THE THIRD ANNUAL CONFERENCE
ABOUT
ARTIST-CURATED EXHIBITIONS
Free, RSVP required
ABOUT
ARTIST-CURATED EXHIBITIONS
Free, RSVP required
Saturday,
May 16, 2026
1:30pm
Doors
2pm
Event begins
May 16, 2026
1:30pm
Doors
2pm
Event begins
Why do artists curate, and what happens to exhibitions when they do? Artists who take on curatorial roles often propose alternative ideas about what exhibitions are for and what they can do. Since everything at GPS is about artists supporting other artists, we convene an annual public forum about artist-curated exhibitions to provide new scholarship on this under-studied and under-historicized curatorial form.
Rather than focusing on individual case studies, the third annual conference reflects on two artists whose curatorial practices are entwined with their artistic work: Robert Gober and Raqs Media Collective.
Rather than focusing on individual case studies, the third annual conference reflects on two artists whose curatorial practices are entwined with their artistic work: Robert Gober and Raqs Media Collective.
This third annual forum was developed through a graduate course at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (CCS Bard) led by Anthony Huberman, visiting faculty at CCS Bard, and was organized by Ray Camp, Christopher Gianunzio, Grace Harmer, and Amy Yuanchen Qian. Special thanks to Lauren Cornell and Mariano Lopez Seoane.
2 - 3:30pm:
Lecture on Robert Gober by Lucas Blalock
Lecture on Robert Gober by John Yau
Q&A moderated by Ray Camp and Christopher Gianunzio
Lecture on Robert Gober by Lucas Blalock
Lecture on Robert Gober by John Yau
Q&A moderated by Ray Camp and Christopher Gianunzio
4 - 5:30pm:
Lecture on Raqs Media Collective by Xin Wang
Lecture on Raqs Media Collective by Monica Narula (founding member of Raqs)
Q&A moderated by Grace Harmer and Amy Yuanchen Qian
Lecture on Raqs Media Collective by Xin Wang
Lecture on Raqs Media Collective by Monica Narula (founding member of Raqs)
Q&A moderated by Grace Harmer and Amy Yuanchen Qian
How do artist-curated exhibitions differ from ones curated by curators? Do shared typologies or strategies emerge? What are the benefits— and the risks—involved with an exhibition that centers an artist's perspective on other artists? Why do museums invite artists to curate? What are some of the agendas, motivations, and expectations involved? What can curators, and museum professionals more generally, learn from artist-curated exhibitions? How does that history affect or inform a broader history of curatorial practice?
Exhibitions curated by Robert Gober include:
Plein Air at Matthew Marks, NY (2026)
Cows at a Pond at Demisch Danant, NY (2023)
Forrest Bess (By Robert Gober) at the Whitney Museum, NY (with Elisabeth Sussman) (2012)
Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield at the Whitney Museum, NY (2010)
The Meat Wagon at the Menil, Houston (with Matthew Drutt) (2005)
Plein Air at Matthew Marks, NY (2026)
Cows at a Pond at Demisch Danant, NY (2023)
Forrest Bess (By Robert Gober) at the Whitney Museum, NY (with Elisabeth Sussman) (2012)
Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield at the Whitney Museum, NY (2010)
The Meat Wagon at the Menil, Houston (with Matthew Drutt) (2005)
Exhibitions curated by Raqs Media Collective include:
Yokohama Triennial: Afterglow, Yokohama (2020)
Shanghai Biennial: Why Not Ask Again: Arguments, Counter-arguments and Stories, Power Station, Shanghai (2016)
Manifesta 7: The Rest of Now, Trentino–Alto Adige, Italy (2008)
Yokohama Triennial: Afterglow, Yokohama (2020)
Shanghai Biennial: Why Not Ask Again: Arguments, Counter-arguments and Stories, Power Station, Shanghai (2016)
Manifesta 7: The Rest of Now, Trentino–Alto Adige, Italy (2008)
Lucas Blalock (b. 1978) is a photographer. Recent solo shows include exhibitions at Galerie Eva Presenhuber, New York; Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels; and Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. His work was featured in the 2019 Whitney Biennial. He is Assistant Professor of Photography at Bard College and lives in Brooklyn.
John Yau (b. 1950) is a poet, critic, and fiction writer. He has written about Robert Gober and Forrest Bess, and is the author of monographs on Thomas Nozkowski, Richard Artschwager, Jasper Johns, Catherine Murphy, A.R. Penck, and William Tillyer. His latest book of essays is titled Foreign Sounds or Sounds Foreign (2020). He is a Professor Emeritus at the Mason Gross School of the Arts and Rutgers University, and a longtime contributor to Hyperallergic. He lives in New York.
John Yau (b. 1950) is a poet, critic, and fiction writer. He has written about Robert Gober and Forrest Bess, and is the author of monographs on Thomas Nozkowski, Richard Artschwager, Jasper Johns, Catherine Murphy, A.R. Penck, and William Tillyer. His latest book of essays is titled Foreign Sounds or Sounds Foreign (2020). He is a Professor Emeritus at the Mason Gross School of the Arts and Rutgers University, and a longtime contributor to Hyperallergic. He lives in New York.
Xin Wang is an art historian and Curatorial Director at Pace Gallery. She completed her PhD dissertation on Soviet Hauntology at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Recent essays include “Machine Envy” in Machine Decision is Not Final: China and the History and Future of Artificial Intelligence (2025), “Dance as Socialist World-Building” in Afterall (2024), and “Asian Futurism and the Non-Other” in e-flux journal (2017). She is a visiting critic at Yale University’s MFA program in Photography and lives in New York.
Monica Narula (b. 1969), along with Jeebesh Bagchi and Shuddha Sengupta, co-founded Raqs Media Collective in 1992. Raqs enjoys playing a plurality of roles, often appearing as artists, occasionally as curators, and sometimes as philosophical agent provocateurs. They have exhibited widely, including at Documenta and at the Venice, Istanbul, Taipei, Liverpool, Shanghai, Sydney and São Paulo Biennales. In 2000, Raqs co-founded the Sarai initiative at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi, and the Sarai Reader Series, which they edited until 2013. Narula works at the the Chair of Art in Space and Time at ETH Zurich and lives between Zurich and New Dehli.
Monica Narula (b. 1969), along with Jeebesh Bagchi and Shuddha Sengupta, co-founded Raqs Media Collective in 1992. Raqs enjoys playing a plurality of roles, often appearing as artists, occasionally as curators, and sometimes as philosophical agent provocateurs. They have exhibited widely, including at Documenta and at the Venice, Istanbul, Taipei, Liverpool, Shanghai, Sydney and São Paulo Biennales. In 2000, Raqs co-founded the Sarai initiative at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi, and the Sarai Reader Series, which they edited until 2013. Narula works at the the Chair of Art in Space and Time at ETH Zurich and lives between Zurich and New Dehli.
Due to the age and character of the building, the space is not optimized for ADA accessibility and is located up a single flight of 20 stairs with handrails. If you have questions about access, please contact us in advance of the event, and we will make every effort to accommodate you.
