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Lauren R. O’Connell is a curator, writer, and educator focusing on contemporary art. She is currently the curator of contemporary art at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Arizona. O’Connell previously held positions at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the Architecture and Design Department and UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive where she organized Architecture of Life (2016) with former director Lawrence Rinder and worked on numerous MATRIX projects and collection shows.
Her curatorial practice is rooted in artist-centric projects that expand and challenge artistic medium, critical dialogue, relational experiences, and art historical cannons. She has worked on special projects with artists including Tarek Atoui, Kristin Bauer, Diedrick Brackens, York Chang, Mimi O Chun, Martin Soto Climent, Cybele Lyle, Otobong Nkanga, William Powhida, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Jean Shin, Anna Tsouhlarakis, and Qiu Zhijie. O'Connell's research positions contemporary art as an avenue to examine social reality through epistemological examination, speculative and historical (re)formations, mythology, and constructed environments. Her research process involves exhibition-making, artist engagement, and community-building. O'Connell is the author of Language in Times of Miscommunication: Art Critical of Social Reality (SMoCA, 2023) and co-author of Dorothy Fratt: Works (Radius Books, 2023). Her writing can be found in publications including New Time: Art & Feminism in the 21st Century (UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2021) and Harvey Quaytman: Against the Static (University of California Press, 2018). |
Artist Diedrick Brackens and Lauren R. O'Connell, 2022.
Lauren R. O'Connell and artist Cybele Lyle, 2024. Photo: Aaron Rothman.
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b. 1982, Chicago, IL
Lives and works in Phoenix, AZ
MA in Curatorial Practice, California College of the Arts (CCA), San Francisco
BA in Classics and Art History, Magna Cum Laude, University of Arizona, Tucson
Instituto Internazionale di Studi Classici di Orvieto, Orvieto, Italy
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale, AZ
Curator of Contemporary Art, June 2019-Present
Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe, AZ
Adjunct Faculty, August 2019–Present
University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), Berkeley, CA
Curatorial Associate, September 2014–February 2017
Curatorial Intern, Modern and Contemporary Art and MATRIX, Summer 2013
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, CA
Curatorial Research Assistant, Architecture + Design, June 2014–September 2014
Curatorial Intern, Architecture + Design, Summer 2013
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale, AZ
Curatorial Assistant, May 2010–August 2012
Lives and works in Phoenix, AZ
MA in Curatorial Practice, California College of the Arts (CCA), San Francisco
BA in Classics and Art History, Magna Cum Laude, University of Arizona, Tucson
Instituto Internazionale di Studi Classici di Orvieto, Orvieto, Italy
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale, AZ
Curator of Contemporary Art, June 2019-Present
Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe, AZ
Adjunct Faculty, August 2019–Present
University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), Berkeley, CA
Curatorial Associate, September 2014–February 2017
Curatorial Intern, Modern and Contemporary Art and MATRIX, Summer 2013
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, CA
Curatorial Research Assistant, Architecture + Design, June 2014–September 2014
Curatorial Intern, Architecture + Design, Summer 2013
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale, AZ
Curatorial Assistant, May 2010–August 2012
