Dr. Morgan Falconer, Director of the MA Contemporary Art program at Sotheby’s Institute of Art-New York, has appointed Aliza Shvarts to the faculty.
Dr. Falconer said, “Aliza Shvarts is an artist and writer working at the cutting edge of art practice and critical debate. She has exhibited in major institutions across Europe and the United States while also rising to prominence as a thinker. The MA Contemporary Art program at Sotheby’s Institute seeks to examine how art circulates through institutions and markets, but it also seeks to situate discussions within wider social, cultural and political debates. We are thrilled to welcome a new faculty member who can bring those discussions together and frame them in new and arresting ways.”
Shvarts said, “I am very excited to be joining the MA Contemporary Art program at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, which not only equips students with the necessary skills for jobs in the art market, but empowers them to develop critical perspectives that bridge the gap between theory and practice. I believe this approach is necessary if we are to build a more equitable arts community."
"Aliza Shvarts is an artist and writer working at the cutting edge of art practice and critical debate."
Aliza Shvarts’ art and writing takes a queer and feminist approach to reproductive labor and language. Her recent work focuses on testimony and circulations of speech in the digital age. Her artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including Tate Modern in London; FUTURA in Prague; Athens Biennale in Greece; the LOOP International Film Festival in Barcelona; SculptureCenter, A.I.R, Participant Inc, Abrons Art Center, Lévy Gorvy, and Matthew Gallery in New York; and the Slought Foundation in Philadelphia.
Shvarts’ writing has been published in Whitechapel Documents in Contemporary Art: Practice; The Feminist and Queer Information Studies Reader; TDR/The Drama Review; Women & Performance; and The Brooklyn Rail. She has given talks at numerous institutions including The Whitney Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, The 8th Floor/Rubin Foundation, Harvard University, McGill University, Stanford University, and UCLA. Not content with appearing only at revered seats of learning, she has also written liner notes for the drone metal band SunnO))) and appeared as a guest commentator on MTV.
Aliza Shvarts graduated with a BA summa cum laude in Fine Art and English from Yale University (2008); she was a 2014-15 Helena Rubinstein Fellow in Critical Studies at the Whitney Independent Study Program; and she holds an MA in Performance Studies from New York University. In fall 2019, she will complete her PhD in Performance Studies at New York University, submitting a dissertation titled “The Doom Performative” which explores issues of reproductive labor and temporality in relation to the material history, sound, aesthetics, and feeling of doom.
She will begin her role at Sotheby’s Institute of Art-New York in September 2019.