Daniela Groza
Daniela Groza
Biography
Daniela Groza (*1983 in Constanța, RO), (she/her), non-binary visual artist of Romanian ethnical background, grew up in Romania and United States, and lived in the two countries of choice: Romania and US, spending half of year in each one, at a time. She studied Fine Arts degree in Italian philosophy and Literature from UC Berkeley. After college she spent a few years learning the ins and outs of the culinary arts, then engaged in a short photography a the Documentary Photography (2010-2011) program at Florence University of the Arts under Prof. Simone Pierotti. Taxi driver, when living in USA, visual queer photography artist, when living in Romania.
Artistic disciplines:
- Art Photography (queer)
- Queer art
Process
Daniela Groza works as a documentary photographer working primarily with a medium format camera (6x7). Through photography, she aims to create a space where cynicism vanishes from the psychology of the image. If photography is a notorious culprit for inciting nostalgia, itself a shade of joylessness, joyful images will meander the soft edges of what it feels like to come in contact with light, with the love she holds for her wife, their favorite foods & the ordinary necessary objects becoming extraordinary. As a queer artist, she is learning alongside another queer body how to soften up while unlearning a judgmental mindset, transitioning toward a stance of curiosity, empathy, acceptance, by embracing joy as a means of resistance.
Notable themes
Recurring theme in Daniela Grozu's works is the self-representation, interested in joy as queer resilience.
Works in collections and public recognition
- exhibited nationally and internationally, at museums, public institutions and art galleries.
- works in private collections (Germany, Romania, USA).
Selected exhibitions
1.Selected solo exhibitions
- 2020 - solo exhibition, Tables, Epicentru Gallery, Constanța, Romania[1]
- 2020 - solo exhibition, QUEERO - Queer Romanian Womxn, Brașov, Romania
2.Selected group exhibitions
- 2025 - group exhibition, ‘Lost & Found’, LA Center for Photography, USA
- 2023 - group exhibition, ‘See us!’, Romania
- 2023 - group exhibition, ‘Queer Bodies’, Transylvania Queer Art, Cluj Napoca, Romania[2]
- 2023 - group exhibition, ‘Tabachera cu Scorpion’, Timișoara, Romania[3]
- 2023 - group exhibition, ‘Women with a camera’, Casa Presei Libere, Bucharest, Romania
- 2022 - group exhibition, ‘WE ARE HERE’, Identity Education, Timișoara, Romania
- 2022 - group exhibition, ‘WE ARE HERE’/POLAR RAINBOW, ArtHub, Bucharest, Romania
- 2020 - group exhibition, ‘QUEERO’, Indecis Art Space, Timișoara, Romania
- 2018 - group exhibition, 'Home is Where', Rezidența BRD / Scena9, Bucharest, Romania[4]
- 2018 - group exhibition, 'Reforma Photo Days', Bucharest, Romania[5]
- 2016 - group exhibition, 'In/Out', Transylvania Photography Festival, Romania
- 2016 - group exhibition, 'Human All Too Human', NYU Kimmel Galleries, NY, USA
- 2016 - group exhibition, 'Home', Granada, Spain
- 2015 - group exhibition, 'I/Thou', NYU Kimmel Galleries, NY, USA
- 2015 - group exhibition, 'That Used To Be Us', Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, USA
- 2015 - group exhibition, 'Four of Hearts', Ground Floor Gallery, NY
- 2014 - group exhibition, 'Queering the self', sponsored by AMEX and Estee Lauder, Emmanuel Fremin Gallery, NY, USA
- 2016 - group exhibition, 'Vacancy', NYU Kimmel Galleries, NY, USA[6]
3.Art biennales, museum retrospectives, comprehensive retrospective exhibitions, art fairs
NA
Artistic Residencies, Art Researches, Collaborations, Art Projects
- 2024, Photography workshop, ‘Queer Joy’ collaboration with the BDSM community, co-instructor with her life partner, Ioana Pop, Bucharest, Romania
- 2023, Photography workshop, ‘Queer Joy in Bucharest’, co-instructor with her life partner Ioana Pop, Bucharest, Romania
- 2023, Photography workshop, collaboration with Identity Education non profit, leading several workshops on Queer Joy[7]
- 2022, Photography workshop, ‘Queer Joy’, guest artist/ instructor, collaboration with Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
- 2021, Photography workshop, ‘Queer Joy’, guest instructor, collaboration with Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
- 2021, Photography workshop, ‘Joy in the Visual Arts’, instructor, collaboration with Casa Tranzit, Cluj, Romania
- 2021, Photography workshop, ‘Queer Joy’, guest instructor, collaboration with Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- 2021, Artist talk, TEDX speaker - TEDx Zorilor, Cluj Napoca, Romania
- 2020, Artist talk, Romanian Cultural Institute, Women Voices in North America, online venue, NY, USA
- 2018, Artist talk, Ultraviolet TV show, in conversation with Alida Mocanu, Bucharest, Romania
- 2018, Artist talk, SMART Radio, in conversation with Veronica Soare, Bucharest, Romania
- 2017, Artist talk, Radio Guerilla, ROZ, in conversation with Carla Maria Teaha, Bucharest, Romania
- 2017, Artist talk, FOR REAL podcast, in conversation with Andreea Vrabie, Bucharest, Romania
- 2017, Artist talk, On intersectional feminism, Apollo Theater, Bucharest, Romania
- 2017, Artist talk, DOR live, WOMAN photography series, Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Bucharest, Romania
- 2016, Artist talk, Creative Mornings, ON LOVE, Cinema Elvire Popesco, Bucharest, Romania
- 2014-ongoing - BE KIND FOR REAL fundraising for common good, various issues (queer refugees, women, artists, domestic violence, etc.)
Selected works
"My wife - Good news", from the Good News series, the artist partner in the artist NY driven taxi, from the Good News series, medium format film, 60x70 cm, 2021, photography by Daniela Groza - (c) Daniela Groza 2021
"Our first image together", from the Good News series, medium format film, 60x70 cm, 2021 - (c) Daniela Groza & Ioana Pop 2021
"Untitled", from the For Hire series, medium format film, 60x70 cm, 2025 - (c) Daniela Groza 2025
"Untitled", from the For Hire series, medium format film, 60x70 cm, 2025 - (c) Daniela Groza 2025
"Untitled", from the For Hire series, medium format film, 60x70 cm, 2025 - (c) Daniela Groza 2025
Exhibition views
View from ‘Tabachera cu Scorpion’ group exhibition, Work by Daniela Groza, 2023, Timișoara, Romania (c) Identity Education, 2023
Publications
1.Published books
NA
2.Published articles in journals & magazines
- 2022, ‘At the port’, article, CUTRA, Romania[8]
- 2021, 'A letter to my young self', article, The Daring, USA[9]
- 2020, ‘Donuts and a ride in a pandemic New York’, published interview, Scena9, Romania[10]
- 2020, ‘Affective’, article, CUTRA, Romania
- 2017, 'Those who leave and those who remain', article, Decât O Revistă, Romania[11]
- 2016, 'Where I Come From', article, Decât O Revistă, Romania[12]
Curating activity (Artist as curator)
NA
Catalogues
NA
Press
- 2024, Romanian Contemporary Photography INFLUX – Urban Gardens On Love, article, [13]
- 2020, 'On driving a taxi in New York during the pandemic', published interview, by Ioana Ulmeanu, Elle Magazine, Romania[14]
- 2018 - Scena 9, 2018. „Daniela Groza - The other family‘‘ by Andra Matzal[15]
- 2018, 'Daniela Groza: the story of a kind person for real', published interview, Elle Magazine, Romania[16]
- 2017, 'Daniela Groza: the story of a kind person for real', published interview, iQuads ro[17]
Gallery Representation
NA
For further commercial and non-commercial inquiries, feel free to contact NPK
Social Media Links
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniela.groza.pop
- Website: http://www.danielagroza.com/ http://www.danielagroza.com/]
Hashtags
(artistic practices, currents, techniques, themes - applicable hashtags for this artist)
documentary
East-West relations
feminism
humor
intersectional identity
manifesto
photography
queer art, queer identity, queering
Compatible and inspirational artists:
(artist-mentioned reference list)
("for the way they have laid down the foundations for self-representation, queer and beyond." -artist note)
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CGxuWQLpSrL/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CtZnuv6Iohv/?img_index=1
- ↑ https://identity.education/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/queer-legacy-ro_digital.pdf
- ↑ https://cdfd.ro/despre-noi/
- ↑ https://www.creart.ro/photo-festival-reforma-photo-days-1/
- ↑ https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2014/september/nyus-kimmel-galleries-presents-vacancy-through-november-30th.html
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/identity.education/photos/a.2174065612808438/3280966602118328/?_rdr
- ↑ https://cutra.ro/la-liman-despre-fericire-migratie-cautare/
- ↑ https://www.thedaring.co/2021/02/the-miracle-of-delight-a-letter-to-my-younger-self/
- ↑ https://www.scena9.ro/article/pandemie-covid-new-york-taxi
- ↑ https://www.dor.ro/cei-care-pleaca-si-cei-care-raman-dor-28/
- ↑ https://www.dor.ro/de-aici-sunt-integral-din-dor-20/
- ↑ https://www.photographyinflux.ro/the-garden-of-eden-joy-paradise-love-daniela-groza-ioana-groza-pop-lucian-bran/
- ↑ https://www.elle.ro/lifestyle/daniela-groza-despre-coronavirus-panica-si-speranta-la-new-york-717611
- ↑ https://www.scena9.ro/article/fotografie-documentara-daniela-groza-familii-lgbt
- ↑ https://www.elle.ro/people/daniela-groza-povestea-unui-om-care-e-bun-pe-bune-612699
- ↑ https://www.iqads.ro/articol/39489/daniela-groza-fotograf-documentar-sofer-uber-in-new-york-om-bun-cu-adevarat
