Email contact: mdurquet@yahoo.com

Musings and photo sketches on blogger link below:

Marie-José Durquet was born in the Basque Country and immigrated to the United States. She completed her MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and BA in Studio Art at UC Davis. As a former Peace Corps volunteer she taught art in Botswana and has been on the photography faculty at the Maryland Institute College of Art, the San Francisco Art Institute, California State University and UC Berkeley Extension. Although photography is her primary medium, she also works with drawing, painting, collage and public art projects. Her approach to photography ranges from documentary to conceptual and abstract.  

Some of her additional interests include alternative processes such as cyanotype and pinhole photography. She has exhibited her work in numerous group and solo shows, in the United States, Canada and Europe. Learn more below.

Selected Exhibitions: *solo shows

2019-2025

*The Basques of California, Bideak Cultural Space and Carnival in Guinea Bissau, The Peace Hotel. Begirada Photo Festival 2023. St. Palais, France:

The Meaning of Green, Gray Loft Gallery, curated by Ann Jastrab and Jan Watten, Oakland, CA

I Love L.A. (Part 2), Lenscratch.com

Portal, #2, A. Smith Gallery, curated by Ann Jastrab

Loosen Up, Analogforevermagazine.com, curated by Niniane Kelley

Street Scenes/Streets Seen, Analogforevermagazine.com, curated by Niniane Kelley

Through Many Dangers, Analogforevermagazine.com, curated by Heather Snider

XX @ XV 15th Anniversary Show, Mercury 20 Gallery. Oakland, CA. 

2010-2018

Urban Imprints: Scratching the Surface. Asian Resource Center Gallery, Oakland, CA- curated by Lucy Seena K Lin.

Vernacular, L.A. Photo Curator, Los Angeles, CA -curated by Paul Kopeikin

2017 Love Letters Exhibition (Part 2), Lenscratch.com

2017 Earth Day Exhibition (Part 4), Lenscratch.com

Navarre; Biltzar de la Photo 2012 -Prison des Eveques. St. Jean Pied de Port, France.

Almost Gone, Lenscratch.com: blogzine exhibit and interview by Aline Smithson

Concordia-Argonaut Club. San Francisco, CA:  public lecture and presentation on Haiti photographs

I’ve Known Rivers: Museum of the African Diaspora. MOAD stories website project. San Francisco, CA

 2006-2009              

* Haiti: We Are Here; Alliance Francaise.  San Francisco, CA

* Ti Moun:  Children of Haiti; Gallery One Visual Arts Center.  Ellensburg, WA

* Almost Gone/Photodynamics; Oats Park Art Center. Fallon, NV

* Still in the Dark; Santa Clara University Dept of Art and Art History Gallery. Santa Clara, CA

United Nations World Food Program Auction; San Francisco, CA

2008 International Peace Corps Exhibition; Center for Fine Art Photography. Fort Collins, CO

2008 Benefit Auction; San Francisco Camerawork. San Francisco, CA

Photography 2008: Juried by Roy DeCarava; Pen and Brush Gallery.  New York, NY

40 Portraits/40 Artists; Gallery One Visual Arts Center.  Ellensburg, WA 2006-07

Loin D’Ici: Espace Art et Liberté. Charenton-Le-Pont, France

Alameda on Camera; Frank Bette Center for the Arts. Alameda, CA

Mercury Rising: New Works by 16 Bay Area Artists; Mercury 20 Gallery. Oakland, CA

Remnants:  The Mark on the Land; Cell Space. San Francisco, CA

International Women’s Exhibition; La Pena Cultural Center.  Berkeley, CA

Person, Place or Thing:  New Experimental Photography; Tomlinson Studio. Oakland, CA

 2002-05

* Almost Gone;  Getchell Gallery.  University of Nevada, Reno

* Almost Gone;  The Galleria.  UC Berkeley Extension.  San Francisco, CA

* Haitian Style;  International House.  University of California, Davis. 

* Ethereal Life: Mixed Media Paintings; Phaff Gallery West.  Davis, CA

Recombinant Flux; Rx Gallery.  San Francisco, CA

Spectrum- A Survey of Contemporary Photography; Richter Studio.  San Francisco, CA

Moment’s Notice;  Galeria de la Raza.  San Francisco, CA

Artists’ Valentines;  Richard L. Nelson Gallery.  Davis, CA

Photo-Experimentalists; Scott Nichols Gallery.  San Francisco, CA

Post-Postcard 6; Southern Exposure Gallery. San Francisco, CA

 1998-2001              

* Carnaval; Napa Valley Designers Showcase.  Napa, CA

The Convincing Lie; James Baird Gallery.  New Foundland, Canada

ExtraOrdinary; Walter/McBean Gallery.  San Francisco, CA    

Post-Postcard 5; Southern Exposure Gallery. San Francisco, CA

Light Fantastic; Walter/McBean Gallery.  San Francisco, CA

Works on Paper; The Door Gallery.  Makawao, HI  

Black & White and One Color; Artisans Gallery.  Mill Valley, CA

Photospiva 2000;  Spiva Center for the Arts.  Joplin, MO             

On the Edge of the Millennium; Edge Gallery.  Denver, CO

Millennium Challenge:  UC Berkeley Photo Faculty; Richardson Hall.  San Francisco, CA

Spirituality<->Otherworldliness;  Walter/McBean Gallery.  San Francisco, CA  

A Sense of Place; AAWS  Gallery.  Winston-Salem, NC             

Spectra ‘99 National Photography Biennial;  Silvermine Guild Gallery.  New Canaan, CT  

Krappy Kamera Exhibition; Soho Photo Gallery.  New York, NY    

Nothing But Time; Southern Exposure Gallery.  San Francisco, CA

Spanning the Bay; Center for the Visual Arts Gallery.  Oakland, CA

The Manipulated Photographic Image; Fine Art Center.  Taos, NM

1990-97

Contemporary Vision with the Plastic Camera; Photocentral Gallery.  Hayward, CA

Face to Face:  Portraits and Their Interpretation; Impact Gallery.  Buffalo, NY                           

Translation & Transformation; San Marcos Fine Arts Center.  San Marcos, TX

The National Holga Show; University Gallery.  Old Dominion University.  Norfolk, VA      

Image Conscious:  New and Innovative Photography; Galeria Mesa.   Mesa, AZ

The Heart and Soul of the City; The Swann Gallery.  Detroit, MI

The Line Forms Here; The Stage Gallery.  Merrick, NY. 

Summertime:  Images and Objects of Summer; Tempe Arts Center.  Tempe, AZ,

The 6th Annual New Images Photography Exhibition; James Madison University, VA           

Artists for Amnesty Exhibition; John Natsoulas Gallery:  Davis, CA

Awards and Honors: 

Basque Educational Organization Creator’s Fund Grant 2025

National Endowment for the Humanities lecture award: Churchill Arts Council, NV

The Stage Gallery, NY.  Curator’s Choice: Best of Show 

Nippon Steel USA/School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Presidential Award Winner

President’s Undergraduate Fellowship for Research Project in the Arts, UC Davis

University of California Education Abroad Scholarship for Basque Language and Literature

Chancellor’s Ambassador: University of California, Davis

UC Davis award for Outstanding Performance in Studio Art

Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: All images on this site are by Marie-José Durquet. They are copyrighted and should only be reproduced, downloaded or distributed with the artist's permission.