Julie Renée Jones (b. 1984) lives in and makes work about the American midwest, concentrating on personal memory and the uncanniness of daily life and exploring the confusion of reality and imagination, where actual event and surreal recollection blur. Jones has exhibited across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. A selection of exhibitions include: New Midwest Photography at James Watrous Gallery, Aint-Bad: Collaborations at Laney Contemporary Fine Art, Umbra at The Blue House Gallery, and most recently her work was selected for FotoFocus’ AUTO//UPDATE exhibition at The Carnegie. Her work has been shared through many publications and outlets including: The British Journal of Photography, Real Simple Magazine, Fraction Magazine, Newfound Journal, C 41 Magazine, Aint-Bad Magazine, and the New Yorker Photo Instagram page. Her series Umbra is set for solo publication in collaboration with Sleeper Studio in 2021. In 2015, she was awarded the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award and in 2018 she received the Montgomery County Artist Opportunity Grant from Culture Works. She received her MFA from Columbia College Chicago and a BFA from the University of Dayton. Julie currently resides in Dayton Ohio.
EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts, Photography, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago Illinois
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Photography, Art History, University of Dayton, Dayton Ohio
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2019 | AUTO//UPDATE, FotoFocus, The Carnegie, Covington, Kentucky
2019 | The Society for Photographic Education Midwest Juried Exhibition, Milwaukee Institute of
Art & Design, Brooks Stevens Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
2019 | AINT-BAD: Collaborations, Laney Contemporary Fine Art, Savannah, Georgia
2018 | Remedios The Beauty, Granite City Art and Design District - Plaque, Granite City, Illinois
2018 | New Midwest Photography, James Watrous Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
2018 | Center Forward 2018, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado
2018 | Summer Quarter 2018, Streit House Space (online)
2018 | Jane Reece Invitational, Dayton Society of Artists, Dayton, Ohio
2017 | HERS, Radial Gallery, Dayton, Ohio
2017 | Umbra, The Blue House Gallery, Dayton, Ohio
2016 | Fiction (With Only Daylight Between Us) v.2, traveling exhibition:
-2018
2018, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
2017, Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, Michigan
2017, Raygun Projects, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
2017, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, California
2017, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California
2017, Volunteer State Community College, Nashville, Tennessee
2017, Apothecary, Chattanooga, Tennessee
2017, CLASS ROOM, Coventry, UK
2016, Elgin Community College, Elgin, Illinois
2016, Angelika Studios, High Wycombe, UK
2016, Boeckercontemporary, Heidelberg, Germany
2016, corridor / Divisible, The Front Street Building Co., Dayton, Ohio
2016 | Fiction (With Only Daylight Between Us) v.2, Curating Contemporary (online)
2016 | The New Face of Film, FotoFilmic, Visual Arts Center at Boise State University, Boise, Idaho
2016 | 80x80: An Art Show, The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
2016 | Reciprocity, Dutoit Gallery, Dayton, Ohio
2016 | Artist by Artist, The Blue House Gallery, Dayton, Ohio
2016 | UMBRA, Ann Miller Gallery, Koch Hall, Wittenburg University, Springfield, Ohio
2016 | Space Jamz, Group Show 47, Humble Arts Foundation (online)
2015 | 8th Annual Fraction Holiday Print Sale, Fraction Magazine (online)
2014 | FlakPhoto Midwest Print Show, Diane Endres Ballway-Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
2014 | Variations on Likeness: Keliy Anderson-Staley, Glenna Jennings, Julie Renée Jones, &
Daniel McInnis, Dayton Visual Arts Center, Dayton, Ohio
2014 | All the Days and Nights, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
2014 | Emerging Artists Auction, Daniel Cooney Fine Art (online)
2014 | ADP WRKSHP Pop-Up Exhibition, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
2013 | Not Just Another Pretty Face 2013 Exhibition, Hyde Park Arts Center, Chicago, Illinois
2013 | Making It Home, Unsmoke Systems Artspace, Braddock, Pennsylvania
2013 | City Space + UMBRA, Pictura Gallery, Bloomington, Indiana
2013 | FotoFilmic’13, International Photography Exhibition, Positive Negative Gallery, Vancouver,
BC, Canada
2013 | Archetype Drift, Johalla Projects, Chicago, Illinois
2013 | 16th International Opening, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2012 | Midwest Society for Photographic Education Members Exhibition, The Carnegie Visual and
Performing Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio. Juried by Catherine Evans, curator at Columbus
Museum of Art
2012 | Albert P. Weisman Award Exhibition, the arcade, Chicago, Illinois
2012 | Ground Floor Exhibition, Hyde Park Arts Center, Chicago, Illinois
2012 | Margate Photo Festival 3, three person exhibition, Pie Factory, Margate, Kent, United
Kingdom. Juried by Charlotte Cotton, Raphaelle Stopin, Trish Morrissey, & Diane Smyth.
2012 | Alternative Realities, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont
2012 | PPAC’s 3rd Annual Photography Competition & Exhibition, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2012 | f8, Glass Curtain Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2012 | Voyeurism & Intimacy: The Public/Private Divide in Photography, RayKo Photo Center, San
Francisco, California
2011 | Relative Exposure, 310 conTEMPORARY Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2010 | While In Class…, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2007 | Mount St. John, Marianist Residence Hall, Permanent exhibition, University of Dayton,
Dayton, Ohio
2007 | The Cline Show, Honorable Mention, Dayton Visual Arts Center, Dayton, Ohio
2007 | Beyond Exposure, Roesch Gallery, Dayton, Ohio
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2019 | Umbra, Newfound Journal, Volume no. 10, Issue 1, “The Fool’s Journey” (online)
2018 | Issue No.13, Aint-Bad Magazine
2018 | Umbra: A Review…, exposure magazine (online)
2018 | “New Midwest Photography: A FlakPhoto Project,” Wisconsin: people & ideas, Volume 64, Number 3
2018 | Contemporary by Antonio Muratore & Silvia Colombo, published by LoosenArt
2017 | Strant’s Pictures Without Words, Volume 001, Issue 002, Strant Magazine
2016 | The Point Magazine, Issue 12, Summer 2016
2016 | “Pair,” C 41 Magazine, Issue 2
2015 | Fraction Magazine, Issue 73 Fraction Magazine (online)
2013 | Real Simple Features..., Real Simple Magazine
2012 | “Ground Floor: A Biennial Exhibition of New Art From Chicago,” Hyde Park Arts Center,
introduction by Dawoud Bey
2012 | "Julie Renée Jones: Strangely Familiar,” feature and interview, The British Journal of
Photography
PRESS & FEATURES
2020 | Seeing Light, Seeing Shadow, Culture Couch, WYSO Public Radio
2019 | Photo of the Day: Julie Renée Jones, Don’t Take Pictures (online)
2018 | Refreshing the Map…, Humble Arts Foundation (online)
2018 | 10 Midwest Photographer You Should Follow, Booooooom! (online)
2018 | Julie Renée Jones tells us about her home…, C 41 Magazine (online)
2017 | Julie Renée Jones, feature & interview, Photo-Emphasis (online)
2017 | "Umbra" by Photographer Julie Renée Jones, Booooooom! (online)
2017 | Les coupes de coeur #151, Fisheye Magazine (online)
2017 | Julie Renée Jones Rewrites Memory in "Umbra", iGNANT (online)
2017 | The New Yorker Photo (@newyorkerphoto) Instagram take-over
Week-long artist curation of Umbra work on the New Yorker Photo Instagram
2017 | “Julie Renée Jones” Aint-Bad Magazine (online)
2017 | Film, photograph, or memory?, Dayton City Paper (online & print)
2015 | New Issue of Fraction Magazine #73, featured portfolio, L'Oeil de la Photographie [The Eye
of Photography] (online)
2014 | “Julie Renée Jones” Aint-Bad Magazine (online)
2014 | “FlakPhoto Midwest Print Show” FlakPhoto (online)
2014 | “Preview FlakPhoto’s Midwest Print Show” American Photo (online)
2014 | “Let’s Face It: Variations on Likeness at DVAC” Dayton City Paper (online & print)
2013 | “Umbra: Without Light There Can Be No Shadow” Indiana Public Media (online)
2013 | “Clarissa Bonet + Julie Renée Jones” Pictura Gallery (online)
2012 | “Ground Floor graduates” Chicago Tribune (online)
2012 | “Portraits of a Middle Class Childhood,” Feature Shoot (online)
2012 | “Julie Renée Jones,” Don/Dean Blog (online)
VISITING ARTIST, LECTURES, ARTIST TALKS, & RESIDENCIES
2017 | The New Yorker Photo (@newyorkerphoto) Instagram take-over
Week-long artist curation of Umbra work on the New Yorker Photo Instagram; August 28th
- September 3rd
2016 | Artist Lecture, Oregon State University
2016 | Exhibiting Artist Lecture, Wittenberg University, Springfield Ohio
Artist talk and solo exhibition
2014 | ADP Workshop: Ohio University, Ohio University, Athens Ohio
Artist talk and presentation for Communication, Photojournalism, Commercial Photography, and Fine Arts students; participant in panel on Documentary photography.
2013 | ADP Workshop 2013, Unsmoke Systems Artspace, Braddock Pennsylvania
Featured artist for artist talk and panel discussion
2012 | Not Just Another Pretty Face, Hyde Park Arts Center, Chicago Illinois
Selected artist for an archive of approximately 70 Chicago-based artists for collaborative commissions for local communities, collectors, and HPAC members
2012 | MWSPE 2011/2012 Scholarship Recipients, Midwest Society of Photographic Education
regional conference, Cincinnati Ohio
Image Maker presentation
2012 | Visiting Artist Series, University of Dayton, Dayton Ohio
Installation, Student Critiques, and Artist Talk
2009 | Visiting Artist for Summer Arts Camp, Stivers School for the Arts, Dayton Ohio
Teacher in Foundation Photography Workshop, Special project with students, Lecture
2007 | Artist in Residence at the University of Dayton, Dayton Ohio
Created two unique installations of work for permanent exhibition in Marianist Hall over a four month period
AWARDS & GRANTS
2018 | Montgomery County Artist Opportunity Grant, Culture Works
2015 | Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award Grant, OAC
2013 | FotoFilmic’13 International Film Photography, Feature and Exhibition Winner, VnB
2012 | Albert P. Weisman Award, Project Completion Grant, Columbia College Chicago
2012 | Midwest SPE Scholarship, Society for Photographic Education: Midwest Region
2011 | John Mulvany Scholarship, Columbia College Chicago
2011 | Graduate Opportunity Award, Columbia College Chicago
2010 | Stuart and Iris Baum Project Completion Grant, Columbia College Chicago