R.E.H. Gordon (b. 1983, Boston, MA) is an artist, writer, and curator living in New York, NY.
Education
School of the Art Institute of Chicago. M.A. Visual and Critical Studies, M.F.A. Fiber and Material Studies, 2007 - 2011
Hampshire College, B.A. Philosophy/Visual Arts, 2001 – 2005
Visual Art, Performance, and Artwork in Print
Orientations. Garden Party/Arts. Brooklyn, NY. 2013
Otherwise, a Group Exhibition of Performance "Scripts". Beige. Memphis, TN. 2013
Reverberations. SculptureCenter. Long Island City, Queens, NY. Dec 2012
Poetry Parade for a Permanent Collection, by A.K. Burns and Katherine Hubbard. PopRally organized by Recess, Museum of Modern Art, New York. November 2012
CONSTITUTION (solo). Bodega, Philadelphia, PA. Summer 2013
Children of the House of Love. Beige, Memphis, TN. August 2012
The Dragon is the Frame: Inspired by the Life and Work of Mark Aguhar. Gallery 400, The University of Illinois, Chicago. June-July 2012
Lifestyle Plus Form Bundle. Madame of the Arts, Minneapolis, MN. June 2012, Beige, Memphis, TN, November-December 2012
Movement Research Festival Spring 2012. West Park Presbyterian Church. May 29-June 3, 2012
“I’m…Here To Make Friends” Collaboration with Aay Preston-Myint. Happy Collaborationists, Chicago, IL, January 2012
COOL DROOL, Volume 1: OUR DROOL AND WHY Created and edited by Oneohtrix Point Never. Published by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, on the occasion of Reliquary House: An Evening with Oneohtrix Point Never and Nate Boyce, December 2011
Featured Artist. Make Literary Magazine. Issue 11 "Neither/Nor" September 2011
The Observants. Acre Project Space, Chicago, IL. June 2011 (solo)
MFA Exhibition. School of the Art Institute of Chicago. April-May 2011
Midway Independent Art Fair, Acre Booth, The Geolofts, Chicago. April 2011
Heads on Poles. Organized by Paul Nudd and Scott Wolniak. Western Exhibitions, Chicago IL. January-February 2011
PAGES: Book as Medium, Catalyst, and Venue. Paragraph Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri. November 2010-January 2011
All For Nothing. Performance as part of Heaven Is Real. Performance event organized by No Coast at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. January 19, 2010
Idle Behavior. Monsters and Dust, Issue No. 2, Summer 2010
Myth In Material. Curated by Elizabeth Chodos. Alogon Gallery, Chicago, IL. April 2009
Too Big To Fail. Texts, Objects, Bodies, and Images. A Twelve Galleries Project. 3012 South Archer Avenue, Chicago, IL. April/May 2009
THE END OF ANALOG. Curated by Eric Fleischauer. Roots and Culture, Chicago, IL. Feb-March 2009
Screen Saver. Sharp 1213. School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Winter 2008
This Is Boston Not LA. Lamontagne Gallery, Boston, MA. Winter 2008
Abandoned Plot. Curated by Andy Meerow. Key Foods Parking Lot, Calyer St. and McGuiness Blvd., Greenpoint, Brooklyn. June 2008
Discipline Problems. Curated by Joseph Grigely. Alogon Gallery, Chicago, IL. Spring 2008
Better Off Alone. Installation and performance with Kevin Driscoll. Samson Projects, Boston, MA. July 6th, 2007
Memories Forever
-"Wind and Wave" Performance with Xavier Cha's Horn of Plenty. Taxter Spengemann Gallery, New York, NY. April 21st, 2006
-"Megamix" Robert Melee's Talent Show. The Kitchen. New York, NY. June 2004
-Summer Tours: 2003 and 2004. 50+ performances at galleries, music venues, stores, and homes throughout The USA and Canada
The Summer of the Rainbow Braid. Gallery TK, Northampton, MA. August
2005
The Nook. Graduate Thesis Exhibition, Hampshire College. May 2005
Noble Stitches. Gallery TK. July 2004
I Am The Woolly Mammoth Tour--Time-based performance. July - August, 2002
Curatorial
The Center for Experimental Lectures. Founder and director, ongoing. Lecture series with events hosted by Alderman Exhibitions, Chicago; The Shandaken Project, Brooklyn/Shandaken, NY; MoMA PS1, Queens, NY; and and Recess, New York, NY. www.experimentallectures.org
The Distillery Residency. Co-director with Emily Isenberg, summer 2012. www.distilleryresidency.org
Second Gallery, Boston, MA. Founder and Director, 2005 – 2007 www.secondgallery.org
Gallery TK, Northampton, MA. Director, 2004-2005
Writing, Speaking, and Conferences
“R. E. H. Gordon and Colin Self In Conversation” Randy. Fall 2013
“Making Messes for the Future” Catalog for Stand Close, It's Shorter Than You Think: a show on feminist rage, curated by RJ Messineo and Katie Brewer Ball. Artist Curated Projects at The One National Gay and Lesbian Archive, Los Angeles, CA. April-May 2013
Stand Close, It's Shorter Than You Think: A conversation on feminist rage, artist-writer collaboration, and the archive. Panel discussion with exhibition curators and participants moderated by Tavia Nyong’o. Department of Performance Studies, New York University. April 2013
“Object Lessons: Thinking Gender Variance Through Minimalist Sculpture" Panel: “Sexing Sculpture: New Approaches to Theorizing the Object,” College Art Association Conference, New York, NY. February 2013
“Due Diligence: Elizabeth Orr’s Work Ethic” Title Magazine. January 2013
“Extremely Precise Objects of Ambiguous Use” Zetesis. Spring 2013
“Frame” Theorizing Visual Studies: Writing Through the Discipline, edited by James Elkins, Kristi McGuire, Maureen Burns, Alicia Chester, and Joel Kuennen (New York and London: Routledge, 2012)
“Yve Laris Cohen in conversation with R. E. H. Gordon on Coda” Critical Correspondence. March 2012
“Unmade Projects” Reading at Our Featured Speaker, organized by Joni Murphy, Green Lantern Projects, Chicago, IL. December 2011
“Ideas Are Executions: The Sculptures of Fred Sandback and a Space for Gender Possibility” Transverse Journal, Issue 11, Fall 2011
“Extremely Precise Objects of Ambiguous Use” Presentation at Queertopia! 4.0: Queer(ing) Poetics: Text, Method, Movement, Thought, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. May 2011
“Extremely Precise Objects of Ambiguous Use” Lecture in conjunction with SAIC MFA show, Sullivan Galleries, Chicago. May 2011
“Proximity Is Not the Opposite of Distance: Merleau-Ponty and Artistic Production” Lecture in conjunction with Benjamin Chaffee THIS WAS THE KIND OF PRESENTATION OF ALL THE MATERIAL, November 2, 2010, LG Space, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
“Dear Latham” Letters to artist Latham Zearfoss included in a small publication accompanying Trust Me: Selected Works by Latham Zearfoss at the Nightingale Theatre, Chicago, IL. September 2010
Presentation: “The Formation of the Intelligible-Gender, Materiality,Virtuality Radical Intersections: Performance Across Disciplines. Conference of the Department of Performance Studies, Northwestern University, April 24-26, 2009
"Space Refigured" Interventions and Objects. New work by Bebe Beard and Liz Nofziger. The New England School of Art and Design, Suffolk University. Catalog Essay. pp. 25-29 Spring 2008
"The Taking Shape of Meaning, the Meaning that Takes Shape" Apenest #2, 2008
"Michael Bell Smith Talks to Rebecca Gordon" New York Arts Magazine. January 2008
Presentation: "Inhabiting Bodies: The Spatiality of Power" (30 min.)The Society for Women's Advancement in Philosophy, State University of Florida, Tallahassee, FL. March 31, 2006
Teaching and Supervision
Instructor and Curriculum Writer, Queer Theory: Rethinking Bodies, Parsons the New School for Design, Spring 2014
Instructor and Curriculum Writer, Visual Modes of Seeing, Parsons the New School for Design, Fall 2012, Fall 2013
Visiting Artist, The Nudes: The Erotic, the Sexual, the Pornographic, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Fall 2011
Instructor and Curriculum Writer, Contemporary Art Seminar. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Early College Program. Fall 2011
Instructor and Curriculum Writer, Innovation and Creativity Workshop, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Continuing Studies Program. Spring 2010, Summer 2010, Fall 2011
Teaching Assistant, Hardcore Repeat, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Fiber and Material Studies. Spring 2011
Instructor and Curriculum Writer, Contemporary Practices, Early College Program, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Summer 2008, Summer 2009
Teaching Assistant, Asian Identity in Cinema, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Art History. Spring 2009
Teaching Assistant, Aesthetics of Politics and Furious Styles, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Visual and Critical Studies. Fall 2008
Teaching Assistant, Sculpture, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Early College Program. Summer 2008
Teaching Assistant, Visual and Critical Studies Thesis I, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Visual and Critical Studies. Fall 2007
Teaching Assistant, Core Studio, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, First Year Program. Fall 2007
Supervisor of seven interns to Second Gallery, January 2006 - August 2007
Teaching Assistant, Philosophy of Race, Hampshire College. Fall 2004
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Aesthetics, Hampshire College. Fall 2003
Other Activities
Artistic Advisor to MoMA PS1’s Pasolini Festival, organized by Jenny Schlenzka. December 2012
Additional Coursework: “Aesthetics” Arnold Klein, Parsons the New School for Design; “Merleau-Ponty: Flesh and Language” Prof. Francoise Dastur, Depaul University Department of Philosophy, Spring 2010; “Sexuality: Transgender and Intersexuality” Prof. Tina Chanter, Depaul University Department of Philosophy, Fall 2008
Consultant to Second Street Associates regarding forthcoming building development of The Distillery, Boston, MA. 2010-present
DJ at Club Nutz, NEXT Fair Chicago, May 2010 and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, July 2010.
Board of Trustees, Proof Gallery. Boston, MA. 2009-present
Research Assistant to Joseph Grigely, 2007-2010
Founder and member of SAIC Free Culture, (School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Students for Free Culture chapter.) 2008-2009
Founder and regular disc jockey at NIGHT SCHOOL. The Burlington, Chicago, IL. 2009
Consultant at Invivia, Cambridge, MA, May 2007
Artist/Research Assistant to Marisa Jahn, 2006-2007
Co-director of Gold Chain, an event production and graphic design partnership active in the Boston area from 2006-2008
Head judge of All School Show, Massachusetts College of Art, March 2007
Central organizer of South Boston Open Studios, South Boston, MA, October 2005, November 2006
Volunteer at Green Street Gallery, Jamaica Plain, MA. September 2005 - January 2006
Awards, Honors, and Residencies
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME. Summer 2013
Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Emergency Grant. November 2012
Resident at Fire Island Artist Residency, Fire Island, NY. July-August, 2012
Resident at The ACRE Project, Chicago, IL/Steuben, WI. 2010, 2011
Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, May 2011
James Nelson Raymond Fellowship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, May 2011
Finalist, Union League Civic and Arts Foundation’s Visual Arts Competition, May 2011
Finalist for the Claire Rosen and Samuel Edes Fellowship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, April 2011
Recognition of Student Leadership 2008-2009. School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The Boston Globe Magazine "Best of the New Awards", Best New Gallery of 2006 awarded to Second Gallery
New England Chapter of Association Internationale des Critiques d'art, the International Association of Art Critics. 2nd Place for Best Show in an Alternative Space for Liz Nofziger's Grate, Black Gold at Second Gallery. 2006
Hampshire College "Ingenuity Award" for work on Gallery TK, 2005
Selected Bibliography
“Experimenting with Fire, R. E. H. Gordon in Conversation with Joseph Teeling” V Magazine. March 2013
Sinkinson Withrow, Brook. "Makeshift: Shifting Forward" Makeshift Reader. Distributed by threewalls at EXPO Chicago, Chicago, IL December 2012
“Fire Island Artist Residency Comes Into Its Own, Pt 2” Alex Fialho. Art Fag City. August 2012
Elkins, James. Art Critiques: A Guide. Washington: New Academia Publishing, 2011. pp. 30-34.
“Eye Exam--From Here to There” Review of Myth and Material, Alogon Gallery. New City. April 2009
“Review: Too Big to Fail/April Gallery” New City. April 2009
“Critics Pick--The End of Analog” Artforum.com, March 2009
The End of Analog, Time Out Chicago, March 2009
“I Wanna Rock” Greg Cook, The Boston Phoenix, December 2008
“A Conversation with R. E. H. Gordon” Matt Nash, Big Red and Shiny, Volume 65, June 2007
“Everybody Dance; DIY Flyers are bringing back the party” Franklin Melendez, Soma Magazine, April 2007
“Nature, from mysterious fantasy to stark reality; Art and Science” Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe, February 2007
“Rapt in a Fine Web of Interactive Art” Unexpected Turns, Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe, December 2006
“At Second Gallery, a colorful combination of culture and nature” Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe, October 2006
“Installment Plan” Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe, April 2006
“We Made It at Second Gallery” Matt Nash, Big, Red, and Shiny, February 2006
“Cute Enough To Go On the Fridge” Meredith Goldstein, Boston Globe, January 2006
“Dam Cute” Randi Hopkins, Boston Phoenix, January 2006
“A tree of neon foam grows in Southie” Lissa Harris, Weekly Dig, January 2006
“We Made It: Ode to an American Yearn” Vanessa Cano, The Mass Media, February 2006