Parfum de Pandémique: Paranoia Never Smelled So Sweet © 2020 Jeff Gates
I have a history of creating one-person art organizations. The Chamomile Tea Party is my second. In the 1990s, I founded ArtFBI (Artists for a Better Image) to study stereotypes of contemporary artists in our society. Having an organization gives me a “handle” that stands out, especially when I’m explaining my work at art openings and in elevator pitches.
I’m also a photographer, graphic designer, and writer with a BA in political science from Michigan State University and an MFA in graphic design and photography from UCLA. I taught college photography and computer graphics for twenty-three years. Then I leaped to the museum world, working as the Lead Producer for New Media Initiatives at the Smithsonian American Art Museum for the next twenty-two years. Interested in how technology could enhance our visitors’ experiences, in 2005, I started the first blog at the Smithsonian, Eye Level.
My work is in several museum collections, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. I’ve received two National Endowment for the Arts Artist Grants for my photography, including one for my photo documentary In Our Path. This tells the story of the construction and social ramifications of the “last” freeway to be built in Los Angeles. These photographs and accompanying essays are in the collection of the Huntington Library, a repository for Southern California history and art.
I have written for several publications, including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, and for National Public Radio. I am the author of Uneventful: The Rise of Photography, about how technology and culture have fueled changes in the medium.
Jeff Gates