bio (1973 - present)

Originally from Brazil, and currently based in Detroit-metro, Vagner M. Whitehead works with time-based and traditional media. His works employ original, appropriated, and researched multi-lingual texts, found and created photo-based imagery, their translations and his interpretations, as allegorical devices that reframe transcultural experiences vis-a-vis mass media and communication technologies.

Vagner has exhibited his work throughout the United States, abroad and online, in group and solo exhibitions, as well as video and film festivals. He was an artist in residency at the Ragdale Foundation (Lake Forest, IL)in 2002, a fellow at the Center for Photography at Woodstock (Woodstock, NY) in 2006, and an artist in residency at Residencia Corazon (La Plata, BA, Argentina) in 2010.

In addition to presenting his work in regional and national conferences and meetings, Vagner has lectured as a visiting artist at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS(2004), University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, WI(2005), San Jose State University, San Jose, CA(2006), Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL(2008), State University of New York, Cortland, NY(2010), Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL(2010), and Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH (2011).

Vagner earned a BFA degree in Photography from The Savannah College of Art and Design in 1995, and an MFA degree in Creative Photography and Electronic Intermedia from The University of Florida in 2000. He is currently an Associate Professor of Art (New Media) at Oakland University in Rochester, MI.