Biography
Flavia Gandolfo’s work investigates how the visual conventions and material cultures of nationalism institutionalise state identities. Gandolfo’s training as a historian and paleographer informs her artistic process as she sifts through field diaries, letters and notes in search of minor gestures that illuminate more complex and subtle expressions of state-centred identities. A common thread throughout Gandolfo’s work is the naturalised social norms and notions often invisibly embedded within political and social institutions. The artist aims to make the normative legible through a methodical deconstruction of its aesthetics.
Gandolfo’s work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions at Museo de Arte de LIma-MALI (2020); Perú en ARCO, Madrid (2019); Espace Van Gogh, Arles (2017); Blanton Museum of Art, Texas (2016); Garúa, Lima (2015); Museo de Arte del Banco de la República de Bogotá (2013); 12th Istanbul Biennale (2011); and 8th Mercosul Biennial, Brazil (2011).
Gandolfo’s work can be found in the collections of Museo de Arte de LIma-MALI and Harry Ransom Centre, Texas.
She has received several awards, including Honorable Mention, First National Biennial, Lima (1998); Roy Crane Award for the Arts, University of Texas (1995); and a grant from the American Photography Institute, New York University (1994).
She was the academic director of the photography career, Centro de la Imagen, Lima (2003 – 2022); A Member of the collective Espacio La Culpable, Lima (2002-2008) and is currently an Art teacher, Universidad Catolica del Peru. Lima (2022 – present).
Gandolfo holds a BA in history from Catholic University of Peru, Lima (1990) and an MFA in photography from University of Texas (1995).
Gandolfo was born in 1967 in Lima, where she continues to live and work.
SAF participation:
Sharjah Biennial 15 (2023)
