John Di Stefano

Biography

John Di Stefano is an artist, videomaker, writer and curator. Before undertaking his role as Associate Professor at Sydney College of the Arts, Dr Di Stefano was Associate Professor and Director of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Fine Arts at Massey University (Wellington), Head of the Video Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Postgraduate Coordinator at the National Art School (Sydney). He has also been a faculty member at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), the University of California, and Victoria University of Wellington.

Dr Di Stefano’s exhibition career spans over 20 years. His studio work is focused primarily in video, photo-based and time-based media, and installation, and has also included performance, bookwork, site-specific and public art projects. His video work has won several awards, including the New Vision Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and has been selected for official competition in international festivals including the Festival International du Documentaire (Marseille), as well as having been broadcast on American public television (PBS). His video HUB, was cited as one of the ‘best of the year’ by Artforum (New York) in their international survey. His gallery-based work has been exhibited internationally in North America, Europe, China, Australia and New Zealand. His bookworks VITALITY (1988) and Unfold (2011), were published by Artextes Press (Montréal) and Enjoy Public Art Gallery (Wellington) respectively.

Dr Di Stefano’s critical writings have appeared in various international journals and publications including Art Journal (New York), and Art Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) for which he is also a contributing editor. His curatorial projects include Satellite (Shanghai), Open Cities (Hong Kong/Chicago) and Not On Any Map (Chicago), in addition to programming for the DocNZ Film Festival and the Los Angeles International Gay & Lesbian Film & Video Festival. He has been the co-convenor of the biennial Expanding Documentary conference (New Zealand), and has been on the editorial committee of the publication Illusions- Journal of Moving Image and Performance Criticism (New Zealand), in addition having served on the advisory board of the Museum of Modern Art-China. He has chaired numerous sessions at international conferences including the College Art Association (USA), and the Art Association of Australia & New Zealand. His video work is distributed by Video Data Bank (Chicago) and V-Tape (Toronto). Dr Di Stefano is currently the New Zealand Editor/Contributing Editor for the publication Art Asia Pacific (Hong Kong/New York).

Research

Dr Di Stefano's recent works deal with issues of identity, displacement and transnationalism as they relate to concepts of space/place, time and perceptions of memory and articulation of subjectivities. His current research interests and projects include: examining notions of temporality and notions of disappearance; the evolving and hybrid forms of documentary practices in contemporary art; and an inquiry into the essayistic form in current film and video.

Significant Exhibitions and Screenings

Dialogues in Contemporary Video Art - Videonale on Tour. National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan, 2012

Videonale – Festival of Contemporary Video Art. Kunstmuseum, Bonn, Germany, 2011

The Return (solo exhibition). Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand, 2011

Video Re:view. BWA Contemporary Art Gallery, Katowice, Poland, 2011

New Filmmakers (solo screening). Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY, USA, 2010

Festival International du Documentaire de Marseille (FIDM) [official competition]. Marseille, France, 2010

Human Rights Film Festival. Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2010

FED TV. Federation Square, Melbourne, Australia, 2010

Double Take / Time Frame. Project Space - RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, 2010

Sightseeing. Peninsula Art Gallery - University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK, 2010

Channeling - Experimental Visions, London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. British Film Institute, London, UK, 2009

Crossroads: Interfaces between Rock Music and Contemporary Art (in conjunction with Exploraphoto – International Festival of Photography, Castilla y León). Domus Artium Museum, Salamanca, Spain, 2008

LOOP Festival – ‘New Zealand Scapes’. Barcelona, Spain, 2006

From Mini-FM to Hacktivist. Govett-Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand, 2006

Texts & Subtexts (solo exhibition). New Zealand Film Archives Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand, 2005

New Zealand Biennial of Contemporary Art: Break/Shift. Govett-Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand, 2004

Matchmaking at Suzhou Creek (in conjunction with the Shanghai Biennale). Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai, China, 2004

Art Box public art project. Civic Square, Wellington, New Zealand, 2003

Picturing Pasolini (solo exhibition). Moving Image Centre, Auckland, New Zealand, 2003

Je Me Souviens (solo exhibition) Articule, Montréal, Canada, 2002

Je Me Souviens/I Remember, (solo exhibition) (in conjunction with Images International Film Festival). A Space, Toronto, Canada, 2002

Transmediale - International Media Arts Festival. Berlin, Germany, 2002

Politics, Resistance & Musical Subculture. Barcelona Museum of Modern Art, Barcelona, Spain, 2002

Kassel Documentary Film & Video Festival. Kassel, Germany, 2001

25 Artists / 25 Years. Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montréal, Canada, 2001

Open Cities: HKG. Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong, China, 2001

Open Cities: ORD. Betty Rymer Gallery, Chicago, USA, 2001

Day Without Art. Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, USA, 1996

Corporeal Economics. Mercer Union, Toronto, Canada, 1995

Into the Lapse. Royal Academy of Art, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1994

Into the Lapse. Palais des Beaux-Arts - Societé des Expositions, Brussels, Belgium, 1994

Into the Lapse. Bruno Brunnet Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany, 1993

Into the Lapse. Karsten Schubert Gallery, London, UK, 1993

European Media Art Festival (EMAF). Osnabruck, Germany, 1992

San Francisco International Film Festival. San Francisco, USA, 1992

VideoFest - Berlin Film Festival. Berlin, Germany, 1992

American Film Institute Video Festival. American Film Institute, Los Angeles, USA, 1991

Significant Publications

'Intermission: interstitial moments in creative and cruel practice' [Co-authored with Dr. Dorita Hannah] (peer-reviewed essay). Intersticies: Journal of Architecture & Related Arts, University of Auckland, No. 12. Auckland, New Zealand, 2011

'Intermission – a critical response' (essay) One Day Sculpture. Eds. D. Cross & C. Doherty, Kerber verlag, Germany, 2009. Extended version also published as: 'One Day Sculpture: A response to Javier Téllez's Intermission' (essay) in Situations Papers, Situations, University of West England, Bristol, UK, 2009

'You Are Here: Moving Image + Performative Acts + Documentary Paradigm' (essay). Performance: Design. Eds. D, Hannah & O. Harslof. Museum Tusculanum Press - Copenhagen University Press, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2008

'Peter Greenaway and the Failure of Cinema' (chapter). Peter Greenaway’s Postmodern/Poststructuralist Cinema (Second Expanded Edition) Eds. P. Willoquet & M. Alemany-Galway. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, USA, 2008

'A Match Made in Shanghai' (feature). Art Asia Pacific, No. 42. New York, USA, 2005

'Ice and Space' (feature). Art Asia Pacific, No. 41. New York, USA, 2004

'Moving Images of Home' (essay). Art Journal, Vol. 61, No.4. College Art Association, New York, USA, 2002

'Travel and Identities of Displacement' (catalogue essay). Not On Any Map. Rymer Gallery / Film Center, Chicago, USA, 1999

'Picturing Pasolini' (essay). Art Journal, Vol. 56, No. 2. College Art Association, New York, USA, 1997

Significant Curatorial Projects

I am what I play (music/performance/video/art series). Co-curator & organizer. NAS Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2011 & 2012

Screening Room (screening series). Co-curator & organizer. Performance Space / NAS Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2011

Satellite (exhibition) Curator (New Zealand Pavilion). Creative Shanghai, Shanghai, China, 2006

DocNZ Film Festival - Experimental Documentary (film program). Curator. New Zealand Film Archives. Wellington, New Zealand, 2006

Open Cities (exhibitions). Co-curator. Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong / Rymer Gallery, Chicago, USA, 2001

Not On Any Map (film series & exhibition). Curator. Film Center & Rymer Gallery, Chicago, USA, 1999

Awards and Grants

Official International Competition, and Media Library Prize Competition (candidate). Festival International du Documentaire de Marseille (FIDM), 2010

Research Fund Grant. Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand, 2010

Artist-in-Residence / Invited Curator (in conjunction with the Shanghai Biennale). Creative Shanghai, Shanghai. China, 2006

Artist-in-Residence (in conjunction with the Shanghai Biennale). Eastlink Gallery, Shanghai. China, 2004

Asia - New Zealand Foundation Grant, 2004

Artist-in-Residence. Videotage / Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Hong Kong, China, 2001

Doctoral Fellowship. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 2001-2004

Creative Development Grant. Canada Council for the Arts, 2001, 1998, 1989, 1988, 1987

Visual Artist Fellowship. Arts Midwest/National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, USA, 1996

Media Arts Fellowship. Brody Arts Fund - The California Community Foundation, Los Angeles, USA, 1994

New Visions / Golden Gate Award. San Francisco International Film Festival, 1992

Research Supervision

Jane Shadbolt, PhD
Valerie LeBlanc, PhD

Professional Membership

College Art Association (USA)
Art Association of Australian & New Zealand