Eli Craven (b. 1979) is an American artist currently based in Lafayette, Indiana. Craven’s research resides in the critical investigation of the image and its relationship to ideologies of sexuality, desire, and death. His work is exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently at Kant Gallery in Copenhagen, Denmark, KlompChing Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, and at the Blue Sky, Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts in Portland, Oregon. His work has also been widely published. Select publications and clients include Corriere della Sera Milan, Gestalten Publishing Berlin, Penguin Random House Barcelona, and The Paris National Opera. He is a 2024 Critical Mass finalist and he is currently Assistant Professor of Photography at Purdue University.
Exhibitions
2024
Salon 2024, Kant Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
The Naughty Book, Division of Labour Gallery, Manchester, England
Unseen Amsterdam Photography Fair, Kant Gallery Booth, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Purdue University Rueff Galleries, West Lafayette, Indiana
The Temptation of.... Second Act Gallery, London, England
Touching, Blue Sky Oregon Center for Photographic Arts, Portland, Oregon
New Aspects of Photography. Kant Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
Los Raros/Las Raras: New Narratives in Contemporary Collage. SME La Pasión. Valladolid, Spain
Soap Opera, KlompChing Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
Beholden, Aurora Photo Center, Indianapolis, Indiana
Will You Be My +1, Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2023
I Don’t Want to Fall in Love Again, Filter Space, Chicago, Illinois
Unseen Photography Fair, Kant Gallery Booth, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Word of Mouth, A the Airts Gallery, Sanquhar, Scotland
Transitory Periods of Greatness, Collaboration with Maria Chavez, The Arts Federation, Lafayette, Indiana
Altered, Candela Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
#Social, CICA Museum, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
OH, KY, IN Regional Exhibition, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio
The Factory, Open House Contemporary, Chicago, Illinois
2022
Pathfinders, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, Indiana
Aurora Pop-Up Exhibition, Re:Public, Indianapolis, Indiana
Desire Lines, Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio
Fresh 2022, KlompChing Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Rueff Galleries, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
We Like Small Things V.5, Filter Space, Chicago, Illinois
Post-It, De Krook, Ghent, Belgium
Context 2022, Filter Space, Chicago, Illinois
Post Process, The Tippecanoe Arts Federation, Lafayette, Indiana
2021
First Aid and the Living Anatomy, Telluride Arts, Telluride, Colorado
Biennial 31, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, Indiana
Collage Collage, PiscinaComunale, Milan, Italy
Context 2021, Filter Space, Chicago, Illinois
Solitude, ARC Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2020
Focal Point, Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, Missouri
The World Collage Atlas, Kunstwerkt, Schiedam, Netherlands
In Contact, The Baldwin Photographic Gallery, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Photograms, Don’t Take Pictures Magazine, Brooklyn, New York (online exhibition)
Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Rueff Galleries, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
D&A #13, Dock 6 Collective, Chicago, Illinois (online exhibition)
Intimacies and Influence, Open House Contemporary, Chicago, Illinois
2019
Salvaconnome, PiscinaComunale, Milan, Italy
Holding What Cannot Be Held, Ming Studios, Boise, Idaho
The World Collage Atlas, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke, Belgium
The Age of Collage, Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg, Germany
Context 2019, Filter Space, Chicago, Illinois
Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho
2018
Swimming and Diving, Collaboration with Maria Chavez, Visual Arts Center, Boise State University
American Splendour: New Photography, Ilon Art Gallery, New York, New York
2017
Cut and Paste-Exposição de Colagem, Biennial of Contemporary Art Maia, Portugal
Out of Sight, Schoenfeld's Building, curated by Benedict Heywood, Greg Lundgren, S. Surface, and Justen Siyuan Waterhouse, Seattle, Washington
2017 Biennial Art Department Faculty Exhibition, Visual Arts Center, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
Eli Craven (solo), Open House Contemporary, Chicago, Illinois
Touching (solo), DEMO Project, Springfield, Illinois
2016
P.S. (solo), Tarble Arts Center, Charleston, Illinois
A Load, Especially a Heavy One (solo), The Atlanta School, Atlanta, Idaho
ABBRVTN, Figure One Gallery, Champaign, Illinois
P.S., MFA Thesis Exhibition, Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, Illinois
A Load, Especially a Heavy One (solo), The Opgenorth, Champaign, Illinois
Unlocked, Atopos CVC, Athens, Greece
2015
Imaginary Portraits, Curated by Leo and Pipo, En Face, Paris, France
Sinking Feeling, Curated by Jason Judd, Demo Project, Springfield, Illinois
YesAllWomen, Dilettante, Los Angeles, California
Disconnection, Curated by Justin Tyler Close, Wilding Cran Gallery, Los Angeles, California
From Now, Curated by Allison Grant, Filter Space, Chicago, Illinois
Eidetic Image, Curated by Christina Hirukawa and Meredith Preuss, Burrard Arts Foundation, Capture Photo Festival, Vancouver, BC, Canada
New Terrains: The Landscape Reviewed, Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, Illinois
2014
Naive Objects (solo), Figure One Gallery, Champaign, Illinois
Sans-Hiatus, Link Gallery, Urbana, Illinois
May, DdA Factory Gallery, Cagliari, Italy
2013
2013 Idaho Triennial, Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho
Patchbox Project, Cargo Gallery, Rome, Italy
Unfinished, Gallery at the Linen Building, Boise, Idaho
2012
Americas 2012: All Media, Northwest Art Center Hartnett Gallery, Minot State University, Minot, North Dakota
Dry Spell, collaborative installation with architect Maria Chavez, Eagle Performing Arts Center, Eagle, Idaho
Wither and Bloom, Visual Arts Collective, Garden City, Idaho
Canoeing, collaborative installation with architect Maria Chavez, Bricolage Gallery, Boise, Idaho
2011
Janet Jackson's Intergalactic Mimetic Soul Shakedown, curated by Benjamin Love, Sam Fox School of Art St. Louis, Missouri
Fresh Air: Regional Juried Exhibition for Emerging Artists, Juror: Courtney Gilbert, Visual Art Center, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
2010
One Trick Pony, 2010 BFA Thesis Exhibition, Visual Arts Center, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
One Night Stand, Joebar Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Smokers (solo), Good Damn Projects, Boise, Idaho
Publications
2022
Eccetera Magazine, Issue 2. Linkiesta Publishing, Milan, Italy, October 2022
2021
Carnale Magazine: Issue 1: “Desiderio.” Milan, Italy. May 2021
2020
Lampoon Magazine, Issue #21: “Prototype.” Milan, Italy. May 2020
2019
Terrain Issue #72: Censures, Paris, France, November 2019
Found Footage Magazine, Issue #5, Barcelona, Spain
Philosophie Magazine, Emmanuel Levinas Special Issue, France, January 2019
2018
O, The Oprah Magazine, Reading Room, August 2018
Don Pasquale Programme, Opéra National de Paris, June - July 2018
Ataduras (Cover), Domenico Starnone, Penguine Randomhouse Barcelona, May 2018
Elle UK, You Have a New Match, May 2018
The Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Volume 14, Issue 3 (Cover)
2017
International Photography Annual Vol. 4, Manifest Press, Cincinnati, Oh
2016
The Age of Collage Vol. 2, Gestalten, Berlin Germany
Unlocked, Atopos CVC, Athens Greece
2014
Collage Makers, Monsa Publications, Barcelona Spain
Baron Magazine, "The Future of Sex", Issue #3, UK
2013
Neverlazy Quarterly (cover), Winter 2013
The Age of Collage, Gestalten, Berlin
2012
In Flight: On the Plane, The Velvet Cell, Osaka Japan
Press
2023
Modig, Karolina. “Artnotes Visits: Unseen.” Artnotes. September 2023
Blasco, Juan. “Selections from Unseen.” Conceptual Projects. September 2023
Garbrecht, Brian, “Photographers on Photographers: In Conversation with Eli Craven.” Lenscratch. August 2023
2022
Eli Craven, Hopper Prize, Portfolio Feature, February 2022
2021
“The Sensuality of Bonacina 1889’s Wood Told Through the Eyes of Eli Craven.” Lampoon Magazine, December 2021
2020
Tuja, Máximo, “Eli Craven: Reassigning the Lost Meaning in Found Photography.” The Weird Show, access date: March 9, 2020, www.theweirdshow.info
2019
Tuja, Máximo, "Dennis Busch Curates The Age of Collage 2 Exhibition" The Weird Show, access date: March, 11, 2019, www.theweirdshow.info
Galmozzi, Marta, "Six Questions: Eli Craven" Tique Art Paper, access date: January 30, 2019, www.tique.art/paper
2018
Hawk, Greta, "It Was a Hobby That Turned Into an Obsession" Kluid Magazine, access date: June 21, 2018, www.kluidmagazine.com
2017
Feinstein, Jon, "Photography Highlights From Seattle's Two Legit-Most Art Fairs" Humble Arts Foundation, access date : August 5, 2017, www.hafny.org
Horvat, Katja, "Distorted World of Eli Craven" Interview Magazine Germany, access date: April 18, 2017, www.interview.de
Faingold, Scott, "A Touching Display" Illinois Times, January 26, 2017
2016
Defert, Auriane, "Spread: Eli Craven Interview", We Are Some Wild Children, Issue J16, access date: January 20, 2016, wearesomewildchildren.co.uk
2015
Briongos, Rubén, "Interview: Eli Craven", The Weird Show, access date: May 6, 2015, weirdshow.info
M. Sandro, "Eli Craven Interview", No Tofu Magazine, access date: March 25th, 2015, notofu.com
2014
Festa, Lauren, "Interview: Eli Craven", Adult Magazine, access date: November 14th, 2014, adult-mag.com
"Cut, Tear, Paste", Kunstbeeld Magazine, Vol #9, Netherlands, Belgium, September
2013
Passarivaki, Maria, "Screen Lovers", Ignant, access date: April 22, 2013, ignant.de
Vanhemert, Kyle, "Steamy Scenes From the Silver Screen, Folded Into Consummation", Fast Company Design, access date: April 30, 2013.www.fascodesign.com
2012
Oland, Dana “The Denizens of Black Hunger Prod Notions of Art”, The Idaho Statesman, September 21
Schnoor, Christopher "Wither and Bloom Explores Truth and Memory" The Boise Weekly, Volume 21, Issue 1, June 27th-July 3rd
Masterson, Sarah "Black Hunger" The Boise Weekly, Volume 20, Issue 40, March 28-April 3
Education
2016 MFA Photography, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
2011 BFA Photography, Boise State University, Boise, ID
Teaching Experience
2019-Present Assistant Professor of Photography, Purdue University
2017-2019 Adjunct Faculty, Department of Art, Boise State University
2016-2017 Adjunct Faculty, School of Art + Design, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign