Caleb Stein & Andrea Orejarena

Caleb Stein is a multidisciplinary artist, who explores themes of memory and cultural identity with a full spectrum of artistic media. The selected works exhibited in the show are photographic series, which, even if stylistically different, all share the common thread of mixing the personal with the general, starting from either of the two poles. Often drawn by personal interest or past events, the series then expand the focus to culturally specific geopolitical or social aspects, taking into consideration marginalized narratives, stories of local communities and long-term effect of historical events, all intertwined with the concept of time and the personal role of the artist’s identity, who often questions his sense of belonging to the complex system called America. ‘’Long time no see’’, the result of a collaboration with multi-media artist Andrea Orejarena, is a fragmented collection of visions that explore the memory of the Vietnam-America War and the ongoing legacy of chemical warfare, bringing together photographs,

paintings and video made in collaboration with Vietnamese veterans and their

descendants. Over a two year period, the artists worked closely with the community at Làng Hữu Nghị — a residence in Hanoi for veterans and younger generations affected by Agent Orange, a genetically mutating chemical weapon used by the U.S. during the war.

Many of the people in the photographs contributed paintings, and sometimes drew directly on them, blurring the lines between author and object of research, in the attempt of offering a counter-narrative to the dominant historical narrative of the Vietnam war in the U.S.

The series  ‘’down by the Hudson’’ is an example of a more personal quest of the artist and his interest towards the concept of inhabiting. The series can be seen as a personal ode to Poughkeepsie, NY, a small town in upstate NYwhere the artist has lived for years and that he tried to place within his idea of home by walking through and capturing its streets, each day for a year long. Stein’s personal research towards the feeling of belonging is mixed here once again with the specificity of the territory and its own story, as well as with the political climate of the town in that specific time frame. The last series exhibited in the show is Andrea (2014 – ongoing), a selection of work made as an artist duo with Andrea Orejarena (b. 1994, Colombia). The photographs are made as a collaboration with a realtime, live monitor so that both artists contribute in equal parts to the final image. In the series the duo analses and dissects the preconception of the “photographer” and the “model”, challenging traditional conceptions of authorship and ways of making artistic works. This project is a personal archive intended to function as a set of lyrical, romantic and personal documents, gifted to us in an exhibition setting.

Caleb Stein (b. 1994, UK) is a U.S.-based artist. He graduated from Vassar College in 2017 with a degree in art history. His work explores the fragility of memory through an embrace of community and the dynamic, energetic interactions that occur within it. Questions surrounding mythology and narrative as they relate to the United States and the international influence it exerts sit at the core of much of Stein’s work, as he grapples with his relationship to the country that has become his adopted home.

Stein’s work has been exhibited internationally, including the Palm* Photo Prize at Photo London, Red Hook Labs in New York, Photo Vogue Festival in Milan, Pole Gallery in Lago di Garda, Vincom Center for Contemporary Art in Hanoi, Vin Gallery in Ho Chi Minh City, Rose Gallery in LA, Carmel Center for Photographic Art in California, and Broken Screen Festival in Buenos Aires. 

Stein’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, i-D Vice, Vogue Italia, Dazed, WePresent, LensCulture, It’s Nice That, Der Grief, Hamburger Eyes, and Paper Journal Magazine, among other places.

Orejarena & Stein’s, ‘Long Time No See’ will be published by Jiazazhi Press in 2021, with texts by Forensic Architecture and Đỗ Tường Linh, designed by Brian Paul Lamotte. 

His work is a part of several private collections including the Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee Collection. His work is also included in the permanent collection of the Nguyen Art Foundation.

Andrea Orejarena (b. 1994) is a Colombian-born American multi-media artist. Orejarena received a BFA from Vassar College in 2017 with a degree in art & cognitive science. Her work employs the intersection of technology, memory and desire to explore American mythologies and narratives as she grapples with her relationship to the country that has become her adopted home. Orejarena often works as an artist duo with Caleb Stein to explore these concerns together. 

Orejarena’s work has been exhibited internationally, at the Vincom Center for Contemporary Art in Hanoi, at Vin Gallery in Ho Chi Minh City, at Photo Vogue Festival in Milan, Blow-Up Arthouse Film Festival in Chicago, OLA Latin American Film Festival in the Hamptons, NY, Broken Screen Festival in Buenos Aires, and Under the Subway in collaboration with the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.

Awards include a nomination for the 2019 Burn Emerging Photographer Fund, a nomination for the 2020 W. Eugene Smith Grant (jurors include Teju Cole), and a nomination for t

Andrea Orejarena (b. 1994) is a Colombian-born American multi-media artist. Orejarena received a BFA from Vassar College in 2017 with a degree in art & cognitive science. Her work employs the intersection of technology, memory and desire to explore American mythologies and narratives as she grapples with her relationship to the country that has become her adopted home. Orejarena often works as an artist duo with Caleb Stein to explore these concerns together. 

Orejarena’s work has been exhibited internationally, at the Vincom Center for Contemporary Art in Hanoi, at Vin Gallery in Ho Chi Minh City, at Photo Vogue Festival in Milan, Blow-Up Arthouse Film Festival in Chicago, OLA Latin American Film Festival in the Hamptons, NY, Broken Screen Festival in Buenos Aires, and Under the Subway in collaboration with the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.

Awards include a nomination for the 2019 Burn Emerging Photographer Fund, a nomination for the 2020 W. Eugene Smith Grant (jurors include Teju Cole), and a nomination for the 2021 Foam (Fotografie Museum Amsterdam) talent Long List. Most recently, Orejarena & Stein were selected as a Juror’s Choice in the prestigious Hariban/Benrido Prize, Kyoto by Yasufumi Nakamori (Senior Curator, Tate Modern) for their work ‘Long Time No See’. Nakamori will write a text dedicated to this body of work, to be published in the award’s catalogue in the spring of 2022. 

Orejarena’s work has been published in i-D Vice, Vogue Italia, It’s Nice That, Public Offerings Ltd., Paper Journal Magazine, Matca, Port Magazine, and Urbanautica among other places.

Her work is a part of several private collections including the Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee Collection. Her work is also included in the permanent collection of the Nguyen Art Foundation. 

Orejarena’s work has been published in i-D Vice, Vogue Italia, It’s Nice That, Public Offerings Ltd., Paper Journal Magazine, Matca, Port Magazine, and Urbanautica among other places.

Her work is a part of several private collections including the Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee Collection. Her work is also included in the permanent collection of the Nguyen Art Foundation. 

-Text by Sara van Bussel