Subhankar Banerjee Resume
S U B H A N K A R B A N E R J E E
I was born in 1967 in Berhampore, a small town near Kolkata, India. My early experiences in
my tropical home in rural Bengal fostered my life long interest in the value of land and it’s resources.
In the cinemas of these small towns, I came to know the work of brilliant Bengali filmmakers
including, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, and Ritwik Ghatak. I loved cinema and found their visual
explorations of everyday life and larger social issues immensely inspiring. I asked my Great Uncle
Bimal Mookerjee, a painter, to teach me how to paint. I created portraits and detailed rural scenes,
but knew from growing up in a middle-income family that it would be nearly impossible for me to
pursue a career in the arts. I chose instead the practical path of studying engineering in India and later
earned master’s degrees in physics and computer science at New Mexico State University.
In the New Mexican Desert, I fell in love with the open spaces of the American West. I
hiked and backpacked frequently in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah, and bought a 35mm
camera with which I began taking photographs. After finishing my graduate degrees in Physics and
Computer Science, I moved to Seattle, Washington to take up a research job in the sciences. In the
Pacific Northwest, my commitment to photography grew, and I photographed extensively during
many outdoor trips in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, California, New Hampshire,
Vermont, Florida, British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba. In 2000, I decided to leave my scientific
career behind and began a large-scale photography project in the American Arctic.
Selected Awards / Fellowships / Residencies
2009
Artist-in-Residence, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Visiting Artist, Columbia College, Chicago
2008 Visiting Artist, F.A.R. (Future Arts Research) @ ASU, Phoenix, Arizona
2006-8 Visiting Faculty, Environmental Humanities, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
2005
Inaugural Greenleaf Artist Award, United Nations Environment Programme
2003
Inaugural Cultural Freedom Fellowship, Lannan Foundation
National Conservation Achievement Award, National Wildlife Federation
Special Achievement Award, Sierra Club
2002
Housberg Award, Alaska Conservation Foundation
Selected One-person Exhibitions
2009
Subhankar Banerjee: Photographs | Curator Professor Gerald Auten
Hopkins Center for Arts, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, Jan 13 – Feb 8
Catalog with essay by Professor Karl Jacoby of Brown University
Arktis | Curator Katri Burri
CoalMine Fotogalerie at Volkart House, Winterthur, Switzerland, April 22 – July 25
2008
Resource Wars | Sundaram Tagore Gallery
New York, New York, March 25-April 19
Beverly Hills, California, July 19 – August 17
Catalog with introduction by Peter Matthiessen and essay by Dr. Kelley E. Wilder
2007
Subhankar Banerjee: Resource Wars in the American Arctic | Curator Katherine W. Hart
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 27–May 20
2006
Michael Berger Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio
Museum of the North, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska
Subhankar Banerjee Resume
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2005
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, Texas
The Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle, Washington
2004
Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, New York
Wilding Art Museum, Los Olivos, California
Museum of Utah Art and History, Salt Lake City, Utah
Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York
Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, Massachusetts
New Mexico Museum of Natural History, Albuquerque, New Mexico
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
American Mountaineering Center, Golden, Colorado
Fernbank Science Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
The Science Place, Dallas, Texas
Museum of Science and Industry, Tampa, Florida
2003
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California
American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, District of Columbia
Selected Group Exhibitions
2009
Focus on Photography: Works from 1950 to Today | Curator Emily S. Burke
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, January 13 – March 8
Diane Arbus, Subhankar Banerjee, Edward Burtynsky, William Christenberry,
Rineke Dijkstra, Walker Evans, Lotte
Jacobi, Nikki S. Lee, Loretta Lux, Sally Mann,
James Nachtwey, Sebastiao Salgado, Stephen Shore, Malick Sidibe, Joel Sternfeld, Andy
Warhol, Carrie Mae Weems among others | Subhankar led a gallery talk on February 3
Picturing the Process: Exploring the Art and Science of Photography
Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, California, February 7 – July 25
And for all this Nature is never spent | Curator Professor Jo Anna Isaac | catalog
Pelham Art Center in collaboration with Fordham University, New York, Mar 13–April 25
Subhankar Banerjee, Sue Coe, Mark Jones, Stephanie Lempert, Jesse Potts, Samm Kunce,
Christy Rupp, Alan Sonfist, Chris Sollars and Susan Unterberg
2008 Polar Attractions | Curator Janey Winchell
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, June 28 08 – June 7 09
Feeling the Heat: Artists, Scientists, and Climate Change | Curator Liz Christensen
Deutsche Bank Art Gallery, New York, May 20 – October 24
2008
Unlearning Intolerance: Art Changing Attitudes Toward The Environment
United Nations Headquarters, New York, May 2 – June 15, 2008
Curator Randy J. Rosenberg for UN DPI, UNEP, and Natural World Museum
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2008
Envisioning Change: Melting Ice – A Hot Topic
Ministry of Culture, Monaco, February 14 – March 20
The Field Museum, Chicago, USA, April 18 – September 6
Curator Randy J. Rosenberg for UNEP and Natural World Museum
Arctic Wings: Miracle of Migrations
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle, Washington, Sept. 13 – Dec. 31
Dimensions of Color: Summer Group Exhibition
Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Beverly Hills, California, August 23 – October 5
In Your Mind’s Eye: Summer Group Exhibition
Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York, July 24 – August 30
2007
Weather Report: Art and Climate Change | Curator Lucy R. Lippard, catalog
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and EcoArts, Boulder, Colorado, Sept. 14 - Dec. 21
Artists: Kim Abeles, Lillian Ball, Subhankar Banerjee, Iain Baxter&, Bobbe Besold, Cape
Farewell, Mary Ellen Carroll (Precipice Alliance), CLUI (Center for Land Use
Interpretation), Brian Collier, Xavier Cortada, Gayle Crites, Agnes Denes, Steven Deo,
Rebecca DiDomenico, Future Farmers (Amy Franceschini and Michael Swaine), Bill Gilbert,
Isabella Gonzales, Green Fabrication (via Rick Sommerfeld, University of Colorado, College
of Architecture and Planning), Newton & Helen Harrison, Judit Hersko, Lynne Hull, Pierre
Huyghe, Basia Irland, Patricia Johanson, Chris Jordan, Marguerite Kahrl, Janet Koenig &
Greg Sholette, Eve Andree Laramee, Learning Site (Cecilia Wendt and Rikke Luther), Ellen
Levy, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Patrick Marold, Natasha Mayers, Jane McMahan, Mary Miss,
Joan Myers, Beverly Naidus, Chrissie Orr, Melanie Walker & George Peters, Andrea Polli,
Marjetica Potrc, Aviva Rahmani, Rapid Response, Buster Simpson, Kristine Smock, Joel
Sternfeld, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Ruth Wallen, Sherry Wiggins, The Yes Men, Shai Zakai
Photographs from the Ends of the Earth | Curator Dr. Lisa Hostetler, brochure
Milwaukee Art Museum, September 13 – December 24
Photographs of the Arctic from the 1869 American expedition of Isaac Israel Hayes,
Antarctic expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton, and contemporary photographs by artists
Subhankar Banerjee, Diane Cook, Rena Bass Forman, John Holmgren, and Stuart Klipper.
Envisioning Change: Melting Ice – A Hot Topic
Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway, June 5 - August 20
Palais Des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium, October 5, 2007 – January 6, 2008
Curator Randy J. Rosenberg for UNEP, and Natural World Museum
An Eclectic Eye: Selections from the Dan Leach Collection | Curator Julie Sasse, catalog
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona, September 14 2007 - January 7, 2008
2005
Art Not Oil, Oxford House, London, United Kingdom, August 5 - 28
Traveled to other venues in the UK
Urban Jungle | Curator Yuri Psinakis
Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, California, June 1 - 5
Organized by the Natural World Museum in collaboration with the United Nations
Environment Programme to celebrate the 2005 World Environment Day. Banerjee received
the Inaugural Green Leaf Artist Award for Photography
Subhankar Banerjee Resume
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2004
Election | Curator Professor James Meyer
American Fine Art Company, New York, New York, October 22 - November 20
Artists: Carl Andre and Melissa Kretschmer, Alex Bag, Subhankar Banerjee, Tom Burr,
Christoph Buchel, Paul Chan, Critical Art Ensemble and Claire Pentecost, Mark Dion, Peter
Fend, Andrea Fraser, Hans Haacke, Emily Jacir, Mark Lombardi, Christian Philipp Muller
and Jane Johnston, Martha Rosler, and John Water
Artivist art exhibition | Curator Professor Janet Owen
Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, California, April 22 – 27
This exhibit was in conjunction with the 2004 Artivist Film Festival
Blue Earth Alliance Exhibit, Trade and Convention Center, Seattle, April 10 – June 24
Publications / Reviews / Profiles
2009 Professor Finis Dunaway’s essay Reframing the Last Frontier: Subhankar Banerjee and the Visual Politics of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the book, A Keener Perception: Ecocritical Studies in American Art History, editors
Professors Alan C. Braddock and Christoph Irmscher, University of Alabama Press, November 2009.
Subhankar Banerjee’s photograph Caribou Migration I is the cover art of A Keener Perception. This is the first
book to consider American Art from the perspectives of newly evolving field of ecocriticism.
Subhankar Banerjee’s essay Terra Incognita: Communities and Resource Wars in the book, The Alaska Native
Reader: History, Culture, Politics, editor Professor Maria Wiliams, Duke University Press, Sept. 2009.
Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, editors Brian
Kennedy and Emily S. Burke, Hood Museum of Art, October 2009.
American Art, essay Ecocritical Art History by Professor Alan Braddock, Summer 2009. Professor Braddock
discusses paintings by Thomas Eakins and photographs by Subhankar Banerjee in this essay.
The New York Times review of And for all this nature is never spent, Benjamin Genocchio, Mar. 29
Subhankar Banerjee: Photographs. Catalog with essay by Professor Karl Jacoby of Brown
University, published by Dartmouth College Artist-in-Residence Program, January 2009
The Dartmouth, Banerjee’s photos focus on environment, advocate change, by Alicia Kim, Jan 15
The Dartmouth Free Press, Bringing the Arctic to Dartmouth: A Conversation with Subhankar Banerjee, by
Marissa Knodel, February 13
2008
Resource Wars, one-person exhibition catalog with introduction by Peter Matthiessen and essay by Dr.
Kel ey E. Wilder. Published by Sundaram Tagore Gal ery, New York-Beverly Hil s-Hong Kong
Art in America review by Debora Kuan of Resource Wars exhibition, June/July
Art in America feature essay Global Warnings by Dr. Suzaan Boettger, June/July
2008 click! Photography Changes Everything: Smithsonian Photography Initiative. Invited
Contributor. Curator Marvin Heiferman
Land-As-Home: Environmental and Political Imperialism in the American North, an essay
in the Gender on Ice: A Special Issue of The Scholar and Feminist, Invited Contributor, Fall
2008
Subhankar Banerjee Resume
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2008
American Earth: An Environmental Anthology, Library of America, New York. Contributed
photographs
The Arctic Oil Rush, Vanity Fair magazine climate change article on Russia with focus on Siberia. Text
by Alex Shoumatoff and photographs by Subhankar Banerjee. May Green Issue.
2007
Weather Report: Art & Climate Change, catalog, curator Lucy R. Lippard, Boulder Museum
of Contemporary Art in partnership with EcoArts
The New York Times review by Claire Dederer of Weather Report: Art & Climate Change,
September 23
Art Papers review by J. Gluckstern of Weather Report: Art & Climate Change, Nov./Dec.
Photographs from the Ends of the Earth, brochure, curator Lisa Hostetler, Milwaukee Art
Museum. Exhibition received prominent review in Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Art in Action: Nature, Creativity and Our Collective Future, catalog, edited by Randy Jayne
Rosenberg, United Nations Environment Programme and the Natural World Museum,
Earth Aware Editions
An Eclectic Eye: Selections from the Dan Leach Collection, catalog, curator Julie Sasse,
Tucson Museum of Art
Subhankar Banerjee: Resource Wars in the American Arctic, article, Katherine W. Hart,
Hood Museum of Art Quarterly
The New York Review of Books, photographs published in conjunction with an article by
Peter Matthiessen
Pittsburgh City Paper, Samantha Archetti, review of Michael Berger Gallery exhibition,
March 1
2006
Harper’s Magazine, Readings, New York, December
Whirl Magazine, profile for Michael Berger Gallery exhibition, Pittsburgh, December
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Kurt Shaw, review of Michael Berger Gallery exhibition,
Pittsburgh, December 10
The New York Review of Books, cover photo in conjunction with article by Peter
Matthiessen, New York, October 19
Contributor, Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, The Mountaineers
Books, Seattle, May
2005
Town and Country, “In the Country: Nature’s Nurturers”, edited By Anthony Barzilay Freund
features the work of Subhankar Banerjee,Tom Brokaw, Bil McKibben, Lamar Alexander, Ted Turner,
Julian Robertson, Doug Tompkins, Gordon Moore, and Paul Brainerd, August
THE: Santa Fe’s monthly magazine of arts, Rinchen Lhamo, review of Gerald Peters Gal ery exhibition,
Santa Fe, August
2005
Pasatiempo: New Mexico’s Weekly magazine of arts, Soledad Santiago Vural, review of Gerald Peters
Gal ery exhibition, Santa Fe, July 2005
Seattle Post-Intel igencer, Regina Hackett, “Seattleite Subhankar Banerjee's photos of Arctic 'Life and
Land' are winning hearts, review of Burke Museum exhibition, Seattle, June 25
ARTnews, Hilarie M. Sheets, review of Gerald Peters Gal ery exhibition, New York, March
Subhankar Banerjee Resume
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2004
Art & Antiques, David Masel o, review of Gerald Peters Gal ery exhibition, New York, December
Rim Magazine, Janet Owen, “Refusing Colossus”, art essay on Banerjee’s photographs, winter
The New York Times, Roberta Smith, “A Panorama of Alaska That Extends to the Senate”,
review of Gerald Peters Gallery exhibition, New York, October 13
Subhankar Banerjee: The Last Wilderness, Photographs of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge, catalog, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York – Santa Fe, September
Vogue Hommes International, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., “Our World is Changing”, fal / winter
Harvard University Gazette, Beth Potier, "Art and Activism Meet in Photo Exhibit", review of Harvard
Museum of Natural History exhibition, June 10
Orion online, Tricia Louver, “Pressing Forward: Arctic Refuge Photography by Subhankar Banerjee”,
spring/summer
Seattle Times Sunday Magazine, profile story by Lynda Mapes, “Shooting from the Soul”, March 21
2003
Vanity Fair, profile story by Ingrid Sischy, "The Smithsonian’s Big Chil ", December
The New York Times, Timothy Egan, “Smithsonian is no Safe Heaven for Exhibit on Arctic Wildlife
Refuge”, May 2
The Times Higher Education Supplement, Andrew Robinson, London
Los Angeles Times Editorial, “Some Scary Pictures”, May 2
Los Angeles Times, Elizabeth Shogren, “Heat Turned Up on Arctic Exhibit?”, April 29
The Washington Post, Jacqueline Trescott, “Museum’s Shift of Arctic Refuge Exhibit Gets Cold
Reception”, April 29
Subhankar Banerjee, “Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land”, The
Mountaineers Books, Seattle, April
Selected Media Coverage
2007
Big Ideas for a Small Planet, Season 1, Episode Create, Sundance Channel
KALW Public Radio interview with Rose Aguilar, San Francisco, May 15
WQED TV, Mike Lee report on Michael Berger Gallery exhibition, Pittsburgh, Feb
2006
KPLU Public Radio interview with Liam Moriarty, Seattle, December 8
2004
Bravo!Canada, Arts&Minds feature on Banerjee, 2004
2003
WNYC-New York Public Radio interview with Leonard Lopate, June 23
NPR All Things Considered, “Smithsonian Defends Move on ANWR Photos”, May 20
WBUR-Boston Public Radio interview with Tom Ashbrook, May 5
Public Radio International, Reporters Notebook with Warren Olney, April
FINE LIVING TV, Radical Sabbatical feature on Banerjee
Link TV, Refuge at Risk Program
CSPAN2 Book-TV, Banerjee lecture
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Selected Lectures / Panels / Academic Appointments
2009
Artist Lecture, Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, January 13
Panel discussion with Sarah James and Robert Thompson, Hopkins Center for Arts,
Dartmouth College, January 29
Artist Gallery Talk, Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, February 3
Diversity in the Outdoors, Subhankar Banerjee and Winona LaDuke, Seattle, March 18
Visiting Artist Lecture: Human|Nature, Columbia College, Chicago, April 6
Joan & Dick Stroud Memorial Lecture, Stroud Water Research Center, Pennsylvania, Apr. 9
2008
Unlearning Intolerance Seminar, United Nations Headquarters, New York
Gender on Ice Conference, Barnard College, New York
Visiting artist lecture, F.A.R. (Future Arts Research) @ ASU, Phoenix
Lyceum Lecture with Peter Matthiessen, College of Humanities, University of Utah
Featured Speaker: “Agents of Change: Art and Advocacy”, 45th National Conference of the
Society for Photographic Education, Mar. 13 – 16, Denver, Colorado, canceled due to health
2007
Palais Des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
Creative Approaches to Climate Change with Peter Matthiessen, UNEP Symposium
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, District of Columbia
Agents of Change: Artists, Politics and the Planet, panel moderated by Andy Grundberg
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, Colorado
Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Marywood University, Art Department, Scranton, Pennsylvania
Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
2006
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (700 attendees)
Authors at Google Lecture Series, Mountainview, California
University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska
2005
Seattle Arts and Lectures, Benaroya Hall, Seattle (2500 attendees)
Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
New Hampshire Institute of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire
2004
Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachussets
Columbia University Earth Institute, New York, New York
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (750 attendees)
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California
Artivist Film Festival, Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, California
Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico (750 attendees)
Marion Center for Photographic Arts, College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
2003
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California
National Arts Club, New York, New York
The Explorers Club, New York, New York
Mountainfilm Festival, Telluride, Colorado
Subhankar Banerjee Resume
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2003
Banff Mountain Book Festival, Banff, Canada
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, Wyoming
Public Collections
Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, California
American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle, Washington
To know more about Subhankar Banerjee’s work please visit http://www.subhankarbanerjee.org
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