Bio

Growing up in Iowa in the 50’s and 60’s, I was always attuned to certain design aesthetics in my immediate environment. As a child, I was fascinated by each year’s new crop of cars from Detroit and how they would differ in design from the previous year. In high school, architecture got my attention. I learned drafting mostly on my own and entered and won a statewide high school architectural design/presentation competition. After studying architecture for two years in college, I worked for an architect and learned the nuts and bolts of the business. After two years I became disillusioned with the business of it all and quit.
Trying to figure what to do next, I looked to photography. This had piqued my curiosity since I had taken a photo intro course at a community college a few years prior. I was fascinated by the compositional and decision making process when looking through a viewfinder. I then enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute majoring in photography. Mind you, I had no background whatsoever in art, and didn’t have a clue what I was getting into.
Two photographers hit me between the eyes while at school; Walker Evans and Louis Baltz. In gravitating towards the documentary mode these two showed me the way. Evan’s ability to tell the underlying human story of a scene in a straightforward manner opened my heart. Baltz’s spare but striking compositions that spoke of larger political forces opened my eyes and brain.
After graduating, I spent the next twenty years raising a family, sporadically shooting and accumulating proof sheets in the process. My photography at this point was concerned with urban growth and decay. It wasn’t until 2001 that I was able to devote myself fully to my photography. Since then, I have been concentrating on documenting suburban growth and sprawl, producing a series titled Landscape of Progress. I have recently started a project looking at the artificial realities found in tourist attractions that is titled Popular Culture.

Resume

EDUCATION
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO, BFA with honors, Photography, 1977
Iowa State University, Ames, IA, Architecture, 1970 -1972
Minneapolis Community Technical College, Minneapolis, MN, Digital Graphics, 2000-2001

EXHIBITIONS
2010 Thinking Photography: Five Decades at the Kansas City Art Institute, The Nelson- Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
2009 Solo Exhibition, Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI
2009 An Uncommon Landscape, Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Minnetonka, MN
2009 Party, IFP Gallery, St. Paul, MN
2009 Healing Arts Program, Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, WI
2008-09 TPS 17 National Competition, Dougherty Arts Center, Austin, TX
2008 CoPA 2nd Annual Juried Show, Coalition for Photographic Arts, Milwaukee, WI
2007 MPG Showcase, Minneapolis Foundation, Minneapolis, MN
2007 National Competition, SohoPhoto Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Parallel Worlds, 4 person show, PaulaBarr Chelsea Gallery, New York, NY
2007 Continuum: KCAI Alumni Photography, Cross Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2007, 2005 Photocentric Biennial, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN
2006 Pinup Exhibit, 3rd Ward Gallery, New York, NY
2006 Pingyao International Photography Festival, Midwestern Views Exhibit, Pingyao, China
2006 TPS 15 National Competition, Dougherty Arts Center, Austin, TX
2006 Photomidwest: seven state juried competition, Wisconsin Union Galleries, Madison, WI
2006 Earthscapes group exhibit, AZ Gallery, St. Paul, MN
2006 Landscape of Progress solo exhibition, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN
2006, 05, 03, 1984 Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Juried Exhibition, St Paul, MN
2006, 03, 02 Photo Bravo, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN
2005 Benefit Exhibition + Auction, Brickton Art Center, Park Ridge, IL
2005 Minnesota Biennial 2D, Minnesota Museum of American Art, St Paul, MN
2005 Members Spotlight, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN
2005 Northern National Juried Art Competition, Nicolet College, Rhinelander, WI
2005 Community Arts Partnership Exhibition, Metropolitan Council, St. Paul, MN
2008, 2005, 2004 Primavera Juried Art Show, Plymouth Creek Center, Plymouth, MN
2004 Surprise Show, Icebox Gallery, Minneapolis MN
2004 New Photography Group Exhibit, Icebox Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2003 International Juried Exhibition, Herbst International Exhibition Hall,
San Francisco, CA
1983 Solo Exhibition, Jewish Community Center, Main Floor Gallery, St. Louis Park, MN

COLLECTIONS
Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2010-11 McKnight Fellowship for Photography

PUBLICATIONS
Color magazine, Issue 2, June 2009, Photographer Spotlight
Architecture Minnesota magazine, Place, March/April 2009
Myartspace.com>Blog, ArtSpace Talk: Chuck Avery, 9/23/08
http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/09/art-space-talk-chuck-avery.html
f-stop Magazine, Issue 23, May 2007, Group Show
Minnesota Center for Photography, Photocentric 2007, Sept. 2007
2006 Pingyao International Photography Festival Selected Works, Midwestern Views
Minnesota Center for Photography, photobravo 06, Nov. 2006
Mnartists.org, The Moonscape In Our Backyards: Chuck Avery at MCP, Alex Starace, Feb. 15, 2006
Minneapolis Startribune, Minnesota Mavericks, Mary Abbe, Oct. 28, 2005
Hot Spots magazine, Minnesota Biennial: 2D, Nov. / Dec. 2005

AWARDS
Primavera, Annual Exhibition, Plymouth, MN, Best Of Show
Photo Bravo, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN
Curator’s Choice, Photo Lotto Selection, Auction Selection
Rock Island Fine Arts Competition, Rock Island, IL
Honorable Mention
Dubuque Art Association Juried Show, Dubuque, IA
Best in Show

ORGANIZATIONS
Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN
Aperture Foundation, New York, NY
Texas Photographic Society, San Antonio, TX
Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA