Bio
Curt Confer is a visual artist who uses his body to translate language into slow sequences of movement, inviting visitors into a shared space to reflect on themes of loss, memory, and interconnectivity. Using texts from queer theory, philosophy, social history, and poetry to inform his scripts, Curt interprets linguistic selections through the frame of his body, moving quietly or whispering within live tableaus made of light, sound, and found materials. His work also includes drawings and videos that further his exploration of how embodied knowledge is held onto and exchanged.
Curt graduated from Hamilton College in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art and Theater and earned a Master of Fine Arts from New York University in 2007. Since then he has exhibited at several institutions and galleries including Columbia University, The School of Visual Arts, Carrie Able Gallery, and Site:Brooklyn among others. As an educator, Curt’s research into the history of performance art and experimental theater has informed his curriculums which integrate performance with the visual arts. After completing a Master of Arts in Teaching degree at the School of Visual Arts in 2016, he served as an Adjunct Professor in the same program and currently teaches in the BFA Fine Arts Program at Parsons, The New School. Curt was a recipient of the Dietrich Inchworm Grant through Hamilton College in 2018 and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
CV
Born 1979, Flemington, NJ
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
Education:
2016 MAT, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
2007 MFA, New York University, New York, NY
2002 BA, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
Solo Performances/Exhibitions:
2019
On Aura, performance, Flatiron Project Space, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
2014
We love the noun! performance, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
2009
The Length of the Look, performance, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
2006
Imperfect Measures, exhibition, Dietel Gallery, Emma Willard School, Troy, NY
Group Exhibitions:
2024
Monochrome Explored, Site:Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Pattern and Abstraction, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, Pawtucket, RI
2022
Sanctuary, Lynn and Carl Goldstein Gallery, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY
2021
Metamorphosis: the Art of Transformation, Visionary Art Collective, Brooklyn, NY
Drawings in a Time of Renewal, Long Island City Artists, Long Island City, NY
Immersion Site, Carrie Able Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Wish You Were Here, Imago Gallery, Warren, RI
2020
2020: An Exhibit of Pairs, The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
2019
Present Tenses, The Center for Arts Education, New York, NY
2018
Constructing a Praxis of Artist/Educator, Smith Learning Theater, Columbia University, New York, NY
2016
Constellations of Memory, Flatiron Gallery, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
2011
Desperate Acts: Performance into Art, Macy Gallery, Columbia University, New York, NY
2007
Timeline: Human Speed & Technology Speed, Korea Cultural Service, Beijing, China
Look Away, Cynthia Broan Gallery, New York, NY
MFA Thesis Show, Washington Square East Gallery, New York University, New York, NY
2002
The Human Condition, Gallery Insane, Providence, RI
Awards/Grants:
2018
Dietrich Inchworm Grant (Hamilton College)
2005
Graduate Assistant Scholarship (NYU)
2002
The J. Barney Moore Prize in Art (Hamilton College)
Publications:
2016
Night Paintings, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, NY, artwork by Afruz Amighi, poem by Curt Confer (catalog)
Process Classroom, Master of Arts in Teaching Program, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY (catalog)
2011
Desperate Acts: Performance into Art, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY (catalog)
2007
MFA Thesis Show, Washington Square East Gallery, New York University, New York, NY (catalog)
Teaching:
2021-present
Lecturer, BFA Fine Arts Program, Parsons, The New School, New York, NY
2018-2020
Adjunct Professor, MAT Program, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY