EDUCATION

2016

Doctor of Philosophy, Art History and Visual Culture, York University, Toronto, Canada
Thesis: “Total Work of Fashion: Bernhard Willhelm and the Contemporary Avant-Garde

2009

Master of Arts, History and Culture of Fashion, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom
Thesis: “Girl Nerds: The North-American Asian Contingent, Society and Style”

2004

Honours Bachelor of Art, Art History and Visual Studies, University of Toronto, Canada

 

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS

2019–2020

Visiting Scholar, School of Art and Design History and Theory, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York

2018–2019

Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellowship, Performa, New York

2016–2018

Post-Doctoral Fellowship, School of Art and Design History and Theory, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2021

“Contemporary Avant-Garde Fashion.” Routledge Companion to Fashion Studies. Eds. Veronica Manlow, Eugenia Paulicelli and Elizabeth Wissinger. London and New York: Routledge.

Exhibition Rev. of “Diedrick Brackens: shape of a fever believer,” frieze. 5 April 2021.

Exhibition Rev. of “Haegue Yang: Emergence,” frieze. April 2021, p. TBD.

Exhibition Rev. of “Howie Tsui: From swelling shadows, we draw our bows,” Artforum. March 2021, p. 185.

2020

Exhibition Rev. of “Native Art Department International: Bureau of Aesthetics,” frieze, no. 215, November/December 2020, p. 152.

Exhibition Rev. of “Bridget Moser: My Crops Are Dying But My Body Persists,” Artforum. Vol. 59, no, p. 181.

Book Rev. of Saturation: Race, Art, and the Circulation of Value, Canadian Art. 15 July. Online.

Exhibition Rev. of “2 Lizards,” The Brooklyn Rail. July/August 2020, p. 86.

Exhibition Rev. of “FIVE.,” The Brooklyn Rail. July/August 2020, p. 89.

“Taste and Transgression: Gender and Sexuality in the Contemporary Avant–Garde Fashion of Bernhard Willhelm.” Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture. Vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 5–31.

2019

Performance Rev. of “Embassy of Imagination: Sinaaqpagiaqtuut/The Long Cut,” Performa Magazine. 16 October. Online.

“How Pierre Cardin’s Futuristic Fashion Infiltrated Everyday Life,” The Atlantic. 26 July 2019. Online.

Performance Rev. of “Hannah Black and Juliana Huxtable: Penumbra,” The Brooklyn Rail. July/August 2019. pp. 62.

Performance Rev. of “Björk: Cornupcopia,” Performa Magazine, 29 May. Online.

Exhibition Rev. of “Berna Reale: While you laugh / Enquanto Você Ri,” The Brooklyn Rail, May 2019. pp. 56.

Exhibition Rev. of “Refiguring Binaries,” The Brooklyn Rail. April 2019. pp. 47–8.

Performance Rev. of “Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born: Odaku’s Revolt,” Performa Magazine, 20 March. Online.

2018

“Against ‘Fashion-Time’: Bernhard Willhelm, Regional Folk Dress and the contemporary.” Visual Typologies from the Early Modern to the Contemporary: Local Contexts and Global Practices. Eds. Lynda Klich and Tara Zanardi. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 229–244.

Exhibition Rev. of “Lorna Mills: The Great Code.” Canadian Art, Vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 116–117.

2017

Exhibition Rev. of “Sara Berman's Closet,” Journal of Curatorial Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 259–262.

Exhibition Rev. of “Ian Cheng: Emissaries,” The Brooklyn Rail. May 2017. Online.

2016

Exhibition Rev. of “Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art 1905-2016,” The Brooklyn Rail. 6 December, p. 54.

2015

Exhibition Rev. of “Is Toronto Burning?” Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 541–547.

2014

Book Rev. of “Art & Textiles: Fabric as Material and Concept in Modern Art from Klimt to the Present, Marcus Brüderlin (ed.),” Journal of Curatorial Studies, Vol. 3, No. 2/3, pp. 423–426.

“Bernhard Willhelm: The contemporary and sartorial remembrance,” Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 295–312.

2013

Exhibition Rev. of “Experts: doomsday predictions have no basis in fact or history,” Journal of Curatorial Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 267–270.

“Resist the List: A Problem of Politics in the Evaluation of Contemporary Art,” C Magazine, Summer 2013, No. 118, pp. 24–27.

2012

Exhibition Rev. of “Public: Collective Identity | Occupied Spaces,” Canadian Art. 10 May. Online.

2011

Exhibition Rev. of “Hussein Chalayan: From Fashion and Back,” Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 93–98.

2010

Exhibition Rev. of “Pieter Hugo,” PUBLIC, Winter 2010, No. 42, pp. 146–7.

2009

Exhibition Rev. of “Ryan Gander: Things that mean things and things that look like they mean things,” Canadian Art. 10 December. Online.

Exhibition Rev. of “Tate Triennial,” C Magazine, Summer 2009, No. 102, pp. 52–3.

Interview with Sarah Thornton: Seven Days in the Art World, Canadian Art. 12 April. Online.

Exhibition Rev. of “Elmgreen + Dragset,” Canadian Art, Spring 2009, Vol. 26, No.1, pp. 89–90.

Exhibition Rev. of “Jin-meYoon: Passages Through Phantasmagoria,” Canadian Art. 12 February. Online.

2008

Exhibition Rev. of “Lee Bul,” Canadian Art, Summer 2008, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 87–8.

2007

Exhibition Rev. of “Luc Tuymans,” Canadian Art, Fall 2007, Vol. 24, No.3, pp. 135.

Exhibition Rev. of “Marla Hlady,” Canadian Art, Spring 2007 Vol. 24, No.1, pp. 98–102.

2006

Exhibition Rev. of “Where Are We Going? The François Pinault Collection,” Canadian Art, Winter 2006, Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 72–3.

HONOURS AND AWARDS

2013–2014

Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Government of Canada

2011–2013

Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Government of Ontario

2010

York Graduate Scholarship, York University, Toronto, Canada

2007

Harold Tillman Scholarship for MA Studies in Fashion, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom 

GRANTS, RESIDENCIES, WORKSHOPS

2021

Participant, Art Writing Workshop, International Association of Art Critics (AICA-USA) and The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant

Visual Arts Project Grant; Presentation, Ontario Arts Council (OAC)

2020                           

Explore and Create: Concept to Realization Grant, Canada Council for the Arts (CCA)

Visual/Media Arts Projects Grant, Toronto Arts Council (TAC)

Fellowship, Banff International Curatorial Institute (BICI), Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Alberta

2019                           

Exhibition Implementation Grant, Coby Foundation, New York

Visual Arts Project Grant; Curatorial Research and Development, Ontario Arts Council (OAC)

2014                           

Writer-in-Residence, Est-Nord-Est Artist-Run Centre, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec

INVITED TALKS AND PANELS

2021

“Subversive Stitches: Costume, Obscenity and the Body in Contemporary Performance,” MA Costume Studies, New York University (NYU), New York. April 1.

“Unruly Bodies: Fashion, Costume and Vulgarity in Contemporary Performance,” Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. March 30.

2020

“Hot Takes” talk with Bridget Moser, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. December 10.

2019                           

Conversation with Narcissister and Francesca Granata, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York. December 13.

Conversation with Lap-See Lam, Swedish Pavilion, Performa 19, New York, November 17.

Roundtable discussion “Bauhaus at the Margins: Gender, Sexual and Queer Politics” with Beatriz Colomina and Elizabeth Otto. Performa 19, New York, November 15.

Conversation with Pauline Batista and Ana Kuzmanic. Residency Unlimited, Brooklyn, New York, May 13.

“Unruly Bodies: Feminist Polemics, Abjection and Obscenity in Contemporary Avant-Garde Performance/Art,” Parsons School of Design, New York, April 24.

“Making Art While Asian: Intersections Between Art, Race and Technology,” Fordham University, New York, April 12.

“Total Works of Fashion: Intersections Performance (Art), Costume and Fashion,” Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, April 11.

“Collecting the Contemporary Fashion Avant-Garde: Bernhard Willhelm at the ModeMuseum, Antwerp,” Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, February 20.

2018

Journal launch panel for Fashion Studies. Panelists: Kathryn Church, Lesley Hampton, Kisha McPherson, Elizabeth Semmelhack, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, June 25.

“The ‘Porn-Again Avant-Garde’: Art, Image and Fashion in the Contemporary Vanguard,” Fordham University, New York, April 20.

2017                           

Book launch panel for Experimental Fashion: Performance Art, Carnival and the Grotesque Body. Panelists: Francesca Granata and Bernhard Willhelm, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, March 16.

2016                           

“Diasporic Asian Art: Home, Identity and the In-Between,” Fordham University, New York, November 28.

Gesamtkunstwerk: Bernhard Willhelm and the Total Work of Fashion,” Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, October 27.

2013                           

“Criticism,” talk with Amish Morrell, C Magazine launch, YYZ Artists’ Outlet, Toronto, Canada, June 26.

2012                           

“Total Work of Fashion: Bernhard Willhelm and the Contemporary Avant-Garde,” Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, December 3.

2011                           

“Asian North American Girl Nerds: The ‘Unlook’,” MA Fashion, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, March 30.

2009                           

“Bring it: Toronto Alliance of Art Critics Says Make Face Mofos,” Double Double Land, Toronto, Canada, December 2.

2009                           

“Girl Nerds: The Asian North American Contingent,” School of Fashion, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada, March 27.

CONFERENCES

2019

Presenter, “Unruly Images: Female Bodies and Feminist Polemics in the Contemporary Avant-Garde.” College Art Association (CAA) Annual Conference, New York City, United States, February 13–16.

2018

Presenter, “The ‘Porn-Again Avant-Garde’: Transgression and the Contemporary Fashion Vanguard.” Unruly Design: Making, Changing and Breaking Rules, A Colloquium at Parsons School of Design, New York, United States, March 2–3.

2017

Presenter, “Taste and Transgression: Gender and Sexuality in the Contemporary Avant-Garde Fashion of Bernhard Willhelm.” Association of Dress Historians (ADH) Annual Conference, London, United Kingdom, October 26–27.

2015

Session Chair, “Fashion and the Contemporary Avant-Garde.” College Art Association (CAA) Annual Conference, New York City, United States, February 11–14.

2014

Session Co-Chair, “Intersections between Art and Fashion.” Universities Art Association of Canada (UAAC/AAUC) Annual Conference, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada, October 23–36.

Presenter, “Capital of the Contemporary Fashion Avant-Garde: Antwerp and Happy Birthday Dear Academie.” American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) Annual Conference, New York University, United States, March 20–23.

2013

Presenter, “Bernhard Willhelm: The Contemporary, Sartorial Remembrance and Folk Dress.” Fashioning Identities: Types, Customs, and Dress in a Global Context Symposium at Hunter College, City University of New York, United States, October 18–19.

Presenter, “Artist-Engineer: Arcangelo Sassolino’s Cybernetic Devices.” Association of Art Historians (AAH) 29th Annual Conference, University of Reading, United Kingdom, April 11–13.

Presenter, “Contemporary Avant-Garde Fashion and Placeness.” American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) Annual Conference, University of Toronto, Canada, April 4–7.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2022

Sessional Lecturer, Art, Media and Culture, University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada Course: Curatorial Perspectives II

2020

Sessional Lecturer, Graduate Studies, OCAD University, Toronto, Canada Course: Issues in Criticism and Curatorial Studies

2016–2018

Lecturer, School of Art and Design History and Theory, Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York

2015

Course Director, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, York University, Toronto, Canada     
Course: Art in the City

Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada
Courses: Television as Communication; Television as Culture

2010–2016

Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Fine Arts, York University, Toronto, Canada
Courses: Art in the City; Modern Art: 1750 to the Present; Introduction to Art History; The Photographic Experience

2014

Lecturer, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Department of Visual Arts, Western University, London, Ontario
Course: What (Not) to Wear: Fashion, Textiles and Art II

2009–2013

Instructor, The Chang School, Communication and Design, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
Courses: Fashion, Culture, and Society; History of Costume I

2009–2010

Graduate Teaching Assistant, School of Fashion, Faculty of Communication and Design, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
Courses: Fashion Culture - Suffragettes to CEOs; History of Costume I; History of Design; Introduction to Fashion II

CURATORIAL PROJECTS

2023

Curator, Jawa El Khash: Nature’s Algorithm, Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto, Ontario

2022

Co-Organizer, CAR SHOW, Erin Stump Projects, Toronto, Ontario

Co-Curator, Mare Liberum: In Which We Create a People’s Map of the Don River Valley, Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto, Ontario

Curator, Laura Grier: Native North American Food Plants, Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto, Ontario

Curator, Sarah Davidson: Swamp Walk, Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto, Ontario

Co-Curator, Joar Nango and Ken Are Bongo: “Post-Capitalist Architecture-TV: On the Ravines,” Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto, Ontario

2021—2022

Co-Curator, Stories and Storefronts, Toronto, Ontario

Co-Curator, Sandra Brewster: Roots, Evergreen Public Art Program, Toronto

2021

Curator, Hot Vax Summer Collection, YOUar

2019

Co-Curator, Chou Yu-Cheng: Chemical Gilding, Keep Calm, Galvanize, Pray, Ashes, Manifestation, Unequal, Dissatisfaction, Capitalize, Incense Burner, Survival, Agitation, Hit, Performa 19 Biennial Commission, New York, New York

Co-Curator, Otherworldly: Performance, Costume and Difference, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Parsons School of Design, New York, New York

Assistant Curator, Huang Po-Chih: Heaven on Fourth, Performa 19 Biennial Commission, New York, New York

Assistant Curator, Lap-See Lam: Phantom Banquet , Performa 19 Biennial Commission, New York, New York

Assistant Curator, Yu Cheng-Ta: FAMEME Performa 19 Biennial Commission, New York, New York

Co-Curator, Shu Lea Cheang and Matthew Fuller: SLEEP1237 , Performa 19 Biennial Commission, New York, New York

Curator, Fashion Television, Radical Broadcast video streaming program on performa-arts.org

OTHER SELECTED EXPERIENCE

2021—present

Curator, Public Art, Evergreen Brick Works

2020

Curatorial Consultant, YOUar, Toronto

2019                           

Mentor, Artist in Residence Program, Textile Arts Center, New York, New York

Visiting Critic, New York Art Residency and Studios (NARS) Foundation, Brooklyn, New York

Visiting Critic, Kunstraum, Brooklyn, New York

Visiting Critic, Residency Unlimited, Brooklyn, New York

2018–2019 

Managing Editor, Performa Magazine, New York, New York

2014

Writer-in-Residence, Est-Nord-Est, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Québec, Canada

2012–2018

Board of Directors, Mercer Union: a centre for contemporary art, Toronto, Canada; President (2015–2016); Vice President (2014–2015); Treasurer (2013–2014)

2009–2010

Curatorial Assistant, Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto, Canada

2008

Research Assistant, Textiles and Costume, Department of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada

2007

Junior Assistant, Claerbout Studio, Antwerp, Belgium

2005–2007                  

Administrative Assistant, Canadian Art Foundation, Toronto

2005–2007                  

Publicity and Promotions Coordinator, V tape, Toronto

PRESS

2019

Andrea K. Scott, The New Yorker. “Otherworldly,” December 16.

2018

Rachel Sugar, The Goods, by Vox. The aesthetics of the resistance are blood, sweat, and tears,” November 6.

Jocelyn Silver, PAPER. “The History Behind Melania Trump’s Controversial ‘Colonialist’ Outfits,” October 8.

Gaby Del Valle, The Goods, by Vox. “The backlash to Melania Trump’s safari outfit, explained,” October 8.

Gaby Del Valle, The Goods, by Vox. Why we get so angry over $500 faux-distressed clothes,” September 25.

2017

Ellie Violet Bramley, The Guardian. “Distressed fashion: making sense of pre-ripped clothes,” August 18.