Orejarena & Stein (b. Colombia, 1994 & UK, 1994) are a multimedia artist duo currently based in New York. Their work uses the intersection of technology, memory, and desire to explore American mythologies and narratives as they grapple with their relationship to the country that has become their adopted home. Orejarena & Stein are fascinated with the emergent property that comes with making each photograph together with a single camera. Their work explores notions of the collective and collaboration in an often individualistic medium. Their work often involves extensive research into how their images relate to collective image making and the ocean of images surrounding us.
Their work has been exhibited internationally and is in a number of public & private collections, including The J. Paul Getty Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Nguyen Art Foundation, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, New York State Museum, and The Ann Tenenbaum & Thomas H. Lee Family Collection.
A book of their work, Long Time No See, was published by Jiazazhi Press in 2022 and is held in the special collections library of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art, amongst others. Their second book , American Glitch, with an introduction by ICP curator David Campany, is published by Gnomic Book and is held in the library collections of Yale University and Stanford University, among other places . The duo has also compiled a booklet with contributions from 35 renowned artist, writers, and curators, offering a range of perspectives on conceptions of glitch in contemporary society to be paired with the artist book. American Glitch launched at the Palo Gallery in early February with a solo exhibition which runs until April. The work has also been exhibited in several group exhibitions, including the Foam Talent exhibition at Foam Museum in Amsterdam, The Belfast Photo Festival, and The Center for Photographic Art in Carmel. The artists’ first European solo museum show, Tactics & Mythologies will open in early September at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, curated by Nadine Isabelle Henrich. Their artist duo work is represented by Palo Gallery in New York and Vin Gallery in Ho Chi Minh City
