BIO & RESUME

About the Photographer

For more than 25 years Linda Butler has worked as an independent art-photographer and is known for her explorations of other cultures. Her most recent book, Yangtze Remembered: The River Beneath the Lake, is an historical document of the Three Gorges Dam project in China. During a three-year period (from 2000 – 2003) Butler made eight trips to China. She captured the complexity of the Three Gorges Project and the beauty of the Yangtze before life was changed forever by the dam. Through her photographs we see common people, architectural interiors and dramatic landscapes. We watch the destruction of the old way of life and the construction of the new in before-and-after photographs of the river and its shores. Published by Stanford University Press (©2004), Yangtze Remembered explores the historical and environmental context of the dam through 109 photographs and 55 pages of text. Butler’s other books include Italy: In the Shadow of Time (Rizzoli International ©1998), Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary (Smithsonian Institution Press ©1992), and Inner Light: The Shaker Legacy (Knopf ©1985).

Butler has had more than fifty one-person exhibitions in the United States, Canada, and Japan. Her photographs have appeared in exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and the Yokohama Museum of Art in Japan. Linda was born in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1947; she graduated from Antioch College and did her graduate degree at the University of Michigan. Since her graduation, she has lived with her husband, Steven Nissen, in Ann Arbor, MI, Sacramento, CA, and Lexington KY. At present, they make their home outside of Cleveland, Ohio.

 

Linda Butler – Fine Art Photographer

Monographs by the photographer

  • Yangtze Remembered: The River Beneath the Lake, 108 duotone photographs, 204pp. Essay by the photographer; foreword by Simon Winchester, ©2004 Stanford University Press
  • Italy: In the Shadow of Time, 60 tritone photographs, 120pp.
    Essay by the photographer; foreword by Naomi Rosenblum, ©1998 Rizzoli International
  • Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary, 57 duotone photos, 144pp.
    The Smithsonian Institution Press ©1992 Text by the photographer
  • Inner Light: The Shaker Legacy, 58 duotone photographs, 96 pp
    Alfred A. Knopf ©1985; text by June Sprigg; reissused ©1995 Gnomon Press

Linda Butler’s photographs were included in the following publications

  • A City Seen 12 photographers document Cleveland for the George Gund Foundation ©2002
  • Presidio Gateways, 5 photographers view the Presidio, Chronicle Books, ©1994

One-Person Museum Exhibitions

  • Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 2006
  • Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ 2005
  • UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles, CA 2005
  • Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA 2005
  • Cleveland Museum of Natural History 2004
  • Akron Art Museum, “The Secret Life of Objects,” Akron, OH 2002
  • Elvehjem Museum, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 2001
  • International Photography Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City, OK 2000
  • Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, MI, 1999
  • Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan 1998
  • Rias Ark Museum, Kesennuma, Miyagi-ken, Japan 1996
  • Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH, 1995
  • Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, MI, 1995
  • Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 1994
  • Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, 1994
  • Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI 1994
  • San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA 1993
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH 1991
  • Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 1986
  • Fruitlands Museums, Harvard, MA 1986
  • Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY 1985
  • Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO 1985
  • The Kentucky Museum, Bowling Green, KY l985
  • University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, KY 1985
  • University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI 1985

Museum Group Exhibitions (partial listing)

  • Concourse Gallery, Upper Arlington, OH, Asia: Cultural Memory, 2006
  • MOCA, Cleveland, “In Transition,” photos by two photographers, sponsored by Cleveland Museum of Art about the Museum’s renovation, 2006
  • Birmingham Museum of Art, “In Celebration of Light,” from the Pierce collection, 2004
  • Honolulu Academy of Arts, “In Celebration of Light,” from the Pierce collection, 2003
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH “City Seen,” 2002
  • Elvehjem Museum, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 2001, “Recent Acquisitions,” 2002
  • Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, “Kentucky Women Artists: 1850-2000,” 2001
  • J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, “New Acquisitions,” 2000
  • University of Kentucky Art Museum, “Made in Kentucky,” 1999
  • Honolulu Academy of Arts, “Recent Photography Acquisitions,” 1995
  • The Japan Society, New York, “Japanese Folk Art” accompanied by photographs, 1994
  • Mingei International Museum of Folk Art, San Diego “Japanese and Shaker objects” with photographs, 1993
  • Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, “Fellowship Winners”, 1993
  • Sezon Museum, Tokyo “Shaker Design” December, 1992
  • Toledo Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions” 1991
  • University of Kentucky Art Museum, “In Black and White” Lexington, KY 1991
  • University of Kentucky Art Museum, “1989 Fellowship Artists” 1991
  • Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama “Recent Acquisitions” 1990
  • Boston Museum of Fine Art, “Shaker Spirit Drawings & prints from the collection” 1990
  • Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. “Recent Acquisitions” 1989
  • Fondazione Querini-Stampalia, “Shaker Design” with photographs, Venice, Italy 1987
  • Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. “Shaker Design” 1986
  • Centre College, Danville, Ky. “Master American Photographers” 1986
  • Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, “Shaker Design” 1986

Museum Collections

  • Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH
  • Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
  • Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
  • Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
  • Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
  • E.B. Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
  • Elvehjem Museum, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
  • Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, HI
  • J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
  • Photographic Archives, University of Louisville, KY
  • Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ
  • Rias Ark Museum, Kesennuma, Miyagi-ken, Japan
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
  • Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
  • The University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, KY
  • The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI

One-Person Traveling Exhibitions

  • “Yangtze Remembered: The River Beneath the Lake” October 2004-May 2006
  • “Italy: In the Shadow of Time” December 1999-October 2002
  • “Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary” December 1992 – March 1995
  • “Connections: Japan/Kentucky: Pairings of Images From Two Cultures,” 1990
  • “Inner Light: The Shaker Legacy” 1985-1988 sponsored by The University of Kentucky Art Museum, and the New York State Gallery Association

Awards and Commissions

  • Kiriyama Prize 2005 Notable Book Award for Yangtze Rmembered: The River Beneath the Lake
  • Cleveland Arts Prize 1999, awarded to a visual artist in the Cleveland area
  • Northern Ohio Live 1999, Award of Achievement in the Visual Arts
  • Gund Foundation Annual Report (photography by Linda Butler, design Nesnadny+ Schwartz) Best Photography, The Black Book AR100 1996 (best 100 Annual Reports) 1996
  • Ohio Arts Council, Individual Artist Award, 1994
  • Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary selected as one of the Best Books for the Teen Age Years, New York Public Library, 1993
  • 1990 Annual Henley Southeastern Spectrum, Cash Award, Winston Salem, NC
  • Kentucky Arts Council, Al Smith Individual Artist Award, 1989
  • Kentucky Foundation for Women, to partially fund photographic work in Japan, 1987
  • Kentucky Arts Council grant to University of Kentucky Special Collections Library to partially fund a photographic project by Linda Butler, 1986
  • Purchase Award, Light Factory National Juried Exhibition, Charlotte, N.C. 1982
  • Purchase Award, 56th Annual Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition Sacramento, CA. 1981

One-Person Gallery Exhibitions (partial listing)

  • Bonfoey Gallery, Cleveland 2004
  • De Santos Gallery, Houston, TX 2003
  • Hillsdale College, Hillsdale MI 2002
  • Lowe Art Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 2001
  • Center for Photographic Art, Carmel CA 2001
  • Bonfoey Company, Cleveland OH 2000
  • Doris Ullman Gallery, Berea College, Berea, KY 2000
  • Kentucky Art and Craft Foundation, Louisville, KY 2000
  • Margo Jacobsen Gallery, Portland OR 1999
  • Witkin Gallery, NYC, NY, 1998
  • G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA 1998
  • Halsted Gallery, Birmingham, MI. 1998
  • Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA 1998
  • Bonfoey Co, Cleveland OH 1998
  • Weston Gallery, Carmel, CA 1997
  • San Francisco Airport, San Francisco CA 1996
  • Ursuline College, “Linda Butler: A Fifteen Year Retrospective” Pepper Pike, OH, 1995
  • Priebe Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, WI 1993
  • ICAC Weston Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 1993
  • Japanese Information and Culture Center; Washington D.C. 1992
  • Witkin Gallery, NYC, NY, 1992
  • Nikon Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 1991
  • Carlton College, Northfield, MN, “Eloquence of the Simple” 1991
  • University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center, Lexington, KY. “Landscapes 1980-1990,” 1990
  • Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, “Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary,” 1990
  • University of Kentucky Special Collections Library, Lexington, KY. 1988
  • Susan Spiritus Gallery, Newport Beach, CA 1987
  • The Witkin Gallery, NYC, NY Summer 1986
  • Lightwork Gallery, Sacramento, CA. 1985
  • The Swearingen Gallery, Louisville, KY 1985
  • Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery, NYC, 1985
  • Murray State University, Murray, KY 1982

Competitive or Curated Exhibitions (partial listing)

  • Katrina Revisited, Heights Arts Gallery, Cleveland Heights, OH 2006
  • House of Oddities, Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland OH 2005
  • Settings by Eight, Images by Ohio Women Photographers, Kent State University, OH 1997
  • Women’s Work, Contemporary Women Photographers, Marymont College, PA 1996
  • Images from the Heart, Cleveland Center of Contemporary Art, 1995
  • Landscape of the Mind, Great Northern Corporate Center, Cleveland, OH 1994
  • The May Show, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland OH 1993
  • Photography: Discovery and Invention, Art 21, Basel, Switzerland 1990
  • 1990 Annual Henley Southeastern Spectrum, Winston Salem, NC
  • Kentucky Art 1983, University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, KY
  • Light Factory National Juried Exhibition, 1982, Charlotte, N.C.
  • 56th Annual Crocker-Kingsley Exhibitions, 1981, Sacramento, CA
  • 54th Annual Crocker-Kingsley Exhibitions, 1979, Sacramento, CA

Books or Magazines that included a single photo or a photo essay by Linda Butler (partial)

  • Lenswork, “Yangtze Remembered: The River Beneath the Lake,” Fall, 2004
  • Lenswork “Italy: In the Shadow of Time” 1999
  • The New Yorker, September 1999
  • New York Times Book Review 1998
  • Io Donna, Milan Italy; “Italy: In the Shadow of Time” 1998
  • Nippon Camera, “Italy: In the Shadow of Time” 1998
  • View Camera Magazine, Italy: Seduction of the Eye 1997
  • Parabola Magazine, Inner Light: The Shaker Legacy, 1996
  • Images from the Heart, Bicentennial book of Cleveland ©1995
  • History of Women Photographers by Naomi Rosenblum, Publisher: Abbeville ©1994
  • Japan Airlines Magazine, Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary Jan. 1993
  • Shaker Design, Hancock Shaker Collection, Sezon Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1992
  • Japan Society Newsletter, Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary Dec. 1992
  • Nikkor Club Magazine, Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary, Spring 1992
  • Nippon Camera, “Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary” June 1991

Corporate and Private Collections (partial listing)

  • American Express, Chicago
  • The American Embassy, Ottawa, Canada
  • Bill Cosby, New York City
  • Citicorp, New York City
  • The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
  • George Gund Foundation, Cleveland, OH
  • IBM, Lexington, Kentucky; IBM, San Francisco, California
  • McKinsey Consultants, Cleveland, OH
  • Peter Lewis, Cleveland, Ohio
  • The Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Heights, OH
  • R.J. Reynolds Industries, Winston Salem, North Carolina
  • University Hospitals, Cleveland, OH
  • Leonard and Marjorie Vernon, Los Angeles, California

Bodies of Work

  • Meditations on an Altered World, photographs of Katrina, 2005-2006, 4″X5″ and 2 1/4″ negatives, 2005-2006. Black and white enlargements at 11″X14″, 16″X20″ and 20″X24″
  • Transformation of a Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 4″X5″ and 2 1/4″ transparences, 2005. Chromogenenic color laser prints at 11″X14″, 16″X20″ and 20″X24″
  • Yangtze Remembered: The River Beneath the Lake, 2000-2004, 4″X5″, 2 1/4″, and digital. Black and white enlargements at 11″X14″, 16″X20″, 20″X24″ & 20″X38″
  • House of Oddities, San Francisco 4″X5″ negatives, 11″X14″ & 16″X20″ prints, 2001
  • Water, Water, 8″X10″ and 4″X5″ negatives; 11″X14″, 16″X20″ & 20″X24″ prints 1997-2000
  • Italy: In the Shadow of Time, 4″X5″ negatives, 1992-1998. Black and white poly-toned enlargements at 11″X14″ & 16″X20″
  • The Presidio, Commissioned by the Presidio Council and the National Park Service. Black and white photos of interiors and still life objects 1992-1993
  • Reflections, 4″X5″ negatives, Black and white prints 1986-1994
  • Rural Japan: Radiance of the Ordinary, 4″X5″ and 2 1/4″ negatives 1986-92. Black and white enlargements at 11″X14″ & 16″X20″
  • Death of a Kentucky Farm, 4″X5″ & 8″X10″ negatives, 1986. Black and white enlargements at 11″X14″ & 16″X20″
  • Inner Light: The Shaker Legacy, 8″X10″ negatives, Black & white prints at 11″X14″ & 16″X20″ 1982-1985
  • Visions of Desert Light, 4″X5″ negatives, 11″X14″ & 16″X20″ prints 1980-1981, 1985, 2002.
  • Whimsical Color Still Life Images, 2 1/4″ Transparencies, Cibachromes 1980

Education

  • University of Michigan
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
    MAT 1972
  • Antioch College
    Yellow Springs, Ohio
    BA 1970

Gallery Representation

Linda Butler
e-mail: LBphoto@aol.com
Website: LindaButlerphoto.com

All Rights Reserved. ©2007 Linda Butler
Developed and designed by E. N. Dunham