"A photograph is not a snapshot, but a constructed artifact that expresses the thoughts and ideas of the person behind it"

Weston Naef, Curator Emeritus, Department of Photographs, The J. Paul Getty Museum

Biography

Tony DeVarco (b. 1961) received his Master’s in Arts Administration from the College Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati in 1986. Moving to New York City as a young artist, DeVarco became involved in such innovative programs as Studio in a School, founded by Agnes Gund and Creative Time started by Anita Contini. While coordinating programs for Creative Time, DeVarco was introduced to American abstract expressionist sculptor Mark di Suvero. He spent a year and a half as di Suvero's assistant while living and working on his own art and contributing to the development of Socrates Sculpture Park. In addition to di Suvero’s direct influence, Tony’s approach to sculpture and mixed media at the time was deeply inspired by the work of the Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi whom the artist met in 1987.

After leaving NYC in late 1988, Tony taught Arts Administration at the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati for two years. While there he co-wrote and produced with Cincinnati playwright and Professor of Drama Michael Burnham a theater piece entitled "Buckminster Fuller: In and Out of the Universe." The play, which also featured DeVarco’ set designs, was presented by the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Ohio. Tony DeVarco was appointed Executive Director of the Buckminster Fuller Institute in 1991 and led the organization until May of 1995 after moving its headquarters and Fuller Archives from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara.

In 2005 Tony DeVarco returned to his artistic practice with fresh vision and new tools. Through his later years in the digital environments of Silicon Valley while traveling regularly for SGI and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to Japan, Europe and other locations around the globe, his artist’s tools became more technological and ephemeral – a laptop and a digital camera. With these tools, he has explored a completely unique lens based approach to the creation of digital photomontages.

Select Exhibitions

2025

• Monterey Biennial at Monterey Museum of Art, Demetri Broxton, Ann Jastrab, and Hector Dionicio Mendoza, Jurors

• Purple!, Gray Loft Gallery, Ann Jastrab and Jan Watten, Jurors

2024

• PRETTY IN PINK, Gray Loft Gallery, Ann Jastrab and Jan Watten, Jurors

2023

• Perspective Gallery’s LENS 2023 INTERNATIONAL JURIED PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION, Crista Dix, Juror

• Center for Photographic Art 2023 Members' Juried Exhibition (Online), Hamidah Glasgow, Juror

• New York Center for Photographic Art’s THE SAME BUT DIFFERENT Juried Exhibition, Debra Klomp Ching, Juror

2022

• Center for Photographic Art 2022 Members' Juried Exhibition, Crista Dix, Juror

• Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts- 8th International Juried Exhibition, Jessica Roscio, Juror

• Southeast Center for Photography- Conversations with the Archive, Aline Smithson, Juror

• SHADES OF GRAY, Gray Loft Gallery, Ann Jastrab and Jan Watten, Jurors

2021

• Center for Photographic Art- 2021 International Juried Exhibition, Darren Ching and Debra Klomp Ching, Jurors

• YELLOW, Gray Loft Gallery, Ann Jastrab and Jan Watten, Jurors

2020

• Center for Photographic Art- 2020 International Juried Exhibition, Aline Smithson, Juror

2019

• Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts-7th International Open Call, Beal Rantoul, Juror

2018

• Gathering Kokoro, Marta Hewett Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

2017

• ReGenerations, Marta Hewett Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

2016

• Spirited Nature Traces of Light, La Stella Gallery at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, Los Angeles, CA

• Center for Photographic Arts 2016 Members' Juried Exhibition, Heather Snider, Juror

2012

• Way of Time, Marta Hewett Gallery, Cincinnati, OH

Reviews

•Unruly Currents: Tony DeVarco and Mayako Nakamura, AEQAI Review, 2017

•All Kinds of Time: Tony DeVarco at Marta Hewlett Gallery, AEQAI Review, 2012