbringing to digital adulthood. To digest these cultural changes, I have been photographing human interaction in the world and creating digital montages of candidly shot pictures. My digital photomontage work of the past fifteen years has been exploring the ways in which technology—and the proliferation of photography—has wedged itself into human relationships since Facebook was launched in 2004, the iPhone in 2007, and Instagram in 2010. Roughly following the timeline of social media’s increasingly overwhelming influence on our inner lives, the montages evolved from subtle and labor intensive manipulations to jarring compositions.
For over a decade, I’ve been fascinated by how little control we have, it seems, as individuals, over the ways in which technology affect us. How do we end up using a tool and how do we function in and navigate a system designed around us? How do we grapple with our own inventions? How do we skew, adapt to, and appropriate design intentions? How does social pressure and rapid change disrupt and drag us all into changing our behavior? How do these developments affect us as social beings?
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Sziládi holds an MFA in Photography from Yale (2010) and a Maitrise in Art History and Archaeology from Sorbonne, Paris (1997). She was a resident at LMCC's 2014–2015 Workspace Residency program, a 2013 resident at the La Napoule Art Foundation in France, a 2012-2013 resident at Smack Mellon, and in 2008 she received the Gesso Foundation Fellowship to attend Skowhegan. She is a winner of The Philadelphia Museum of Art Photography Competition (2010), a recipient of the Alice Kimball English Traveling Fellowship (2010), a Juror’s Pick by Julie Saul and Alec Soth, Work-in-Progress Prize, Daylight/CDS Photo Awards (2010), the recipient of Humble Arts' Fall 2012 New Photography Grant, and the 2015 Center Awards Curator's Choice. Selected exhibitions include Point of Purchase, DUMBO Arts Center, NYC (2006); Lost and Found, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, Germany (2007); Market Forces, Carriage Trade Gallery, NYC and Galerie Erna Hecey, Brussels (2009); US Featured Exhibition, Flash Forward Festival, Toronto (2010); 31 Women in Art Photography, Hasted Kraeutler, NYC. (2012); Ready for My Close-up, Hagedorn Foundation Gallery, Atlanta, GA (2013); Wide Receivers & Tight Ends, Smack Mellon, NYC (2014); Queens International, NYC (2016), For Ever More Images?, Onassis Cultural Center, Athens, Greece (2019). Her work is in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Ottawa Art Gallery, and the Center For Creative Photography at The University of Arizona. She is the author of Seeing and Not Believing: The Photography of Allan Chasanoff (Yale University Art Gallery / Yale University Press, 2023).
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CV
Mónika Sziládi (from Budapest, Hungary; lives and works in New York City)
EDUCATION
- 2010
- MFA, Yale University School of Art, Photography, Awarded the Alice Kimball English Traveling Fellowship
- 1997
- Maitrîse, Art History and Archaeology, Université Paris IV/Sorbonne, Paris, France
SOLO, TWO- AND THREE-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2022
Plane Break: Annie Ling, Jason Isolini, Mónika Sziládi, curated by Sarah Mills, WCC Art Gallery, SUNY, Valhalla, NY
2014
Mónika Sziládi: Wide Receivers & Tight Ends, Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
in, side - throughout: Aimee Burg, Tamar Ettun, Mónika Sziládi, curated by Naomi Lev, Bosi Contemporary, New York, NY (cat.)
2013
Ready for My Close-up: Jill Frank, Mónika Sziládi, Double Zero (Hannah Ireland & Annie Vought), Hagedorn Foundation Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Hrvoje Slovenc and Mónika Sziládi: There is More to the Story, organized by Helac Fine Art, New York, NY
Mónika Sziládi: Wide Receivers - New Works, Godot Galeria, Budapest, Hungary
2010
Mónika Sziládi: Wide Receivers, Godot Galeria, Budapest, Hungary
Mónika Sziládi: Wide Receivers, Holdudvar, Budapest, Hungary
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
The Qualities of LIGHT: The Story of a Pioneering New York City Photography Gallery, Curated by Rebecca Senf, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ
2019
For Ever More Images?, curated by Eduardo Cadava, Yorgos Karailias, Yorgos Prinos, Pasqua Vorgia, Onassis Cultural Center, Athens, Greece
2016
Queens International 2016, curated by Lindsey Berfond and Hitomi Iwasaki, Queens Museum, NYC (cat.)
Partners, Parents, Pets: Contemporary Portraiture, curated by Katherine Gressel, Old Stone House, Brooklyn, NY
20th Anniversary Show, curated by Charlotta Kotik, Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2015
Black Mirror, curated by Michael Famighetti, Aperture Gallery, New York, NY
The Curve Exhibition, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM
SELECT 2015, selected by Jennifer Farrell, Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, DC
2014
No Greater Fiction, curated by Agnes Berecz, Bosi Contemporary, New York, NY (cat.)
Emerging Artists in Public Collections, Wall Space Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
2013
Suddenly, There: Discovery of the Find, Curated by Eileen Jeng and Tamas Veszi, Garis & Hahn Gallery, New York, NY
After the Fall, curated by Andrea Pemberton, Garis & Hahn Gallery, New York, NY
New York I Love You Sometimes, organized by George Terry, Classic Six, New York, NY
Let’s Face It - A selection of contemporary photography and video by Hungarian artists, Radiator Gallery, New York, NY
2012
31 Women in Art Photography, curated by Natalia Sacasa, Senior Director, Luhring Augustine and Jon Feinstein, Curatorial Director, Humble Arts Foundation, Hasted Kraeutler, New York, NY
The Architecture of Space, curated by Darren Ching and Debra Klomp Ching, Kompching Gallery, New York, NY
Tabula Rasa, curated by Aimee Burg, Curious Matter, Jersey City, NJ
2011
Chain Letter, Samson Projects, Boston, MA
2010
US Featured Exhibition: The Architecture of Space, curated by Darren Ching and Debra Klomp Ching, Flash Forward Festival, Toronto, Canada
2010 Photography Portfolio Competition, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Daylight/CDS Photo Awards, Duke University, Durham, NC
Homo Ludens, XVII. Photography Biennial, Esztergom, Hungary
Yale MFA Thesis Exhibition, Green Gallery, New Haven, CT
Stranger Than Fiction, 25CPW, organized by Helac and Wirth Art Advisory, New York, NY
Jason McCoy Gallery, organized by Wirth Art Advisory, New York, NY
28 Rue Bonaparte, organized by Tauromakia, B.E.S., New York, NY
David Weinberg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Eighth Veil, Los Angeles, CA
Senior Members Exhibition, Studio Galeria, FKSE, Budapest, Hungary
2009
Future Days, curated by Ron Rocheleau and Justin Warsh, CAN alternative space, New York, NY
Photo Biennial, Institute of Contemporary Art, Dunaújváros, Hungary
The World According To..., curated Agnes Berecz, PhD, lecturer at the MoMA, Hungarian Cultural Center, New York, NY
Market Forces, curated by Peter Scott, Galerie Erna Hecey, Brussels, Belgium
Glam Shackle & Spice, curated by Eun Young Choi, Gallery SATORI, New York, NY
2008
Random Utterness, curated by Agnes Berecz, PhD, lecturer at the MoMA, Hungarian Cultural Center, New York, NY
Market Forces, Part II: Consumer Confidence, curated by Peter Scott, Carriage Trade Gallery, New York, NY
Designations, curated by Gabriela Galati, NT Gallery, Bologna, Italy
2007
Photo Biennial, Institute of Contemporary Art, Dunaújváros, Hungary
Lost and Found, curated by Dr. Fritz Emslander, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, Germany (cat.); MODEM, Debrecen, Hungary (cat.)
2006
Domestic Goods, curated by Agnes Berecz, PhD, lecturer at the MoMA, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY
Point of Purchase, curated by Gretchen Wagner, curatorial assistant at the MoMA, DUMBO Arts Center, New York, NY
2005
When We Were Young, Summer Group Show, Foley Gallery, New York, NY
Taboo, juried by Jerry Saltz, Studio Montclair, Montclair, NJ
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Ottawa Art Gallery
Center For Creative Photography, The University of Arizona
Il Bacio Art Collection
BIBLIOGRAHY
2021
Phillip Prodger, Face Time - A History of the Photographic Portrait, Thames and Hudson
2015
Agnes Berecz, On the Photography of Peter Baker, Hrvoje Slovenc, Monika Sziladi, Division Review, No.13 Fall 2015
Arianne Di Nardo, I Share, Therefore I Am, Artist Monika Sziladi examines the digital self, Guernica, July 15, 2015
Aline Smithson, Monika Sziladi: CENTER's 1st Place Curator's Choice Award, Lenscratch, Apr 20, 2015
Musee Magazine, Issue 11 - Vanity, pp178-179, Apr 2015
2014
No Greater Fiction (cat.), essay by Agnes Berecz, Bosi Contemporary, New York, Nov 2014
David A. Willis, Object Relations: In, Side - Throughout at Bosi Contemporary, Painting Is Dead, Oct 27, 2014
Kirsten Nicholas, in, side - throughout, Artlog, Oct 9, 2014
Ed Barnas, Lower East Side Walkabout, The New York Photo Review, Oct 2014
Federizio's, Up and Down the Pedestal, The Vernissage, Oct 2, 2014
in, side - throughout: Aimee Burg, Tamar Ettun, Monika Sziladi (cat.), essay by Naomi Lev, Bosi Contemporary, New York, Sep 2014
Taney Roniger, Suddenly, There: Discovery of the Find, Curated by Eileen Jeng and Tamas Veszi, The Brooklyn Rail, Feb 5, 2014
Paddy Johnson and Whitney Kimball, We Went to Dumbo, Art F City, Jan 31, 2014
Naomi Fertitta, In the Spirit of Harlem, Assouline, (reproduction of photograph), Hardcover - Mar 2014
2013
Andrew Alexander, Ready for My Close-up at Hagedorn Foundation Gallery, Burnaway, Oct 17, 2013
Meredith Kooi, The "Celluloid Self" and Spaces of Feminine Performativity, Bad at Sports Cont. Art Talk, Sep 26, 2013
Spotlight on Sandy - Monika Sziladi, La Napoule Art Foundation Blog, Sep 25, 2013
Jon Feinstein, New Art Photography: Mónika Sziládi's Digital Society, Whitewall Magazine, Feb 7, 2013
2012
Talia Shipman and Emily Stoddart, 31 Women in Photography, Magenta Magazine Online, Oct 10, 2012
Today's Flak Photo, The Flak Photo Collection, Oct 5, 2012
Joann Kim Nunez, Navigating the 2012 Dumbo Arts Festival, Hyperallergic, Sep 25, 2012
Allison Meier, Sur La Table: Artists Reinvent the Table at Curious Matter, Blouin Artinfo, Aug 20, 2012
Blake Gopnik, Skin, Bones and Beauty, The Daily Pic, The Daily Beast, August 15, 2012
Art Projects, Supernature Issue, Drain Magazine, Spring 2012
2011
Words with Pictures, a series curated by Conveyor Editor, Dominica Paige, Conveyor Arts Blog, November, 2011
8x10 Magazine, Fall 2011
W Obsessions, Section W Fashion.Faces.Finds, August 2011
2010
Interview, CDS Porch - Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, October, 2010
PDN, Photo of the day, June, 2010
Imitation of life - Sziládi Mónika kiállításáról, by -jepe-, CSPV-Kult, 2010
Ölebek és Partyarcok, Sziládi Mónika: Szélessávú vevok, Godot Galéria, by Éva Ibos, Revizor, 2010
2007-2009
The Moment: Now Hanging | The Girlie Show, by Maura Egan, The New York Times, Jun 30, 2009
Gallery Beat, New York Press, June 18, 2009
Dunaújvárosi Fotóbiennálé, 2009 (cat.), ICA, Dunaújváros, Hungary, 2009
Market Forces, by Peter Scott, 2008/2009
Dunaújvárosi Fotóbiennálé, 2007 (cat.), ICA, Dunaújváros, Hungary, 2007
2006
Augenblicke des Nichtstuns, Ausstellung “Lost and Found”: Monika Sziladis Fotografien aus der Serie “Still” in der Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Badisches Tagblatt, Dec 29, 2006
Lost and Found (cat.), Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden/Snoeck, Germany, 2006
Lisa J. Curtis, “Feeling Spent,” Go Brooklyn, August 26, 2006
WRITING
- 2023
- Author: Seeing and Not Believing: The Photography of Allan Chasanoff, Preface by Richard Ovenden, Yale University Art Gallery / Yale University Press, Summer 2023 (236 pages, 185 color illustrations)
GRANTS, AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS, RESIDENCIES
- 2022
- The Swimming Hole Foundation Collaborative Residency, Woodstock, NY
- 2015
- Center Awards, Curator's Choice
- 2014
- Lower Manhattan Cultural Council 2014–2015 Workspace Residency program
- 2013
- La Napoule Art Foundation Residency
- 2012
- Smack Mellon Artist Studio Program and Fellowship, 2012-2013
Humble Arts Foundation New Photography Grant
Emergency Grant, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York, NY - 2010
- Philadelphia Museum of Art 2010 Photography Portfolio Competition
Alice Kimball English Traveling Fellowship
Daylight/CDS Photo Awards, Juror's Pick by Julie Saul and Alec Soth, Work-in-Progress Prize - 2008
- Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Gesso Foundation Fellowship
TEACHING AND LECTURES
- 2021
- Visiting Artist, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
- 2016
- Visiting Artist, Pace University, New York, NY
- 2013
- Visiting Artist, International Center of Photography, Continuing Education Program, New York, NY
Visiting Critic, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA - 2012
- Visiting Artist, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Visiting Artist, The New School, New York, NY
Visiting Critic, County College of Morris, Randolph, NJ - 2011
- Adjunct Lecturer of Art, Drew University, Madison, NJ
- 2010
- Visiting Artist, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Visiting Artist, Laguardia Community College, CUNY, Long Island City, NY
Visiting Artist, The College of New Rochelle, Bronx, NY
MEMBERSHIP
Senior Member, FKSE (Association of Young Visual Artists), Hungary