• Patricia A. Bender (b. 1954, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) is a photo-based visual artist living and working in New Jersey and Michigan. She began studying photography in the early 2000s, and was hooked from the moment she shot and developed her first image. She works exclusively in the darkroom with black and white media, and personally creates each image from the moment it is conceived through the finished gelatin silver print. She has recently added drawing to her artistic practice.

    Bender has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. She is an artist on the White Columns curated artist registry, and is the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including being named to the 2018 Critical Mass Top 50 and as a 2020 Critical Mass finalist. Her work has been published in Harper’s Magazine, The Hand Magazine, Lenscratch, The O/D Review and Analog Forever Magazine, among others, and she is a featured artist in the seminal Routledge Press book The Experimental Darkroom, edited by Christina Anderson.

    Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Michigan State University, and Olivet College, as well as many other public, corporate, and private collections. She is represented by the Laurence Miller Gallery in New York City.

    Solo Exhibitions
    2024
    Drawn to Line, B. Beamesderfer Gallery, Highland Park, NJ.
    2023
    Cosmology, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, NY.
    2021
    Plain + Simple Geometry, Kresge Foundation Art Gallery, Olivet College, Olivet, MI.
    Euclidean Dreams, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA.
    2019
    Euclidean Pursuits, Hampshire College Art Gallery, Amherst, MA.
    2018
    The Rhythm of Geometry, Frames + Framers Art Gallery, Millburn, NJ.

    Selected Group Exhibitions
    2023
    The Photography Show, presented by AIPAD, Center 415, New York, New York.
    F22 Fine Art Prints, Filter Space, Chicago, IL.
    2022
    Selected Work from the Olivet College Collection of Art, Kresge Foundation Art Gallery, Olivet, MI.
    Expanding the View of Photography, Raritan Valley Community College Art Gallery, Branchburg, NJ.
    Fragile, Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ.
    Enlighten, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA.
    2021
    Colored Pencil Redux, McKenzie Fine Art, New York, NY.
    Drawing Challenge XXI, Jason McCoy Gallery, New York, NY.
    The Wisdom of Trees: An Exhibition of Art + Science, Tulpehaking Nature Center at the Abbott Marshlands, Hamilton, NJ.
    take a virtual tour here:
    The Wisdom of Trees
    2020
    Connecting Distances, Rountree Gallery, Platteville, WI.
    Postcards for the Pandemic, Click Photography Festival, Durham, NC.
    Art Fair 14c, Hyatt Regency Exchange Plaza, Jersey City, NJ.
    2019
    UnBound 8, Candela Books + Gallery, Richmond, VA.
    Diversity: Alternative Paths in Contemporary Photography, Wichita Falls Museum of Art, Wichita Falls, TX.
    Abstraction Attraction, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA.
    Arborescence, Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ.
    2018
    Drawn to Print, (Scene) Metrospace, Michigan State University, E.Lansing, MI.
    Depth of Field 2018, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA.
    Tree Talk, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA.
    Photography 38, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ.
    Size Matters, Medium Festival of Photography, San Diego, CA.
    A Facility for Photogenia, Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ.
    9th National Juried Photography Exhibition, Gallery 14, Hopewell, NJ.
    2017
    Elemental Light, Alex Ferrone Gallery, North Fork, NY.
    Mudras, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Kansas City, MO.
    Metro 31, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ.
    What is Nature?, Tilt Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ.
    Space, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA.
    Photography 37, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ.
    Unique Vision 19, Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, NJ.


    Site specific
    2017
    Art in the Sky, Billboard Artist, Arts Council of Greater Lansing, Lansing, MI.
    From Small to Large, Tin Box Exhibits, international travelling art exhibition.
    2016
    Pop Up Art, Lansing Art Gallery, Lansing, MI.
    A Hope, A Prayer & A Dream, Foto Fest, Houston, TX.

    Selected Honors + Awards
    2020
    Critical Mass Finalist, Photolucida, Portland, OR.
    2019
    Director's Award, solo exhibition + catalogue, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA.
    2018
    Critical Mass Top 50, Photolucida, Portland, OR.
    Selection to Juried Artist Registry, White Columns, NY, NY.
    2016
    Chris Clark Fellowship, Arts Council of Greater Lansing, Lansing, MI.
    Artist in Residence, Glen Arbor Arts Center, Glen Arbor, MI.

    Publications
    The Experimental Darkroom, edited by Christina Anderson, a Focal Press Book, featured artist
    Harper’s Magazine
    The Hand Magazine

    Selected Features + Interviews
    Lenscratch
    The O/D Review
    Rfotofolio
    Float Magazine
    Analog Forever Magazine
    Underexposed Magazine

    Editions
    f/22 Fine Art Prints, Chicago, IL, limited edition print series.
    Flat Tail Press, Northwest Art Center, Minot State University, Minot, ND, limited edition lithographic series.

    Collections
    Philadelphia Museum of Art
    Michigan State University
    Olivet College
    Luminous-Lint



    Complete CV available upon request