Leonard Suryajaya
Chicago, IL, United States
leonardsuryajaya@gmail.com
leonardsuryajaya.com
Born in Indonesia
EDUCATION
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, ME, 2017
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Degree: Master of Fine Arts (Photography), 2015
California State University, Fullerton, CA
Degree: Bachelor of Fine Arts (Creative Photography), 2013
Bachelor of Art (Theatre Arts), 2013
PUBLIC ART
Connection Lookup, Chicago O’Hare International Airport Terminal 5, Chicago, IL, 2023
Homebound, Dusable Harbor Park by Chicago Riverwalk entrance, Chicago, IL, 2023
Kin Link, Chicago Riverwalk, Chicago, IL, 2023
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Parting Gift: Fitting in America, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Denver, CO, 2026.
Parting Gift from Quarantine Blues, Esker Foundation, Calgary, Canada, 2024.
False Idol x North Kin, Plug In ICA, Winnipeg, Canada, 2022.
Novi, Dear, Silvereye Photo Center, Pittsburgh, PA, 2019.
Is It Time Yet, Specialist Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2019.
Bunda, Chicago Artists Coalition at Expo Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2016.
Don’t Hold On to Your Bones, Chicago Artists Coalition, Chicago, IL, 2016.
Bathe Me When I Die, Roy G Biv Gallery, Columbus, OH, 2015.
Different Blood Type, Leroy Neiman Center Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2015.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Nothing as Our Ground, Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany, 2025.
my hands are monsters who believe in magic, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA, 2025.
Perceiving the Divine, John Wayne International Airport, CA, 2025.
Rewritten, Stein Gallery, Dayton, OH, 2024.
Landskrona Foto Festival, Landskrona, Sweden, 2024.
Indirectness: Queerness in Chinese Photography, Eli Klein Gallery, NYC, NY, 2023
Motif: Lamaran, Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 2023.
Intimate Strangers,Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York City, NY, 2023.
Wait, When the Moon Rises, Tu Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany, 2023.
Looking 101, The Block Museum, Evanston, IL, 2022.
Multiplicities, Rowan University Art Gallery, NJ, 2022.
Floating Museum: A Lion for Every House, Art Institute of Chicago, IL, 2022.
The Satirists, Now Gallery, London, 2022.
Home Body, Peckham 24 Festival, London, UK, 2022.
Jakarta International Photo Festival, Indonesia, 2022.
Photolux Festival, Italy, 2022
Chosen Family, Fotomuseum Winthertur, Switzerland, 2022.
Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts, The Block Museum, Evanston, IL, 2021.
Arte Laguna Prize, Arsenale of Venice, Venice, 2021.
Getxo Photo Festival, International Image Festival, Spain, 2021.
The Families, Out of Law, Hatch Art Project, Singapore, 2021.
Material Message, Weston Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, 2021
The Long Dream, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, 2020.
All in This Together, Vogue Photo Festival, Milan, Italy, 2020.
Now You See Me, Foto Relevance, Houston, TX, 2020.
House to House, Frost Museum, Miami, FL, 2020.
Within Global Isolation, Virtual Exhibition, 2020.
In This Body of Mine, Frederick Layton Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, 2019.
Woven Matters, Unseen Platform, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2019.
Delirious City, Aperture Gallery, NYC, NY, 2019.
Red Hook Labs New Artists III, Red Rook Labs, Brooklyn, NY, 2019.
About Face: Stonewall, Revolt and New Queer Art, Wrightwood 659, Chicago, IL, 2019.
Twinkle, Barney Savage Gallery, NYC, NY, 2019.
Singapore International Photography Festival, National Library, Singapore, 2018.
Mike Cloud, Peter Fagundo, Joseriberto Perez, Leonard Suryajaya, Alice Tippit, Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2018.
The Exotic Others – Athens Photo Festival 2018, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece, 2018.
Love 2018: Purple Hearts, Leroy Neiman Gallery, NYC, NY, 2018
Disruptive Perspectives, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, 2017.
Disruptive Perspectives, Photoforum Pasquart, Biel, Switzerland, 2017.
I Want to Be an Object that Screams, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL, 2017.
Front and Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL, 2017.
Chicago Invitational 50x50, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL, 2017
Precariat, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL, 2017
Winter Formal, The Arts of Life, Chicago, IL, 2017
Ground Floor, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL, 2016.
Metropolis: Chicago, Filter Space, Chicago, IL, 2016.
Power and Politics, Filter Space, Chicago, IL, 2016.
Preview, Chicago Artist Coalition, Chicago, IL, 2015.
Memories, Stories, Histories, The Center for Fine Arts Photography, Fort Collins, CO, 2015.
What Would Barbara Do?, Defribillator Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2015.
SAIC MFA Thesis Show, Sullivan Gallery at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2015.
Art by America, The Art House, Chicago, IL, 2015.
Work Werq, Flats Studio, Chicago, IL, 2015.
Hair Club, Flaxman Library, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2015.
Context 2015, Juried by Michal Raz-Russo, Filter Photo Festival, Chicago, IL, 2015.
Dance of Death, Ballroom Projects, Chicago, IL, 2015.
Many People, Someone Definitely, Nightingale Cinema, Chicago, IL, 2014.
SAIC at Expo Chicago, Expo Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2014.
Surface Tension, Sullivan Gallery at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2014.
Gratification, Satellite Space of the Chicago Urban Art Society, Mana Contemporary Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2014.
Somebody, Many People Probably, Defibrillator Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2014.
OC Academy Art Exhibition, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA, 2014.
LGBT Caucus Film Festival at the Society of Photographic Education National Conference, Hilton Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 2014.
Boundaries, Eisentrager-Howard Gallery, Lincoln, NE 2013.
Edible Ephemera, Root Division, San Francisco, CA 2013.
Amongst Shadows and Figures, East Gallery, California State University, Fullerton, CA 2013.
NOTABLE COLLECTIONS
Art Institute of Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Photography
The Block Museum
Lightwork
Vontobel Art Collection
The Battery San Francisco
Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection
Mana Contemporary
Center for Photography at Woodstock
AWARDS AND HONORS
Tulsa Artist Fellowship, 2026.
Guggenheim Fellowship, 2024
Chicago DCASE Esteemed Artist Awards, 2022.
Center Excellence in Multimedia Award, 2020.
Aaron Siskind Foundation Grant, 2019.
Artadia Award, 2018.
Luminarts Fellowship, 2017.
The Santo Foundation Fellowship, 2016.
Lensculture Emerging Talent, 2016.
Robert Giard Foundation Fellowship, 2016.
Claire Rosen and Samuel Edes Prize for Emerging Artist, 2015.
James Weintstein Memorial Fellowship, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2015.
Dean’s Grant, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2013-2015.
New Artist Society Award, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2013-2015.
Richard Willis Award, California State University, Fullerton, 2013.
PRESS AND PUBLICATIONS
Aperture Magazine
New York Times
Vogue America
The New Yorker Magazine
Foam Magazine
Blackflash
Financial Times Magazine
British Journal of Photography
It’s Nice That
Creative Review
Vogue Italy
Luomo Vogue
Fast Company Magazine
Gup Magazine
Unseen Magazine
Lenscratch