Kathy Battista
Kathy Battista is a writer, educator and curator of exhibitions in museums, galleries and nonprofits. Her research is primarily focused on cross-generational feminist art, in particular performance and body-oriented practice. Most recently she curated Non-Objectified at Kino Saito Foundation, Verplanck, NY; Resonance at marytwo, Lucerne, Switzerland; The Art of Fashion at Fountain House Gallery, NYC; Escape Attempts at Nazarian Curcio Gallery, Los Angeles; and E.A.T.: Experiments in Art and Technology at the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria. She has authored numerous books, including New York New Wave: The Legacy of Feminist Art in Emerging Practice (2019) and Renegotiating the Body: Feminist Art in 1970s London (2012). Battista also co-edited a book on artist estates and foundations, Creative Legacies: Critical Issues in Artist Estates, for Lund Humphries (2020).
Battista has over 20 years of leadership positions in the art world. She founded the interaction program at Artangel, a renowned public art agency in London; the MA Program in Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York; and the Chez Fifi artist residency in Branford, CT; and co-founded 89 Greene, a project space on the Lower East Side of New York. She has also served as editor in chief of the Benezit Dictionary of Art for Oxford University Press and is on several international nonprofit boards and committees. She holds a PhD from the University of London, an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art and a BA from Fordham University.
Courses
Spring 2025 Courses
PAINT 4570-01
CRITICAL CURATING
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Critical Curating will offer an in-depth and immersive introduction to curatorial practice, examining the art of exhibition-making from cultural and theoretical perspectives. The course looks at current and historical exhibitions that engage a range of public platforms, as well as artist practices invested in exhibition-making. The course also has a practical component, which will be an opportunity for students to develop and implement a public exhibition.
The first half of the course will introduce students to the critical analysis of the curatorial field. We will experiment with writing for various curatorial activities including exhibition reviews, curatorial proposals, and research presentations; as well as conduct site visits to different exhibition platforms. The second half of the course will focus on the production of an exhibition collectively conceived and managed by the student cohort, which will take place in the President’s House and Memorial Hall’s gallery. Coursework will involve workshopping curatorial proposals, soliciting an on-campus open call for work, and overseeing the installation and design of the exhibition. Additionally, visiting curators and artists will give lectures throughout the course, as well as activities such as studio visits, screenings, and research.
Preference will be given to Painting Students.
Elective