7 pm | FREE | Katherine W. and Ezekiel R. Dumke Jr. Auditorium 

Kei Ito is a conceptual photographer working primarily with camera-less image making and installation art. Ito earned his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2016, following his BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2014.

Ito’s work addresses issues of deep loss and intergenerational connection as he explores the materiality and experimental processes of photography. His work deals with the trauma and legacy passed down from his late grandfather, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and a later anti-nuclear activist, in relation to current threats of nuclear disaster. Ito’s artwork breaks down the machine-based modern photography into an organic and human oriented process; an embodiment of his performative artmaking due to his use of sunlight as his exposure unit and the duration of his breath for the exposure time. Ito’s artwork leads the audience on a journey from grief and remembrance to hope. Through his ritualistic image-making, the audience sees how he grapples with his family’s historical connection to nuclear weapons and power. Thus, Ito’s art serves as an intermediary, a memento of his grandfather, and his own experience in today’s nuclear climate.

Ito’s recent solo exhibitions were hosted by Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (NC), IA&A at Hillyer (DC), Masur Museum of Art (LA), and Manifest Gallery (OH); and his recent group exhibitions took place at the Norton Museum of Art (FL), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VA), the Museum of Contemporary Photography (IL), CICA Museum (South Korea), the Walters Art Museum (MD), and the Noorderlicht (Netherlands). Ito’s works have been collected by major art institutions including: the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, IL; Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, FL; California Institute of Integral Studies/Chroma in San Francisco, CA; En Foco in the Bronx, NY; and the Center for Photography at Woodstock.

The Marva and John Warnock biennial residency program has quickly become an important catalyst for dialogue encompassing contemporary issues of art making, pedagogy, interdisciplinary and collaborative work, art in the community and art as activism. The program aims to expose students to new, innovative, and diverse contemporary art practices, while providing an opportunity for trilateral exchange amongst students, faculty, and the public at large. The artist-in-residence will lead a Master Class that takes the form of intensive workshops throughout the semester. Kei Ito is the sixth artist to be selected for the residency and master class. Read more about the Warnock residency here.