Elizabeth Orr
Elizabeth Orr
b. 1984
Lives and works in New York
Elizabeth Orr’s sculpture recontextualizes signature features of our built environment, heightening their formal properties for nuanced consideration. In her sculptural wall works, the literalism and materiality of minimalist sculpture ruptures the illusionistic metaphor of the window. Orr’s modular, paneled surfaces alternately obscure and reveal. Enacting a tension between painting and sculpture, the wall mounted works ostensibly conceal their verso, while ruptures in their unity proffer the implication of the unseen. Her video work enacts a similar obfuscation: Orr’s characters often speak in sourced phrases, reflecting the splintering of identity that takes place in online spaces, at times burying interiority. Orr employs effects to collapse real and virtual spaces, extending her sculptures’ subversions of surface and depth.
EDUCATION
| 2014 | MFA with Honors, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY |
| 2006 | BA, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA |
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2023 | Calibration, Vin Vin, Vienna, Austria The No Name Lightbulb, Derosia, New York, NY |
| 2021 | The Over There, Vin Vin, Vienna, Austria |
| 2020 | Spirits in Rotations, Harkawik, Los Angeles, CA |
| 2019 | Assumed Room, La Kaje, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2018 | Vivid, Pylon-Hub, Dresden, Germany |
| 2017 | Our Hallway Is Surrounded, Bodega (Derosia), New York, NY 9 PLAYS 9, Bodega (Derosia), New York, NY |
| 2015 | MT RUSH, The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY Loss Lead, Bodega (Derosia), New York, NY |
| 2013 | A Moral Body, Bodega (Derosia), Philadelphia, PA |
| 2011 | A Perception Feeding, Bodega (Derosia), Philadelphia, PA |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2024 | Naked Name, Derosia, New York, NY |
| 2023 | Kunsthal NORD, Aalborg, Denmark |
| 2022 | Sharp Projects, Copenhagen |
| 2022 | Anywhere or Not At All, M 2 3 Projects, New York NY |
| 2021 | 10 Works, Sharp Projects, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| 2018 | City/Crown, Kotska Gallery, Prague, Czechia My End Is a Legend, CAC Brétigny, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France |
| 2017 | Queering Space, Alfred University, Alfred, NY My End Is A Legend, CAC Brétigny, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France What Technology is Doing to our Brains, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| 2016 | Election Renewal, DIS Magazine, New York, NY Garden Show, Regards, Chicago, IL |
| 2015 | Artists Space Books & Talks, NO TOTAL Weekend, New York, NY |
| 2014 | Pseudo Empire, Traffic, Brooklyn, NY Bard MFA Thesis Show, Bard College, Annandale-on-hudson, NY New Dawn, Silberkuppe, Berlin, Germany Performing Feminisms, Carpenter Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA One Trace After, Nurture Art, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2013 | ICP Triennial: A Different Kind of Order, performance with Nica Ross, New York, NY Rehearsal, Cage, New York, NY CCC, Terminal Projects, Brooklyn, NY After Saturn Returns curated by Rory Parks, This Red Door, Brooklyn, NY, |
| 2012 | Performativity: Cyber/Corporeal, MOCAtv, Los Angeles, CA Queer as in Weird, Garden Party/Arts, Brooklyn, NY First Among Equals: Work Ethic, ICA Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA Poster Launch, @Workshop, Elizabeth Orr + Emma Hedditch, New York, NY |
| 2011 | Victory Over The Sun, Go Rimbaud performances, curated by Geo Wyeth, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria Gala, International Museum of Women, San Francisco, CA SLAVES, Globe Theater, Frankfurt, Germany, curated by Planningtorock |
| 2010 | East Nile, Oakland New & Experimental Festival, Oakland, CA Krowswork, Its Own Nothingness, Oakland, CA |
SELECTED FILM SCREENINGS
| 2022 | Crazy Wisdom: The Life & Work of Eric Orr, Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| 2019 | Medieval Beach, Lubov, New York, NY |
| 2018 | MT RUSH, Tranzit Display, Prague, Czechia MT RUSH, After Effects curated by Art in General, Anthology Film Archive, New York, NY |
| 2017 | MT RUSH, After Effects curated by Art in General, Center for Contemporary Arts, Tallinn, Estonia MT RUSH, Santarcangelo Festival, Emilia-Romagna, Italy MT RUSH, Caro Sposo, Paris, France MT RUSH, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE |
| 2016 | MT RUSH, PSSST, Los Angeles, CA MT RUSH, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ MT RUSH, Denison University, Columbus, OH MT RUSH, Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY |
| 2015 | Nicholas & Hillary, DINCA Vision Quest, Chicago, IL Nicholas & Hillary, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA Nicholas & Hillary, Artists Space Books & Talks, NO TOTAL Weekend, New York, NY |
| 2013 | Family Business, West 21st street Drive-IN, curated by CCS Bard, New York, NY Summer of Video Art, $$$, Oakland, CA |
| 2012 | Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Work of Eric Orr, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Work of Eric Orr, Los Angeles Nomadic Division & Eugenia Butler Gallery, LA, CA Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Work of Eric Orr, West Hollywood Library, Los Angeles, CA Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Work of Eric Orr, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Work of Eric Orr, MUSAC, Leon, Spain |
| 2009 | Auspicious and Combative, Artist Television Access, San Francisco, CA |
| 2007 | Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Work of Eric Orr, Robert Berman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA |
LECTURES
Visiting Artist, Cooper Union, New York, NY, 2021
Visiting Artist/Faculty, Sculpture and Extended Media Department, VCU, Richmond, VA, Fall 2018
Visiting Artist, VCU Summer Studio Program, Richmond, VA, July 2017
Visiting Artist & Lecturer, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, July 2017
Visiting Artist, ASMBLY, New York, NY, April 2017
The Conveyor, performance/lecture, Studium Generale Program, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL, March 2017
Spirits in Rotations, Artist Talk, The Swiss Institute, New York, NY, December 2016
Teaching Artist, BRIC, Teaching Artist, Brooklyn, NY, Winter/Spring Semester, 2016
Panelist, Triangle Association, Brooklyn, New York, October 13, 2016
Visiting Artist/Lecturer, Denison University, Columbus, OH, Fall, 2016
Teaching Artist, Multimedia Art, Creative Art Works, Harlem, NY, Summer, 2016
Academy for Young Writers, Brooklyn, NY, Spring, 2016
Visiting Artist, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, Spring, 2016
Lecturer, University of Omaha Fine Art Department, Omaha, NE, Spring, 2016
Lecturer, Real Time & Space, Oakland, CA, 2015
Teaching Artist-in-Residence, Juan Morales High School, NurtureArt Brooklyn, NY, Fall 2014
Making the Invisible Visible: Learning from the Artist as Researcher, MoMA, New York, NY, Fall 2013
Brooklyn College Performance Interactivity and Media Arts (PIMA) program, 3LD, New York, NY, Spring, 2012
SELECTED PRESS
How to Work Out Problems of Your Own Making: Humour and Minimalism, Elizabeth Orr in conversation with Domenick Kim, Superposition Issue 2, Autumn 2023, Print
Elizabeth Orr Interviewed by Dominika Tylcz, BOMB, July 17, 2023
Elizabeth Orr & Micah Angelus in the green space of Tarsia, Naples, Luciana Berti, Exibart, November 24, 2021
Come to My Window, Jeanne Vaccaro, BOMB Magazine, June 24, 2021
A Garden to Take Care Of, Caroline Ferreira, BRIC Lab Essays, May 2021
Elizabeth Orr, David Misteli, Artforum, April 2021
A Gorgeous Profile: Elizabeth Orr’s “Assumed Room,” William J. Simmons, November 2019
21st Century Queer and Trans Video Art in the Unites States, William J. Simmons, Oxford Companion to Queer Cinema, 2019, Print
New York - Elizabeth Orr: Our Hallway Is Surrounded at Bodega, John Garcia, Art Observed, October 15, 2017
9 Art Events to Attend in New York City This Week, ARTnews, June 2017
MT RUSH, Two scenes from a new film by Elizabeth Orr, Dis Magazine, June 2017
Regarding ‘MT RUSH’: An Interview with Elizabeth Orr, CSPA Quarterly, August 2016
Elizabeth Orr at Bodega, David Everett Howe, ArtReview, Summer 2015, Print
Elizabeth Orr, Abraham Adams, Artforum, April 2015
New Dawn, Natasha Ginwala, Art Agenda, August 2014
The Feminist & Advanced Capitalism: The Kardashian Sisters & The Bronte Sisters, Elizabeth Orr, DIS Magazine, 2014
One Year with Nurture Art, Gallery Program, 2013/2014
Next Time, Gordon Hall, Elizabeth Orr and Kristin Poor, ed. David Geer and Isaac Pool, Envoy Enterprises, 2013, Print
4 Art Exhibits You Need to See, Paul D’Agostino, Catalog L Magazine, January 2013
If I Can’t Dance I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution, Guy de Cointet’s Five Sisters, 2013
Due Diligence: Elizabeth Orr’s Work Ethic, Gordon Hall, Title Magazine, January 7, 2013
First Among Equals, ICA Philadelphia, 2012, Print
Interview with Elizabeth Orr, Jessica Gysel, Girls Like Us, 2012, Print
Victory Over The Sun, Kunst Haus Bregenz, Austria, 2011
Crazy Wisdom: Eric Orr & Elizabeth Orr, John Seed, Huffington Post, Novermber 5, 2011
Catching up with AMASS’ Elizabeth Orr & Savannah Knoop, Jon Reiss, NY Press, 2010
Review of Its Own Nothingness, East Bay Express, Oakland, CA, 2007
Interview with Hampshire College President Ralph Hexter, Elizabeth Orr, Out Magazine, 2006
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
| 2021 | Foundation for Contemporary Art Bridge Fund Foundation for Contemporary Art Emergency Grant |
| 2020 | Media Art Fellowship, BRIC, Brooklyn, NY |
| 2019 | United States Embassy Public Affairs Grant Program |
| 2018 | Meet Factory Residency, Prague, Czechia |
| 2017 | New York State Council on the Arts in Partnership with Wave Farm: Media Arts Assistance Fund (MAAF) Foundation for Contemporary Art Emergency Grant |
| 2016 | Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE |
| 2015 | Real Time & Space, Oakland, CA EMPAC, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Residency, Troy, NY Shandaken Project at Storm King, New Windsor, NY |
| 2013 | Recess, Session Residency, New York, NY Milton and Sally Avery Scholarship, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY |
| 2012 | Milton and Sally Avery Scholarship, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY Artists Space Books & Talks, No Total, New York, NY |
OTHER PROJECTS
Manager, The Estate of Eric Orr (ongoing)