Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ave Pildas worked early in his career as a photo stringer for Downbeat Magazine in the Ohio Valley and Pennsylvania in the 1960’s, and has been a successful photographer and educator for the past 40 years.

In 1971 Pildas began working at Capitol Records in Hollywood as Art Director and designed and photographed album covers for Capitol’s recording artists. He launched a career as a freelance photographer and designer soon after, specializing in architectural and corporate photography.

His photographs have been exhibited in one man shows at the: Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Photographers Gallery, London, Janus Gallery, Los Angeles, Gallerie Diaframma, Milan, Cannon Gallery, Amsterdam, Gallerie 38, Zurich and numerous group shows. They have been featured in: The New York Times Magazine, ‘ZOOM’, ‘PHOTO’, ‘CAMERA’, ‘photographic’ and many publications both in the United States and abroad . Photographs by Ave Pildas are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Bibliotheca National, Paris; the University of Arizona as well as numerous other public and private collections. He is a Professor Emeritus at Otis College of Design.

Ave currently lives in Santa Monica, CA in the solar powered, xero scaped home and studio he collaborated on with W3 Architects. He is digitally archiving his vintage work, and continues with new projects while inspiring, polishing and guiding young talent.

EDUCATION

1964-67 Kunstgewerbeshule Basel, Switzerland
Graduate Studies
1959-63 Art Academy of Cincinnati, B.A. Design
1957-59 School of Architecture, University of Cincinnati

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2008-12 Professor Emeritus,
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles
2006-08 Professor of Design,
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles
2001-07 Chair, Communication Arts Department
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles
2003-04 V.P. of Education, AIGA, Los Angeles
2002 Guest Lecturer, IVE, Hong Kong
1996 Director of Publications
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles
1995-96 Interim Chair, Communication Arts Department
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles
1989 Guest Lecturer, Ravensborne College of Art
Ravensborne, England
1982-83 Guest Lecturer, Leichester Polytechnic Institute
Leichester, England
1981-82 Lecturer, School of Architecture
University of California, Los Angeles
1981-2007 Professor of Design
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles
1976-79 Instructor, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena
1976-79 Instructor, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia
1968-71 Assistant Professor of Design
Philadelphia College of Art, Pennsylvania
1967-68 Instructor, Graphic and Package Design
Layton School of Art, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

1975-2012 Freelance Photographer and Designer
1974-75 Designer, Gambit magazine, KCET, Los Angeles
1973 Co-founder, “Plug In, Inc.”, Los Angeles
1971 Art Director, Capitol Records, Capitol Industries’
Los Angeles
1970-71 Art Director, American German Review,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1963-64 Designer, Gateway & Pitt Studios, Pittsburgh
1960-63 Art Director, Public Library of Cincinnati and
Hamilton County, Cincinnati, Ohio

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2010 “Paper Movies” PØST Gallery Los Angeles
2009 “10 Jazz Greats + 4”, Jazz Bakery, Culver City, CA
2008 “Emphasis: Santa Monica”, Barrett Gallery, Santa Monica City College, Santa Monica
2006 “Omage” Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA.
1992 “Sixth International Photo Salon”, Uzvara, Latvia
1992 “Nudes in the Town Hall Prison”, Estonia, USSR
1992 “150th Anniversary of Photography”, Riga, Latvia
1988 “Universal/ Unique”, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
(traveling)
1987 “International Photo Salon”, Novosibirsk, USSR
1982 Solo exhibition, Leichester Polytechnic Institute, Leichester, England
1981 “Photoflexion”, L.A. Center for Photography
1979 “L.A. by L.A. Artists”, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park
1979 “Photographic Directions”, Security Pacific Bank Gallery, Los Angeles
1978 Solo exhibition, Janus Gallery, Venice, California
1978 Solo exhibition, Galleria Diaframma, Milan, Italy
1977 Solo exhibition, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
1976 Solo exhibition, Gallerie Image, Liege, Belgium
1976 “Sequences”, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Holland
1976 “Second All California Photography Show”, Laguna Museum of Art,
Laguna Beach, California
1976 Solo exhibition, Gallerie Paule Pia, Antwerp, Belgium
1975 Solo exhibition, Gallerie 38, Zurich, Switzerland
1975 Solo exhibition, Photographers Gallery, London, England
1975 Solo exhibition, Galleriea Diaframma, Milan, Italy
1975 Solo exhibition, Galleriea Dell’Imagine, Varese, Italy
1973 Solo exhibition, Soho Photo Gallery, Los Angeles

BOOKS PUBLISHED

2000 Movie Palaces. Los Angeles: Hennessy & Ingalls
1981 Movie Palaces. New York: Crown Publishers
1978 Art Deco Los Angeles, New York: Harper & Row

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1997 CMYK, San Francisco / New York
1994 Confetti, New York
1984 24 Hours In The Life Of Los Angeles
1984 Photographic Encyclopedia International, M.et M. Auer, Geneva, Suisse
1978 P.S.A. California
1978 New York Times Magazine, “Op Ed”
1977 New West L.A.
1976 Picture, United States
1976 Zoom, France
1975 DU, Switzerland
1975 Creative Camera, Great Britian
1975 Fotographia Italiana, Italy
1972-75 Photographic Magazine, United States
1972 Photographic Quarterly, Winter, United States

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Atlantic Richfield Corporation, Los Angeles
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art, New York
University of Arizona, Tempe
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Biblioteque National, Paris, France

PARTIAL CLIENT LIST

Atlantic Richfield Corporation, Los Angeles
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art, New York
University of Arizona, Tempe
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Ampersand Inc., Los Angeles
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati, Ohio
East West Publications, Los Angeles
French American Line, Paris France
Getty Museum and Trust, Los Angeles
Grove Press Publishers, New York
Hughes Air West, Los Angeles
Island Records, Los Angeles
KCET Television, Los Angeles
M.C.A. Universal, Los Angeles
Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Los Angeles
Minolta Corporation, Newark, New Jersey
Motown Records, Los Angeles
Nationwide Papers, Hamilton, Ohio
New York City Aquarium, New York
Panda Corporation, Los Angeles
Peterson Publishing, Los Angeles
Philadelphia International Airport, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Plate Glass, Pennsylvania
Ron Rezek, Los Angeles
Shelter Records, Los Angeles
St. Francis Medical Center, Los Angeles
St. James Hotel, Los Angeles
Ultramar Oil Company, Montreal, Canada
U.S. Steel, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Warner Brothers, Los Angeles
Westinghouse Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania