Patty Carroll (b. 1946, Chicago), the First Prize Winner of the BBA Photography Prize 2023, has been known for her use of highly intense, saturated colour photographs since the 1970’s. She received her BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois (1968), and MS in Photography at the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology (1972). After many years of teaching photography, she has returned to the studio creating her current project, “Anonymous Women;” a 4-part series of studio installations made for the camera, addressing women and their complicated relationships with domesticity.

By literally and physically camouflaging the figure in drapery and/or domestic objects, Carroll creates a dark and humorous game of hide-and-seek between her viewers and the Anonymous Woman. The woman becomes a victim of her obsessions, activities, and circumstances as well as the invisible creator of such; at once satisfying and problematic, pathetic and humorous. The photographs are published in two monographs, Anonymous Women (2017, Daylight Books), and Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise (2020, Ain’t Bad Books).

The Anonymous Woman series has been exhibited internationally and has won multiple awards including Carroll being acknowledged as one of Photolucida’s “Top 50” in 2014 and 2017. Select grants/prizes include Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship, 2003 and 2020, Pangea winner of the Siena Photo Awards for Series in the Creative category, 2023. Her work has been featured in prestigious publications such as the Huffington Post, The Cut, Ain’t Bad Magazine, and BJP. Carroll’s work has been exhibited in over 100 group exhibitions in China and Europe, as well as regularly in the USA. She was Artist in Residence at Studios Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri from 2016-2021. She currently resides and works in Chicago.

Education

2010-2016

Adobe Certified Instructor: Photoshop

1972

MS: Photography, Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois

1969-1970

Graduate Student, Graphic Design, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana

1968

BFA: Graphic Design, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana

Exhibitions (Selected)

2024

Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise, (Solo Exhibition), Artruss Gallery, Chicago, IL

91st Exhibition of Visual Artist Members (Group Exhibition), Arts Club, Chicago, IL

Room Installation using "Glassy Eyed" photograph (Group Exhibition), Alma Art and Interiors, Chicago, IL

Through the Dreamhouse, (Group Exhibition), Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA

Casting Shadows, (Group Exhibition), Alma Art and Interiors, Chicago, IL

Panther Room, Artist Suite (Group Exhibition), 21C Museum Hotel, Kansas City, MO

2023

She’s Back, (Solo Exhibition), Sherry Leedy Gallery, Kansas City, MO

Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise, (Solo Exhibition), Galerie X11, Paris, France

Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise, (Group Exhibition), Various Paris Metro Stations, Paris, France (Organized by Fisheye Magazine in partnership with RAPT)

You Should See This, (Group Exhibition), Galerie X11, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA

Look! Contemporary Photography between Stage and Performance, (Group Exhibition), Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China

Feminist to the Core, (Group Exhibition), Salonlb, Chicago, IL

In Their Element(s): Women Artists Across Media, (Group Exhibition), Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield. CT

Through Her Eyes: Women Photographers, (Group Exhibition), University of Tampa, Tampa, FL

Casting Shadows, (Group Exhibition), Alma Art and Interiors, Chicago, IL

Anonymous Women, (Group Exhibition), Lianzhou Photo Festival, Lianzhou, China

2022

Inaugural Exhibition, (Group Exhibition), ARTRUSS Gallery, Chicago, IL

Counter Cowboy, (Group Exhibition), Visions West Contemporary Gallery, Denver, CO

Double Take International Juried Exhibition, (Group Exhibition), Trolley Barn Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY

Anonymous Women, (Solo Exhibition), Galerie X11, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA

12th Annual Juried Exhibition, (Group Exhibition), Gallery 110, Seattle, WA

Flora and Fauxna, (Solo Exhibition), 21C Museum Hotel, Kansas City, MO

Anonymous Women, (Solo Exhibition), MSU Art Gallery, Mississippi State University, MS

Grants & Awards (Selected)

2023

BIFA, Category Winner for Portfolio and Fine Art,

BBA Photography Prize, First Place, Berlin, Germany

Siena Awards, Pangea Winner, Series in Creative Category

2020

Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship

Don’t Take Pictures Grand Prize Winner

Aint-Bad Book Award, 2020 Finalist, Aesthetica Art Prize

2017

Photolucida Critical Mass, Top 50