Mauro Antonio Barreto makes large scale portraits that depict knowing, intimate encounters between two people, and are charged with yearning and desire, clouded by melancholia, angst, and anachronism, and contoured by melodrama and affect. 

The portraits show young people longing for their own youth, for its beauty, its idealism, and its messy, intense, and contradictory feelings. Barreto sees mourning youth’s passing and the practice of photography itself as twinned phenomena. Photographs stir emotions in us because they depict the loss of the present to the past. Similarly, youth is perceived most consciously, most achingly, once it has already begun to fade.

CV

b. 1987, lives and works in Nashville, TN

Solo Exhibitions

2023
Endless Bummer, The Java Project, Brooklyn, NY
How Soon Is Now?, Random Sample, Nashville, TN

2020
No Future, Spellerberg Projects, Lockhart, TX

2019
Rockport, Spellerberg Projects, Lockhart, TX
Rockport, Popp Martin Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

2018
Rockport, Oveta Culp Hobby Library Gallery, Central Texas College, Killeen, TX
Rockport, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX

Group Exhibitions

2023
Up Close and Personal, Open Gallery, Nashville, TN
Head On Photo Festival, Sydney (AU)
Light Conversation, Oregon Contemporary, Portland, OR, curated by Small Talk Collective

2022
Spiral Bound, These Days, Los Angeles, CA 
Unbound, Candela Gallery, Richmond, VA
In Another Life, The Humid, Athens, GA
Photography Faculty Exhibition, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
The Nature of the Future, Leu Art Gallery, Belmont University, Nashville, TN

2021
Currents, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA, curated by Michael Foley
Forms, Frames, and Selves, Transmitter, Brooklyn, NY
Parts of Speech, Baxter St at Camera Club of New York, New York, NY
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Joseloff Gallery, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT

2020
First Year MFA Exhibition, University of Hartford (online)
Full House, localhost (online)

2019
The Universal, Filter Space, Chicago, IL, curated by Gregory Harris
Profound Movement, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX, curated by Shane Lavalette
Exposure Photography Festival, Calgary (CA), curated by Sarah Burtscher

2018
Seeing Harvey, FotoFest at Silver Street Studios, Houston, TX
Cork Photo Festival, Cork (IE)
Summer Sun Day Dream, The Lab at Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA

Public and Private Collections

Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
Soho House, Austin, TX

Education

2021
MFA, Photography, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT

2009
BA, Art, Yale University, New Haven, CT

Bibliography

2023
Schmidt, Thyra and Norberg, Hannes (eds). “New Models”, Neue Fotografie (online)

2022
Stettinius, Gordon and Cole, Whitney (eds). “Unbound”, Candela Books (catalog)
Anderson, Eric Ryan and Potter, Kristine (eds). “Seen Nashville”, Sunnyside Projects
Meaker, Abbey, and Ordóñez, Cristian (eds). “Signals”, Another Earth 
Soth, Alec. “Gathered Leaves Annotated”, MACK
Frailey, Stephen (ed). “Issue 30”, Dear Dave

2021
Schneider, Anna (ed). “Personas”, Booooooom (online)

2019
Smith, Miles. “Rockport at Spellerberg Projects,” Lockhart Post-Register

2018
Rich, Jeff. “Still Alluring”, Oxford American (online)
Carpenter, Tim (ed). “NET 2.8: What Will Suffice”, Oranbeg Press

Teaching Experience

Spring 2023 - present
Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN
Courses taught: AR 1723 New Media Studio, AR2313 Digital Photography I, AR 4843 Art Since 1940 

Spring 2022 - present
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
Courses taught: PHOT 1050 Basic Digital Photography, PHOT 2050 Basic Black and White Photography

Fall 2022
Belmont University, Nashville, TN
Courses taught: ART 1100 Introduction to Digital Photography, ART 4720 History of Photography

Fall 2021
Drew University, Madison, NJ
Courses taught: ART 130 Introduction to Photography, ART 250 Digital Video

Mark