Christopher Y. Lew is an American art curator and writer based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Lew is the former the Nancy and Fred Poses Curator at the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

Career

Curating

Before taking his job at the Whitney in 2014, Lew had held positions at

MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution at 2201 Jackson Avenue in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York City, United States. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...

starting in 2006. At MoMA PS1, he organized numerous exhibitions including ''Chim Pom'', Clifford Owens: ''Anthology'', and Nancy Grossman: ''Heads'' (with

Klaus Biesenbach Klaus Biesenbach (born 1966)Erica Orden (December 26, 2009)Herr Zeitgeist''New York Magazine''. is a German-American curator and museum director. He is the Director of the Neue Nationalgalerie, with Berggruen Museum and Scharf-Gerstenberg Colle ...

), as well as projects by Edgard Aragón, Rey Akdogan, Ilja Karilampi,

James Ferraro James Ferraro (born November 7, 1986) is an American experimental musician, producer, composer, and contemporary artist. He has been credited as a pioneer of the 21st century genres hypnagogic pop and vaporwave, with his work exploring themes rel ...

, and Caitlin Keogh. Additionally, Lew has curated exhibitions and programs in

at other venues such as

Artists Space Artists Space is a non-profit art gallery and arts organization first established at 155 Wooster Street in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1972 by Irving Sandler and Trudie Grace and funded by the New York State Council on the Arts ...

and Aljira. Prior to joining the museum, he worked as managing editor at

ArtAsiaPacific ''ArtAsiaPacific'' is the longest running English-language periodical solely dedicated to covering contemporary art and culture from sixty-seven countries, territories, and Chinese Special Administrative Regions that it considers to be within As ...

and held positions at the

Aperture Foundation Aperture Foundation is a nonprofit arts institution, founded in 1952 by Ansel Adams, Minor White, Barbara Morgan (photographer), Barbara Morgan, Dorothea Lange, Nancy Newhall, Beaumont Newhall, Ernest Louie, Melton Ferris, and Dody Warren. Their ...

and the Asian American Arts Centre. At the Whitney, Lew organized the first United States

solo exhibition A solo show or solo exhibition is an art exhibition, exhibition of the work of only one artist. Rather than a group of artists who collaborate to form an exhibition. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photogr ...

s for emerging artists

Rachel Rose (artist) Rachel Rose (born 1986) is an American visual artist known for her video installations. Her work explores how our changing relationship to landscape has shaped storytelling and belief systems. She draws from, and contributes to, a long history of c ...

and Jared Madere. He also organized, with Curator Jay Sanders, the first U.S. theatrical presentation by New Theater. His other exhibitions at the Whitney include “

Sophia Al-Maria Sophia Al Maria (; born 1983) is an artist, writer, and filmmaker. Her work has been exhibited at the Gwangju Biennale, the New Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Venice Biennale and the Tate Britain in London. Her writing ...

: ''Black Friday''” (2016); “''Open Plan'': Lucy Dodd” (2016); and the group show “''Mirror Cells''” (2016), co-organized with associate curator

Jane Panetta Jane Panetta is a New York City, New York-based curator and art historian. Panetta is currently an associate curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Career Curating Before working at the Whitney, Panetta spent five years in the Painting and ...

, and "

Eckhaus Latta Eckhaus Latta is an American fashion brand with locations in Los Angeles and New York City. The brand is known for their use of unexpected materials, exploring texture and tactility in their designs, and for incorporating writing, performance, a ...

: ''Possessed''" (2018), co-organized with Lauri London Freedman, the head of product development at the Whitney. Christopher Y. Lew co-organized the 2017

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932; the first biennial was held in 1973. It is considered ...

, with Mia Locks. Lew curated Kevin Beasley's solo exhibition, “''A view of a landscape''”, the artist's first

at a New York museum, opening in late 2018. In November, 2021, it was announced Lew was leaving the Whitney where he spent close to seven years as the Nancy and Fred Poses Curator. In December 2021, it was announced Lew would be the inaugural chief artistic director of Horizon, a new nonprofit foundation and artist residency in Los Angeles. As a guest curator for the Whitney, he organized "
Josh Kline: Project for a New American Century
'" in 2023 which as the artist's first US museum solo show.

Writing

Lew has written broadly for both art periodicals and mainstream news publications.

External links

Christopher Y. Lew on curating - The Creative IndependentWhitney.org - Whitney Biennial 2017Whitney Biennial 2017: How the Museum's Riskiest, Most Political Survey in Decades Came TogetherThe Making of the 2017 Whitney Biennial with Curators Mia Locks and Christopher Lew

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lew, Christopher Y. Living people American art curators People associated with the Whitney Museum of American Art People associated with the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) Year of birth missing (living people)