Orejarena & Stein (b. Colombia, 1994 & UK, 1994) are a multimedia artist duo. Currently based in New York, the duo worked in Hanoi from 2018 to 2020. Their work uses the intersection of technology, memory, and desire to explore American mythologies and narratives as they grapple with their relationship to the country that has become their adopted home.
Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at PALO Gallery in New York, Belfast Photo Festival, Palm* Photo Prize at Photo London, Labs New Artists at Red Hook Labs in New York, The Curator's Room in Amsterdam, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center in New York, Photo Vogue Festival at Base Milano, Pole Gallery in Lago di Garda, Italy, Vincom Center for Contemporary Art in Hanoi, with forthcoming exhibitions at The Center for Photographic Art in California and PALO Gallery in New York.
Orejarena & Stein have been nominated for a number of major photographic awards, including the Hariban/Benrido Award (chosen by Yasufumi Nakamori, Senior Curator of Photography at Tate Modern), and the W. Eugene Smith Grant (jurors include Teju Cole), amongst others. Orejarena & Stein are the recipients of the 2023 Center for Photographic Art Artist Grant and the Michael Reichman Project Grant. Recently, Orejarena & Stein's work was nominated for the prestigious Images Vevey Book Award and the Belfast Photo Festival Spotlight Award.
Their work has been published in The New York Times, i-D Vice, Vogue Italia, The British Journal of Photography, Photograph Magazine, Juxtapoz, Wallpaper, The Guardian, It’s Nice That, WePresent, Hamburger Eyes, and Paper Journal Magazine, among many other places.
They have given artist talks at the International Center of Photography (ICP), Christie’s Education, Sotheby’s Art Institute, Vassar College, Penumbra Foundation, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, and University College London.
Together and as solo artists, their work is in a number of public & private collections, including The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Nguyen Art Foundation, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, New York State Museum, and The Ann Tenenbaum & Thomas H. Lee Family Collection.
A book of their work ‘Long Time No See’ was published by Jiazazhi Press in 2022, with texts by Đỗ Tường Linh and Forensic Architecture, designed in collaboration with Brian Paul Lamotte. Their second book ‘American Glitch’, with an introduction text by ICP curator David Campany is forthcoming with Gnomic Books.
Instagram: orejarena_stein_studio
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