Katrina del Mar is a New York-based photographer, video artist, writer, and award-winning film director. She is perhaps best known for her decades-long work in video and photography, chronicling the reality and illusion of her Lower East Side friends and lovers as punk heroines; or within her girl gang movie world of strictly female population. Creating a family tree indebted equally to B-movies and diaristic photography, del Mar’s defiantly queer photographs and videos are iconic alternatives to the cultural status quo, offering an exuberant, hyper-stylized sexuality, an unapologetic feminist voice, and often guerilla-style production tactics.
Arcs and archetypes—surfer girls, bike gangs, girls playing in their rooms, bedroom scenes including the artist and others—feature dogs, cars, leather, tattoos. These become fictionalized signifiers of the threat of women’s violence, which the artist, as ringleader, marshals as an active participant. Adding light and color to the powers that urban life has to offer, del Mar “creates a fantasy that moves from violence to sex rather than vice versa” (Chicago Reader)
Jenifer P. Borum has noted of del Mar’s work: “Like Henry Darger’s In the Realms of the Unreal, del Mar’s world is both epic and dystopian—a fictional reality that seems very much like our own, only with different rules.”
Del Mar was awarded the New York Foundation for the Arts / NYFA Fellowship in Video in 2004 for her film “SURF GANG”, shot in Rockaway Beach, the Hamptons and Montauk. It was screened in an exhibition dedicated to Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys at the CAPC (Museum of Contemporary Art) in Bordeaux, France and at the MoMA Dome in Rockaway Beach, NYC. Her experimental films have screened at film festivals the world over, including Frameline, Outfest, Hamburg Schwule Lesbisch Filmfest, Sydney Mardi Gras, MIX NYC, Chicago Underground Film Festival. Katrina’s photographic and multimedia work has been shown at Participant Inc. in NYC, at Art Market Provincetown, and at Leslie Lohman Museum’s Prince Street Project Space. She curates a live series of writers and performance art called Tough Girls and Lucid Dreamers at spaces including The Leslie Lohman Museum, Howl Happening and Participant Inc in NYC and at Art Market Provincetown. She completed her MFA at Milton Avery Graduate School for the Arts at Bard College, where she presented her Masters Thesis: a feature length documentary titled “An Artist Working as a Letter Carrier.” Katrina founded a punk band three years ago called Tracy City; they’ve released two singles with music videos, to international press raves: “Tracy City is equal parts New York no wave and trashy B-movie. Think: Teenage Jesus and The Jerks or Magazine, if they were fronted by The Fabulous Stains or chicks from Jubilee, and directed by Russ Meyer or Ed Wood.” - Alexandra Weiss"Meet Our Fav New NYC Band: Tracy City” Oyster Mag (Australia)
Throughout her decades-long career as a photographer and filmmaker, Katrina del Mar has been described as “intimidatingly badass” (The Huffington Post), “a speedy person” (Eileen Myles), and a producer of “filth of the highest quality.” (Peter Bagge)
“Her obsession with Americana iconography — pinups, burlesque, superheroes and leather-jacketed toughs — strikes an immediate dichotomy with her feeling most at home among queer outcasts caked in the urban grime of New York. Typically armed with an 8mm camera, her extreme close-ups and jarringly visceral cutting cast a beautiful, flickering spell. She and her friends — skaters, musicians, and punks — become larger than life figures with an unforgettable allure.” -Spectacle Theatre
“Katrina Del Mar has been active in underground film, photography and erotic fiction for two decades, and her vision is as transcendent as it is transgressive… Beyond the obvious appeal of her vision- women who are devastatingly fierce and utterly feminine- the most captivating aspect of Del Mar’s art resides in its uncanny capacity to collapse fact and fiction.” - Carlo McCormick Photograph Magazine
Katrina del Mar CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION:
Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Bard College. Annandale on Hudson, New York. MFA Film/Video
Empire State College, State University of New York. New York, New York. BA
New York University. New York, New York.
International Center of Photography. New York, New York.
AWARDS and FELLOWSHIPS:
City Artist Corps Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts 2021
Field Of Vision Grant for Documentary Filmmakers 2020
MFA Teaching Fellowship, Bard College Studio Arts Program 2017
Winner, Juried Competition, Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown, MA 2012
Winner, Best Experimental Film Award of Merit, The Accolade Competition 2010
Change Inc. / The Rauschenberg Grant, 2006
Concordia Foundation Grant, 2006
Winner, Best Experimental Film, Planet Out Short Movie Awards 2006
Elephant Rock Foundation Grant 2005
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowship in Video 2004
SOLO EXHIBITIONS / SCREENINGS:
2022 "Punk Dyke Movie Night" Film Screening Le Petit Versailles New York, NY
2021 “Never Get Bored: Movie Mayhem” Film Screening Gene Frankel Theatre New York, NY
2018 “Gang Girl Trilogy” “An Evening with Katrina del Mar” Spectacle Theater, Brooklyn, NY
2017 “Feral Women / Filmed Portraits” Art on A Gallery, New York, NY
2016 “Hell No / Poster Child” Art Market Provincetown, Provincetown, MA
2016 “Feral Women & Filmed Portraits” Prince Street Project Space, New York, NY.
2015 “Feral Women” Twilight Gallery, Seattle, WA.
2014 “Summer Sang in Me” Strange Loop Gallery, New York NY
2014 “Summer Sang in Me” Art Market Provincetown, Provincetown, MA
2014 “Black Velvet White Leather” DeLuca Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2013 "GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS" Participant Inc., New York NY
2013 "GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS" Art Market Provincetown, Provincetown, MA
2013 "Katrina del Mar - Shorts" Strange Loop Gallery, New York, NY
2013 “Girl Gang Trilogy / Films by Katrina del Mar” MoMA / PS1 Dome 2, Rockaway Beach NY
2010 "Girl Gang Trilogy / Gangs of New York" Fab Lab, Berlin, Germany
2010 "Gangs of New York" Wrong Weather Gallery Porto, Portugal
2010 "Girl Gang Trilogy" Anthology Film Archives, New York NY
2009 "Katrina del Mar Retrospective" Red Rattler, Sydney Australia
2009 "Movie Mayhem" Cherry Bomb Comics, Auckland, NZ
2009 "Movie Mayhem" Gene Frankel Theatre, New York, NY
2007 "Movie Mayhem" Pioneer Theater, New York, NY
2004 “Surf Gang - Rough Cut” NYFA Screening. Le Petit Versailles, New York, NY
2003 "Ruff Trade" Miami Light Project, Miami, FL
2001 "American Toughie" Intermedia Arts , Minneapolis, MN
2000 "American Toughie and Gang Girls 2000" Photo /Film Installation. Spa, New York NY
1999 "American Toughie" Photo and Film Installation. Clit Club, New York, NY.
1999 "American Toughie" Photo and Film Installation. Lust for Life, New York, NY
1998 "Pseudo Kin" P.S. 122, New York, NY
1998 "Chicks Trash and Rock & Roll" Photo Installation. Squeezebox, New York, NY
1998 “Recent Photographs” Deepdale Gallery, New York, NY
1997 "Sweating Gasoline and Looking for a Match" Photo Installation, Clit Club, New York, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2022 "Swept Away: Love Letter to (a) Surrogate(s)" Guild Hall: Offsite Guild Hall East Hampton, NY
2021 "Goth Beach" Curated by Yana Toyber. Rockaway Beach Surf Club, Queens, NY
2020 "Grateful" Fireplace Project, East Hampton, NY
2020 "3 Day Weekend" curated by Pamela Willoughby / Victoria DeLesseps. Fireplace Project, East Hampton, NY
2017 “Firing: Women Photograph” curated by Andreea Waters. Picture Farm Gallery, Brooklyn NY
2017 “Intimate Zoo” Bard MFA Thesis Exhibition UBS Gallery, Red Hook, NY
2016 "CANNIBALS" SPRING/BREAK Art Show. New York, NY
2014 “Push It” ArtNowNY, Joseph Gross Gallery, New York, NY
2014 (S)he is Still Her(e) Rivington Music, New York, NY
2015 “Trophy Art” Curated by Melissa McCaig-Welles AZArt New York, NY.
2013 "The Future is Now" Highline Loft, New York, NY
2013 "Social Change: Performance and Protest" The Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2012 "On the Edge of Society: Deviant Performers at the End of the Millennium" Warehouse 9, Copenhagen
2011 "The Unseen" curated by Adela Leibowitz Torrance Museum of Art, Torrance California
2011 "Filmmakers Cooperative Summer Cinema Salon" Petit Versailles, New York, NY
2007 "If Everyone Had an Ocean/Nouvelles Vagues" film series, CAPC Museum, Bordeaux, France
2007 "Womanizer" film series Deitch Projects, New York, NY
2006 "The Process IV" BINZ 39, Zurich, Switzerland
2004 "Mermaids" Barthelemy Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2003 "Gen Art Miami" PT Studios, Soho Lounge & Oxygen, Miami, FL
2002 "A Star is Born - Kembra Pfahler" American Fine Arts Co. New York, NY
2001 "Stimulata" University of Cardiff, Wales
1999 "Illusion Delusion Denial" 450 Broadway Gallery, New York, NY
1998 "Night of 100 Girls" Untitled warehouse space, New York, NY
1996 "Tattoo" Studio Museum of Staten Island, New York, NY
1996 "Picture This" CB's 313 Gallery, New York, NY
1994 Untitled Group Show. Underground, West Palm Beach, FL
1991 "Censorship in the Arts" University of Wisconsin, Madison
1989 "Avantgarde-Arama" Performance Space 122, New York, NY
1989 Untitled Film Program; State University of New York at Purchase
WORKSHOPS / ARTIST TALKS / LECTURES:
2016 "Performance Art 101" Hosted by Kembra Pfahler. Know Wave Radio. New York, NY.
2013 "2 Days of Katrina del Mar" Screening and Artists Talk presented by Joanie4Jackie, Bard College, Annandale on Hudson.
2012 "Documenting the Moment: Photographing Live Art" Warehouse 9 Copenhagen, Denmark.
2011 "Queer Feminist Trash Film Workshop with Katrina del Mar" Hoshschule für Künste, Bremen, Germany
2011 Visiting Artist; The New School New York, NY.
SELECTED PRESS PROFILES:
2022 AM/NY "East Village’s Katrina Del Mar leads a queercore band that’s her latest artistic creation" Feature Interview By Bob Krasner https://www.amny.com/entertainment/east-village-katrina-del-mar-queercore-band/
2019 Oyster Magazine "Meet Our Fav New NYC Band: Tracy City" Feature Interview Alexandra Weiss, November 2019
2013 Huffington Post "Katrina del Mar, Artist, Talks About Joan Jett, the Fear of Strong Women, and Starting a Revolution" Feature Interview, Phillip M. Miner
2013 Photograph Magazine “Katrina del Mar: Girls Girls Girls” review by Carlo McCormick
2010 Paper Magazine “KATRINA DEL MAR ON HER GORGEOUS GIRL GANGS” interview. Peter Davis
2010 Curve Magazine "Ladies, Start Your Engines" sidebar feature profile April 2010
2009 Time Out New York "Movie Spars" full page Feature Article Oct 1-7 2009 Issue 731
2009 Cherrie "Gang Girl" Sydney, Australia Cover Story / Feature Interview/Article Apr 2009 Issue 019
2008 Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katrina_del_Mar
2006 The San Diego Weekly Reader "Riding the Big Apple's Little Waves" Cover Story vol. 35 no. 7
2006 LOTL "The Eyes of Katrina del Mar" Sydney, Australia full page Feature article issue 201 vol. 17 no. 9
1998 Time Out New York "Girls on the Side" full page Feature Article Feb 26-Mar 5 1998 Issue 127
COLLECTIONS:
Even Hurwitz, New York, NY
Carol Coombes, Philadelphia PA
Cindy Brown, Miami, FL
Erotic Museum in Barcelona, Spain.
Sacred Body Arts, New York Body Archive
Zandl Collection, New York, NY
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
2015 Metropolitan Review Published by State University of New York.
2008 Nerve: The First Ten Years. Published by Chronicle Books
2006 Graffiti Women: Street Art from Five Continents. By Nicholas Ganz Published by Harry Abrams, Inc
2000 The New Nude. edited by Genevieve Field of Nerve. published by Chronicle Books.
1997 Who Touched my Monkey? by Ducky DooLittle. Plushtoy/Night & Day.
1997 Totem of the Depraved. by Nick Zedd. 2.13.61 Publications.
1989-2000 Plushtoy Picture Book. Self Published series.
SELECTED FILM FESTIVALS:
Frameline, San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
NewFest, New York, New York.
London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
OutFest, Los Angeles, CA
Hamburg International Queer Film Festival, Hamburg, Germany
Feminale International Womens Film Festival, Cologne, Germany
Chicago Underground Film Festival
MIX NYC Experimental Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Image and Nation Film Festival, Montreal, Quebec.
Out Takes Film Fest, New Zealand.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Creative Director, delMarvelous Productions
Katrina del Mar Photography, New York, 2012-Present
delMarvelous A Day in the Life Katrina del Mar 2015-16 currently in production. Webseries Create, co-wrote, produced, directed, and edit upcoming webseries. Successfully ran a $20,000 Kickstarter crowd fund raising campaign.
Creative Director
Katrina del Mar Photography, New York, 1990-Present
Freelance Photography: Portrait, Fashion, Entertainment, Art and Stock photography.
Worldwide Syndication, Portfolio is available for review
Clients include: Sony Music, Island Records, Polygram, V2 Records, London Records, Time Out New York, People Magazine, Mademoiselle, Bust magazine, and the NYPost. Photonica/Getty, Globe Photo/IPOL & Liaison Agencies
Producer/Director
"Love" Music Video for Tracy City
"Luddite" Music Video for Tracy City
"Hide Me" Music Video for Grace Bergere
"I Got This" Currently in development. Feature Narrative Film.
"An Artist Working as a Letter Carrier" Feature Documentary Film in post production.
"delMarvelous A Day in the Life Katrina del Mar" 2015 Webseries Create, co-wrote, produced, directed, and edit upcoming webseries. Successfully ran a $20,000 Kickstarter crowd fund raising campaign.
"Hell on Wheels; Gang Girls Forever" 2010 Short Film. Created, co-wrote, developed screenplay, produced, directed, and edited award winning independent film. Grant writing, online marketing, still photography and package design.
"Brooklyn Girls" 2009 Music Video for Hooray for Goodbye, aired on Click List Top Ten, NewNowNext on Logo MTV Networks and HereTV!
"Bringin' Me Down" 2009 Music Video for GSX, featured Top Ten Click List 5 consecutive weeks aired on NewNowNext on Logo MTV Networks and programmed on Pay Cable HereTV!
"I Got What I Came For" 2008 Music Video for GSX, Programmed multiple times on NewNowNext with feature interview / Click List Top Ten 3 consecutive weeks on Logo MTV Networks
"Do You Have a Lover" 2007 Music Video for Sandra Grace, Click List Top Ten on Logo MTV Networks /Top linked video on You Tube
"A Beautiful Death" 2006 Screened at the Pioneer Theater, Frameline Film Festival, Mix Film Festival NYC, Torino GLBT Film Fest, Turin Italy
"SURF GANG", "Nothin' Pretty," GANG GIRLS 2000. 1999-2006 Developed screenplays, produced, directed, and edited acclaimed/award winning independent films. Grant writing, worldwide film festival distribution, online marketing, still photography and package design.
Scenic Painter / Art Department Assistant / Production Assistant
Scenic Artist. Member, IATSE USA 829 Scenic Artist 2024-Present
Proficiencies: artistic painting, faux finish, glazing, Venetian plaster, underpainting, aging, rust, stencils, gold leaf. Skills include: Plaster, skim coat, color matching, wood grain, faux marble, glazes, graffiti, sculpting, collage, graphic design, digital art, compositing.
Credits include:
Disney, Only Murders in the Building, Scenic Artist, TV Series. Scenic Charge: Joe Garzero
NBC Universal, Saturday Night Live Film Unit, Scenic Artist, Scenic Charge: Lyvan Munlan
NBCUniversal, The Equalizer, Scenic Painter Auxiliary. Scenic Charge: Emily Gaunt
Proficiencies: artistic painting, faux finish, glazing, Venetian plaster, underpainting, aging, rust, stencils, gold leaf. Skills include: Plaster, skim coat, color matching, wood grain, faux marble, glazes, graffiti, sculpting, collage, graphic design, digital art, compositing.
Credits include:
Disney, Only Murders in the Building, Scenic Artist, TV Series. Scenic Charge: Joe Garzero
NBC Universal, Saturday Night Live Film Unit, Scenic Artist, Scenic Charge: Lyvan Munlan
NBCUniversal, The Equalizer, Scenic Painter Auxiliary. Scenic Charge: Emily Gaunt
Art Department Assistant / Production Assistant 1997-2023
Assist Production Designers with props, scenic painting, set building, driving and set dressing for music videos, industrials and television shows for production companies including NBC Universal, MTV Networks, Island Def Jam, UMG (Universal Music Group), Woo Art International, Remote Productions (Viacom), Damage Studios, Ohayo and Comedy Central.
Video Editor, Freelance 2010-Present
Havas Worldwide, Assistant Editor
Met Brasilia Sizzle Reel
Sizzle Reel “The Gig is Up” Washington Square Films. Producers: Jack Lechner, Gail Eisenberg
Conde Nast "Deeper Connection" Producer: Laura Kirby Number Six Editorial / Sapient Nitro
FootLocker "Sneaker Enthusiast" Producer: Jim Frame Number Six Editorial / Sapient Nitro
Studio Manager
Nan Goldin Studio, New York. Oct 2006-Dec 2008
Worked closely with the artist to manage and administrate all functions of the studio.
-Coordinated first ever digital conversion "The Ballad of Sexual Dependency" slide show for the Tate Modern Museum in London; coordinated conversion to hi definition digital files from over 900 analog slide sources.
-Coordinated and assisted artist on creating new versions of "The Ballad of Sexual Dependency" slide show for the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.
-Facilitated the production of a major retrospective black and white show at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York City.
-Assisted in the editing of "The Beautiful Smile, " a book published by Steidl in conjunction with the Hasselblad Award 2007 in Goteborg, Sweden. Coordinated meetings with publisher, artist, editors and Hasselblad Center staff, researched archives in concert with editors and artist, prepared prints for book edit from both analog & digital files.
-Produced and assisted on commercial photo shoots for New York Times Magazine, GQ & Kid's Wear Magazine.
-Responsible for all aspects of inventory management including sales, reproduction requests from publishers and museums, gallery and commercial relations, commissions, and special projects.
-Studio responsibilities include interfacing with curators, gallerists and museum directors, managing an extensive archive and ordering editioned prints for galleries; handling correspondence; scheduling appointments and overseeing all travel arrangements; creating invoices, budgets; managing studio personnel.
Freelance Darkroom Printer 2001-2006
Igloo Colour, The Small Dark Room, Bond Street Print Lab and Fleshtone Miami
Custom color prints, contacts, exhibition prints. Analog and digital processes.
*Web Producer, Website design, Webmaster*
Katrina del Mar Photography. Showcase website for photographic and film work. All HTML/Flash coding, design, content creation, graphics, writing, flash and gif animation. 1996-2014
Donald Moffitt, author. Design and production. 2012
Rock Star Renovation, licensed contractor. Photography, design and production. 2012
Gang Girls Forever. Film Website. Design, production, writing, photography. 2010
PAPERMAG daily lifestyle magazine. Created Graphics, maintained site. 2000
Pseudo Networks. Photography, created graphics, writing. 1999-2000
*Producer / Director*, August 99-May 00
MinxTV and Minx Daily Women's interest entertainment variety program on Pseudo Programs Internet Television. Produced, booked guests, wrote scripts, Wrote show descriptions, came up with topical show themes, created graphics, blocked and Directed weekly half-hour talk and variety show on Pseudo.com. Called meetings with production staff and technical crew of 20. Wrote show descriptions in HTML and uploaded to Pseudo website. Produced and shot exterior segments. Including all aspects of field production including research, story outlining, shoot coordination, interviewing, directing talent and crews.
*Stills Photographer*
Hell on Wheels Gang Girls Forever 2010 Directed & Produced by Katrina del Mar
Surf Gang, 2002-2006; Directed & Produced by Katrina del Mar
Gang Girls 2000, 1999-2000; Directed & Produced by Katrina del Mar
More Life in a Tramp's Vest, 1996; Stereophonics Music video for V2 Records.
ABC Manhattan, 1994; Directed by Amir Naderi screened at Cannes Film Festival.
War is Menstrual Envy, 1990; directed by Nick Zedd.
SPECIAL SKILLS:
Budget Management, Production, Directing. Painting, decorative and artistic painting.
Photo and Video Editing, Digital Retouching and Compositing, Graphic Design.
Master color and black & white darkroom printer both traditional analog and digital platforms.
Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, InDesign, Final Cut Pro 7, FilemakerPro, Microsoft Word, Excel.
35mm still cameras, medium format cameras and 4x5. Lighting: strobe and tungsten.
Super8mm movie cameras: Canon and Elmo. Video cameras: Canon 5D MarkIV.
Basic German and French. Native English speaker. US Citizen. Valid Passport, Driver License.
Excellent driver, passionate surfer.