Kim Llerena is a photographic artist based in Miami, Florida. She holds an MFA in Photographic and Electronic Media from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and a BA in Journalism from New York University (NYU). She exhibits nationally in addition to serving as full-time faculty at the University of Miami. Her work explores our constructed relationship to place and the various ways it manifests in spaces both public and private.
Llerena is included in the permanent collection of The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. She is currently a 2023 South Florida Cultural Consortium Grant winner. She received a Miami-Dade Artist Access Grant in 2022 and a D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities Fellowship Program Grant in 2021. She was a 2019 Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Competition top 100 winner and a 2019 CENTER Review Santa Fe 100 photographer. She has been featured in Lenscratch, LensCulture, Fraction Magazine, The Washington Post, and numerous other publications. Recent exhibitions include the Art and Culture Center, Hollywood, Florida; Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, Louisiana; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; Academy Art Museum, Easton, Maryland; and Candela Gallery, Richmond, Virginia.
SOLO and TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2022 Surface Encounters, Formerly Was Gallery, Washington, D.C. (2-person exhibition)
2020 American Scrapbook, SOLOS 2020, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, Arlington, VA
American Miniature (collaboration), artspace, Richmond, VA
2019 American Miniature (collaboration), 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL
2018 American Miniature (collaboration), Pellissippi State Community College, Knoxville, TN
2017 Rust Sun Bible Corn, The Delaplaine Arts Center, Frederick, MD
2015 Rust Sun Bible Corn, VisArts, Rockville, MD
Ekphrasis, Hillyer Art Space, Washington, D.C.
2012 Ekphrasis, MFA Thesis Exhibition III, Decker Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD
2011 Nowhere More Familiar, Gateway Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 South Florida Cultural Consortium Grant Winners Exh., Art and Culture Center, Hollywood, FL
9th International Juried Exh., juried by Paula Tognarelli, RI Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI
Collector’s Night 2023, presented by Washington Project for the Arts (WPA), Washington, D.C.
2022 Currents 2022, juried by Phillip March Jones, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
Reverberation: PCNW 25th Juried Exhibition, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
Convergence: A Contemporary Photography Exhibition, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN
2021 Inside Out, Upside Down, juried invitational, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
UnBound10!, Candela Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Poster Show, but-also, Washington, D.C.
2020 New Photography II, juried by Philip Brookman, Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD
Lost/Found, Katzen Arts Center, American University, Washington, D.C.
CPA Members’ Juried Exh., juried by Laura Sackett & Ann Jastrab, Ctr for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA (online)
2019 Surfacing, The Mansion at Strathmore, Bethesda, MD (4-person exhibition)
Lost/Found, Studio Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Art Night 2019, WPA, Hickok Cole Architects, Washington, D.C.
2018 That’s Why I’m Here, curated by Meaghan Kent, Cody Gallery, Arlington, VA (5-person exhibition)
Vox Lacunae, curated by Grace DeWitt, Stamp Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Narrative, Studio Gallery, Washington, D.C.
2017 Exposure 2017, juried by Sarah Kennel, Photographic Resource Center, Boston University, Boston, MA
PCNW 21stJuried Exh., juried by Sandra Phillips of SFMOMA, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
The Journey: Photographs Along the Way, juried by Sam Abell, Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL
2016 90th Annual International Competition, The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA (online exhibition)
Word & Image: Portfolio Showcase, Davis Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY
SPE Combined Caucus Juried Exhibition, juried by Aline Smithson, Living Arts, Tulsa, OK
2015 HCP 33rd Membership Exhibition, juried by Russell Lord, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
Wish You Were Here 14, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Small Towns, Spokane Art School Gallery, Spokane, WA
2014 The Trawick Prize Finalist Exhibition, Gallery B, Bethesda, MD
Still Life, juried by Rebecca Senf, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
35-33-35 Anniversary Show, School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD
2013 Sondheim Artscape Prize Semifinalist Exhibition, Decker Gallery, MICA, Baltimore, MD
Regarding Territory, curated by Ginevra Shay, Furthermore Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Smörgåsbord, juried by Paddy Johnson, Gallery CA, City Arts, Baltimore, MD
2012 Voyeurism & Intimacy, juried by Todd Hido, RayKo Photo Center, San Francisco, CA
Young Blood 2012, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
Staging Over Manipulation, curated by Rod Malin, Guest Spot Art Space, Baltimore, MD (4-person exhibition)
2011 Studious, juried by Shane Lavalette, hosted by Lay Flat and Light Work, Spark Gallery, Syracuse, NY