Christiane Paul named Director and Chief Curator of Galleries at Parsons School of Design

Paul will be responsible for creating a diverse and socially relevant schedule of exhibitions and public programs. 

Christiane Paul, professor in the School of Media Studies at The New School and adjunct curator of digital art at the Whitney Museum of American Art, has been named director and chief curator at Sheila C. Johnson Design Center (SJDC) at The New School’s Parsons School of Design. She is retaining her positions at The New School and the Whitney Museum.

She succeeds Radhika Subramaniam, who led the SJDC as its first director/chief curator from 2009 to 2017 and who will return to her faculty position at Parsons.

In her new role, Paul will be responsible for creating a diverse and socially relevant schedule of exhibitions and public programs that provoke intellectual and creative engagement with The New School and New York City communities. In addition to overseeing a high quality curatorial program, her role entails the development of partnerships with museums, galleries, and nonprofit cultural and educational organizations.

“The SJDC provides a unique platform in that it is already embedded in a network of research, activities, and dialogue and provides a flexible context,” Paul says. “I’m looking forward to continue activating that network, locally and internationally, with exhibitions and events that creatively and critically explore issues with cultural urgency.”

“In Christiane, we have the committed curatorial vision and deep scholarship to catalyze a new future for the galleries,” Subramaniam said. “She is no stranger to our spaces where she curated a timely exhibition on the impact of social technologies on public and private realms. I couldn’t be more delighted to leave the SJDC in her innovative hands.” 

“Christiane’s focus on socially engaged curatorial practices, particularly in the realm of digital art, reflects Parsons and The New School’s broader mission to foster the transformative potential of art, design and research,” said Parsons Executive Dean Joel Towers. “We are thrilled that Christiane will continue to build upon Radhika’s work in creating a space where innovative art and design respond to the most pressing environmental and social challenges of our time.”

Paul brings to SJDC a wealth of experience as a writer, curator, and teacher. She is the recipient of the Thoma Foundation’s 2016 Arts Writing Award in Digital Art, an award recognizing “the achievements of both an established and an emerging arts writer who have contributed significantly to the field of digital art.” Her recent books are A Companion to Digital Art (2016) and Digital Art (2015). Her curatorial work includes Little Sister (is watching you, too) (Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York City, 2015); What Lies Beneath (Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey, 2015); The Public Private (Kellen Gallery at SJDC, New York City, 2013), Eduardo Kac: Biotopes, Lagoglyphs and Transgenic Works (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2010); Biennale Quadrilaterale (Rijeka, Croatia, 2009–10); Feedforward - The Angel of History (co-curated with Steve Dietz; Laboral Center for Art and Industrial Creation, Gijon, Spain, 2009); and INDAF Digital Art Festival (Incheon, Korea, 2009). At the Whitney Museum, she curated exhibitions including Cory Arcangel: Pro Tools (2011) and Profiling (2007), and is responsible for artport, the museum’s portal to Internet Art.