John Trobaugh

John Trobaugh (born 1968) in Lansing, Michigan is an American artist specializing in photography and based in Birmingham, Alabama. Trobaugh received his BFA in 1996 with honors from University of Alabama at Birmingham and went on to study photography at the School of Visual Arts. In 2003 he received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

John Trobaugh
BornNovember 20, 1968
Lansing, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
EducationThe University of Alabama at Birmingham; The School of Visual Arts, NYC, New York; The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama; New York University, NYC, New York
Known forPhotography, Drawing, Printmaking
Notable work
"Double Duty Series"
MovementQueer theory
Patron(s)The University of Alabama Birmingham Visual Art Gallery Collection

His photography has been published in Art Papers, selected as the cover artist. He has also been published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, NY Arts Magazine, The Washington Post and The Advocate as well as The Birmingham News and World of Wonder, among many others.

While teaching at Sheldon State in Tuscaloosa Alabama, Trobaugh's work was censored before a planned exhibition.[1] The case has yet to be resolved but gained national attention due to censorship issues. He was forbidden to discuss this censorship as part of his art appreciation class. Trobaugh later resigned his post.

Richard Meyer, chair of the art department at The University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, spoke about Trobaugh's work at various national conferences about censorship. Trobaugh was also presented in The Smithsonian National Gallery and is the author of several articles including Art Papers.

Work

In 2005, Space One Eleven exhibited Trobaugh's work alongside Karen Graffeo for"In This Place". M. K. Matalon organized this exhibition to investigate place and location in relationship to contemporary Southern issues.[2]

Trobaugh's work was selected to be part of Patterns of Nature in Denver, Colorado.[3]

Trobaugh was included in "Politics, Politics: Nine Artists Explore the Political Landscape" curated by Anne Arrasmith and Peter Prinz of Space One Eleven. This exhibition was funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and included Pinky Bass, Clayton Colvin, Peggy Dobbins, Randy Gachet, binx Newton, Arthur Price, Paul Ware, and Stan Woodard.[4]

Trobaugh was a presenter for Photography in the Digital Age by The Society For Photographic Education South Central Regional Conference, 2003. This meeting took place at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama [5]

In 2009, Trobaugh moved to Worcester, Massachusetts with his husband and son. Trobaugh became involved in Worcester civic life first through Worcester Pride, a local LGBTQ+ organization, then by running for school committee.[6] Trobaugh works in the Diversity and Inclusion Office at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.[7]

Books

Quotes

  • Photographs by John Trobaugh were removed from display for “inappropriate” content at an exhibition at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The photographs portray Ken and G.I. Joe posed in romantic (though not sexually explicit) couplings. this decision involved the National Coalition Against Censorship.[9] -Queer Caucus for Art
  • The censoring of my work from this faculty exhibition served to illustrate this point because administrators “loved” the images, yet the president of the college removed the whole series. People ask why would I want to show my work in the South anyway? I was raised here, the fantasy world was created here, and the images are made or based in the South. Why shouldn't the South see what the South created? -John Trobaugh [10]
  • His most recent series, called Double Duty, are photographs using the 12" dolls to make social commentary," the text says. "Trobaugh's photographs uncannily portray human likeness and gesture." True. In fact, for a second, we thought someone had found and posted photos we took in the '70s. Just for a second. -Stephen Saban of The WOW Report
  • Actually I like Trobaugh's photos more than David Leventhal. Nothing is more subjective than art and nothing is more common in art than homoeroticism. -Stephen Smith, Birmingham Free Press, 2004

Notes

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