Grade Solomon (b. 1999) is a Korean-American artist based in Ridgewood, New York.
He received his BFA in photography from VCUarts in 2022 and is pursuing his study with MATTE Institute. Solomon is currently a finalist in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition and his work is on view in The Outwin: American Portraiture Today at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Solomon’s published work has been collected by institutions such as Harvard Fine Arts Library, New York Public Library, and VCU Special Collections.
Solomon finds a paradoxical beauty in the collapse of the natural, and the decay of the industrial. His photographs are a tribute to a world in flux, where the potential for growth and resilience lies in the rubble. Themes of longing and isolation pervade his work, the images are obscured by layers of recurring dreams, and half-forgotten memories.
Road signs, electrical poles, and suburban rooftops merge into a haze of distorted reality. In the images, windows glow in iridescence, the ground mimics oil, and walls form gradients of blues and pinks. Less how they were seen and more how they were dreamt. The light and color are so manipulated, so hyperreal, his practice is more akin to painting with light than documenting with photography.
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Education
Virginia Commonwealth University, BFA, ‘22
MATTE Institute School of Photography, ‘23 - ’24
Grants & Awards
2024 Lensculture Black & White Photography Awards Finalist
2022 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Finalist
2022 David Robert McLellan Scholarship
2021 Visual Arts Fellowship, VMFA
2021 Interpretive Eye, 75th CPOY
Books & Zines
2024 Twist, Pomegranate Press
Collected by
Aperture
Pratt Institute Special Collections
2022 Lifelong Ember Exhibition Catalog, Self Published
Collected by
Harvard Fine Arts Library
VCU Special Collections
New York Public Library
William and Mary Earl Gregg Swem Library
2021 I Wandered Until the Underneaths of my Eyes Bruised, Pomegranate Press
Solo & Duo Exhibitions
2024 Twist, Secret Riso Club, NYC
2022 Lifelong Ember, The Material Room with Jack Fox, Richmond, VA
2022 To Gather in Paradise, Cody gallery with Alexis Gomez, Arlington, VA
Group Exhibitions
2025 Breathless in Glowing Air, 1014 Gallery, London
2025 Liquid Commonwealth, Muscarelle Mueseum of Art, VA
2025 Survey #25, Shed Projects, Cleveland, OH
2024 Cascade and Collide, Pomegranate Press, NYC
2022 - ‘24 The Outwin: American Portraiture Today
Touring Exhibition
2022 The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
2023 Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
2024 Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC
2024 Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA
2024 Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, MI
2022 Pamplemousse, Pamplemousse Gallery, Richmond, VA
2022 Culture II, Strada, NYC
2022 DSC, The Anderson, Richmond, VA
2021 Broome street, Strada, NYC
2019 Evoke, Gallery104, NYC
Curation
2023-2025 Carina Haslam Art, New York Affordable Art Fair, NYC
2022 a Warehouse of Angels, Guerrilla Exhibition, VA
Publications
2025 Magic Hour II, Booooooom
2024 Exciting Photography Now, MATTE Magazine
2023 Summer of Something Special, Something Special Studios
2023 Playfulness, Balam
2022 Nothing Left But Healing, Pomegranate Press
2022 No.1, Ardent Projects
2022 Circles, Booooooom
2021 Magic Hour, Booooooom
2019 Home, Mouthwash Magazine, Issue 2
Work in Print
2025 The West is Defined by Loss, New York Times
2024 A Picturesque New England Town’s Debt to the Right Whale, New York Times
2024 Fang, Them Mag
2020 This Will Not Be Contained, New York Magazine
Interviews & Features
2025
Dear Dave Magazine
Urbanautica
PhMuseum
2024
Collector Daily
Whitewall
LensCulture
PhMuseum
Urbanautica
2023
International Center of Photography (ICP)
LensCulture
Hypebeast
2022
Fisheye
C41
VCUarts
Marymount University
Vogue
2021
Booooooom
2020
New York Magazine
IGNANT
On Earth Magazine
2019
VSCO — Suburban Nights
Art Fcks Me* — Grade Solomon
Milk Magazine
Rental Magazine
Artist Talks & Lectures
2022 Artist Talk, Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond, VA
2022 Lecture: Book as Performance with Justin James Reed, VCUarts, Richmond, VA
2020 Let’s Talk About Night Shooting, hosted by Diasie
Clientele
The NorthFace
New York Times
Bon Appetit
Republic Records
Office Magazine
Yumin Ha
Kody Philips
Madhouse Films
TD Bank
Brooklyn Museum
Welcome.JPG
Jackson Johnson
FANG
Puma x A$AP
Raya
Berhana
Head of State x Nike
Bayonet Records
Anarene Films
EQT Recordings
Advisory x The Basquiat Estate
Glaive
Benee
Creature World
Mono Moon
Nine Roses
Podcasts
2020 #4 - Grade Solomon, ART ART ART
2019 Ep. 7 - Grade Solomon, C41 Podcast with Willem Verbeek
Experience
2025 Art Handling, AIPAD, NYC
2025 Lighting Assistant, Studio Augie
2024 Lighting Assistant, Ethan Hickerson
2024 Prop Stylist Assistant, Photo/Genics Media
2024 Set Design/Producer, FANG, NYC
2023 Production Assistant, Something Special Studios, NYC
2023–24 Art Handling, An Artist Books; Affordable Art Fair, NYC
2022 Art Handling, Art Market, Hampton Bays, NY
2022 Set Design/Producer, Advisory, NYC
2022 Creative Direction, Nine Roses, Richmond, VA
2019–21 Studio & Grip Assistant, SMOG; Wallflower Management, NYC