Leonardo Selvaggio

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ISEA Bio(s) Available:

ISEA2015

Chicago, USA-based interdisciplinary artist Leonardo Selvaggio examines the intersection of identity and technology. He received a BFA from Rutgers University and an MFA from Columbia College Chicago and is the founder of Fountains Foundation at 916. Selvaggio has shown work in New York, Chicago, New Mexico, Florida, France and recently in Montreal as part of the Art Souterrain 2015 festival. In 2014, Selvaggio received the Albert P Weisman award for URME Surveillance and exhibited in Art2Make, hosted by College Arts Association’s annual conference. Selvaggio’s work has been featured in Hyperallergic, Techcrunch, Washington Post, CNET, Verge, The Creator’s Project and others.

Leonardo Selvaggio, Independent Artist, Chicago, IL, USA. As an artist, I investigate the entanglements of identity with technology. I treat identity as data that can be manipulated, hacked, or even corrupted in our increasingly digital and networked society. Within the larger context of surveillance, my work examines how this data is subject to systems of oppression and patriarchal power that exploit and co-opt our personal identities for institutional gain. In “URME Surveillance”, rather than hide the public from cameras, I invite users to wear a photo-realistic 3D printed prosthetic of my face. Thus, facial recognition systems attribute the wearer’s actions as my own. In doing so, I enable the user to subvert highly networked surveillance through the creation and proliferation of disinformation. I received my MFA from Columbia College’s Interdisciplinary Arts MFA program in 2014. My work has shown in New York, Chicago, Florida, New Mexico, France, and Canada. In 2014, I received the Albert P Weisman award for my work URME Surveillance and also exhibited my work, URME Polygons, in Art2Make, hosted by College Arts Association’s annual conference. In 2015 URME Surveillance was selected for the Art Souterrain festival in Montreal, ISEA 2015 conference in Vancouver, and the Saint-Etienne Design Biennial in France to name a few. URME Surveillance has been featured in Hyperallergic, Techcrunch, The Washington Post, CNET, The Verge, The Creator’s Project and others.