{{Short description|American commercial and art photographer}} {{Improve images|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox artist | name = Roe Ethridge | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = August 7, 1969 | birth_place = Miami, Florida | death_date = | death_place = | training = Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, Georgia | movement = Postmodern art photography | works = | patrons = | influenced by = | influenced = | awards = | website = [http://www.andrewkreps.com/artists_portfolio.html?aid=54 Andrew Kreps Gallery], [http://www.gagosian.com/artists/roe-ethridge Gagosian Gallery] }} '''Roe Ethridge''' is a postmodernist commercial and art photographer, known for exploring the plastic nature of photography – how pictures can be easily replicated and recombined to create new visual experiences. He often adapts images that have already been published, adding new, sculpted simulations of reality, or alternatively creates highly stylized versions of classical compositions, such as a still life bowl of moldy fruit which appeared on the cover of ''Vice'' magazine,<ref name=NYT-2010/> or landscapes and portraits with surprising elements.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/an-interview-with-roe-ethridge/|author= Jesse Pearson|work=Vice Magazine|title= An Interview with Roe Ethridge|date=July 15, 2010|publisher= From The Vice Photo Book, 2007}}</ref> After participating in the 2008 Whitney Biennial,<ref name=whitney-biennial>{{cite web|url=http://whitney.org/www/2008biennial/www/?section=artists&page=artist_ethridge|title=Whitney Museum of American Art, 2008 Biennial – Bio Page for Roy Ethridge}}</ref> his work has been collected by several leading public museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Tate Modern. In 2010, his work was included in the MoMA's 25th Anniversary ''New Photography'' exhibit.<ref name=NYT-2010>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/arts/design/08photography.html|author=Karen Rosenberg|title=Ignoring Boundaries and Borrowing Freely| work=The New York Times | date=October 7, 2010}}</ref>
==Biography== Born in Miami, Florida, in 1969, Roe Ethridge grew up in the Atlanta, Georgia area. He attended Florida State University and graduated with a BFA in Photography from the Atlanta College of Art.<ref name=KrepsB>{{cite web|url=http://www.andrewkreps.com/artists_bio.html?aid=54|title=Andrew Kreps Gallery, Biography of Roe Ethridge|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116200320/http://www.andrewkreps.com/artists_bio.html?aid=54|archivedate=2014-01-16}}</ref> In 1997 he moved to New York City<ref name=printedmatter>{{cite web|url=http://printedmatter.org/catalogue/moreinfo.cfm?title_id=73239|title=Printed Matter Photography Portfolio IV : New York Photographs, 2001|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130415175856/http://printedmatter.org/catalogue/moreinfo.cfm?title_id=73239|archivedate=2013-04-15}}</ref> and started his commercial photography career, over time providing catalog images, editorial and fashion shots, and working for publications including ''New York Times Magazine'', ''Allure'', ''Spin'', ''Vice'' and ''Wired''.<ref name=printedmatter/> The same year he moved, he also had his first solo exhibition, in Zurich, Switzerland, and participated in the Atlanta Biennial, held at the Nexus Contemporary Art Center.<ref name=KrepsB/> By the 2011 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize competition, the Jury advanced him to the four finalists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://deutsche-boerse.com/dbg/dispatch/en/listcontent/dbg_nav/corporate_responsibility/33_Art_Collection/25_photography_prize/Content_Files/DB_SP_Photography_Prize_2011.htm|title=Deutsche Börse AG Announcement, 2011 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize shortlist and winner.|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910055807/http://deutsche-boerse.com/dbg/dispatch/en/listcontent/dbg_nav/corporate_responsibility/33_Art_Collection/25_photography_prize/Content_Files/DB_SP_Photography_Prize_2011.htm|archivedate=2013-09-10}}</ref>
Ethridge took the cover photo for Cat Power's 1998 album ''Moon Pix''. They had known each other as teenagers in Atlanta.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/may/28/cat-power-on-moon-pix-im-alive-today-because-of-those-songs |title=Cat Power on Moon Pix: 'I'm alive today because of those songs' |newspaper=The Guardian |date= 28 May 2018|author=Kate Hennessy |accessdate= August 22, 2022}}</ref>
In 2002, Ethridge married fashion model Nancy Hagen.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/fashion-v14n6/|work=Vice Magazine|year= 2008| title= Significant Others|author= Zach Galifianakis|author-link= Zach Galifianakis}}</ref> They live in Rockaway Beach, Queens and his studio is in Brooklyn, NY.<ref name=nymag>{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/03/studio-visit-roe-ethridge.html|work=New York Magazine|date= March 6, 2012|title= Photographer Roe Ethridge on Shooting for Dazed & Confused, Kenzo, and Goldman Sachs|author=James Lim}}</ref>
==Work== "American photographer Roe Ethridge became a recognizable force in the fine art world with his serene but subversive portraits, still lifes, and landscapes." -James Lim, New York Magazine, 2012<ref name=nymag/>
Ethridge is widely regarded to have been influenced by fellow photo artists including Thomas Ruff, Michael Schmidt, and Christopher Williams.<ref name=whitney-biennial/> Critics have frequently noted his seamless switching between commercial assignments and fine art photography.<ref name=whitney-biennial/> As a commercial photographer,<ref name=Telegraph>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/8403488/Roe-Ethridge-Commercial-break.html|title=Roe Ethridge: Commercial break, by Lucy Davies | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph|date=March 25, 2011}}</ref> beyond contributing to many magazine editorials, his clients have ranged from fashion, including Balenciaga and Kenzo,<ref name=nymag/> to corporate, such as Goldman Sachs.<ref name=NYT2011>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/arts/design/roe-ethridge-le-luxe.html?_r=0|author=Karen Rosenberg|title=Roe Ethridge: Le Luxe| work=The New York Times | date=June 16, 2011}}</ref> He often appropriates his own work as commercial photographer — as well as newspaper, catalog and stock photography — for his museum and gallery shows.<ref name="nytimes.com">Karen Rosenberg (October 7, 2010), [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/arts/design/08photography.html Ignoring Boundaries and Borrowing Freely] ''New York Times''.</ref> According to the curators of the MoMA: "The pictures acquire their meaning from the salient way in which they have been shuffled, sequenced, and laid out in nonlinear narrative structures. His prints vary widely in scale and source material.<ref name="nytimes.com"/> Combining and recombining already recontextualized images, Ethridge at once subverts the photographs' original roles and renews their signifying possibilities."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/newphotography/roe-ethridge/|title=MoMA, New Photography 2010, Roe Ethridge}}</ref>
From 2005 to 2010, Ethridge was commissioned to photograph the construction of 200 West Street, the Goldman Sachs headquarters in Lower Manhattan.<ref>Maria Lokke (June 27, 2011), [http://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/roe-ethridges-le-luxe Roe Ethridge’s “Le Luxe”] ''The New Yorker''.</ref>
In 2009, Ethridge returned to a studio-based approach after the international location shooting for his project "Rockaway."<ref>[http://www.gladstonegallery.com/exhibition/1290/press Roe Ethridge, February 6 – March 14, 2009], Barbara Gladstone Gallery, Brussels.</ref> In his 2012 series "Interiors", he investigates the broad world of personal space, featuring images of his own home and studio, magazine photographs of staged bedrooms inspired by the suburban aesthetic, and billboard advertisements.<ref>[http://www.gladstonegallery.com/exhibition/1005/press Roe Ethridge: Interiors, September 8 – October 12, 2012], Barbara Gladstone Gallery, Brussels.</ref>
Commissioned by automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz in 2014, Ethridge directed ''Special sets the standard'', a three-minute short film starring actress Tilda Swinton as the driver of a S-Class Coupé.<ref>[http://news.mercedes-benz.co.uk/fashion/mercedes-benz-ss-2015-special-sets-the-standard.html Mercedes-Benz S/S 2015: Special sets the standard] Mercedes-Benz, press release of September 10, 2014.</ref><ref>Anders Christian Madsen (July 14, 2014), [https://i-d.co/article/tildaswintondriving/ Driving the dream: Tilda Swinton, Haider Ackermann, and Roe Ethridge team up for Mercedes Benz] ''i-D''.</ref>
== Exhibitions == Ethridge's work has been shown in the United States and internationally, including: Greater New York, MOMA PS1 (2000), The Americans, Barbican Center, London (2001), Hello My Name Is…, Carnegie Museum of Art (2002), Momentum 4: Roe Ethridge, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2005), Whitney Biennial (2008), New Photography 2010: Roe Ethridge, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010), and Les Recontres D'Arles, France (2011).<ref>[http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/june-09-2011--roe-ethridge Roe Ethridge: Le Luxe II BHGG, June 9 – July 22, 2011] ''Gagosian Gallery''.</ref> A major survey of his work, curated by Anne Pontégnie, originated at Le Consortium in Dijon, France, and opened at M - Museum Leuven, Belgium.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/this-thing/|author=Christy Lange|work=Frieze Magazine|issue=150|date=October 2012|title=For This Thing To Happen|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117144915/http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/this-thing/|archivedate=2013-01-17}}</ref>
== Publications == * ''Le Luxe'', Mack: London, 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-907946-08-0}}<ref>[http://www.mackbooks.co.uk/pages/leluxe/ Roe Ethridge, ''Le Luxe''], Mack.</ref>
== Collections == After gaining considerable exposure from participating in the 2008 Whitney Biennial, his photographs have been acquired by several modern art museums, including: * Museum of Modern Art<ref>[http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A38029&page_number=&template_id=6&sort_order=1 Museum of Modern Art – Roe Ethridge in Collection]</ref> *Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston<ref>[http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/permanent-collection/artists/ethridge/ Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston – Roe Ethridge in Collection]</ref> *Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles<ref>[http://www.moca.org/museum/pc_search_results.php?keywords=Roe+Ethridge&x=11&y=9 Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles – Roe Ethridge in Collection]</ref> *Tate Modern<ref>[http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/roe-ethridge-7080 Tate Modern – Roe Ethridge in Collection]</ref>
== References == '''Notes''' {{Reflist|33em}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ethridge, Roe}} Category:American photographers Category:Living people Category:1969 births Category:Artists from Miami Category:Florida State University alumni Category:Artists from New York City Category:American postmodern artists Category:Artists from Atlanta Category:Atlanta College of Art alumni