The Art Box - Episode 256 "Reimagining the World Through Art" Meet Lauren O'Connell

Steve capped off his trip to Scottsdale with an enlightening visit with Lauren O'Connell, curator of contemporary art at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Arizona. The inspiring and thought-provoking conversation left him smiling all the way home on the drive back to Mesquite.  Lauren is a curator, writer, and educator focusing on contemporary art. Lauren 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, Otobong Nkanga, 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). Click here to learn more about Lauren: https://www.loconnell.com/about.html