David Getsy
@getdavid.bsky.social
"Method: What is needed is a gentler curiosity." - Paul Goodman
... writer, occasional curator, and historian of art and performance ...
linktr.ee/david.getsy
... writer, occasional curator, and historian of art and performance ...
linktr.ee/david.getsy
Lecture alert! Wed. Feb 25th, I'll be giving a talk I've been working on for many months: "The Magic Hype: Andy Warhol and Trans Visibility in the 1970s" at the Dia Foundation in Chelsea. In coordination, Dia will have three days of screenings of Warhol films.
diaart.org/program/cale...
diaart.org/program/cale...
January 25, 2026 at 10:57 PM
Lecture alert! Wed. Feb 25th, I'll be giving a talk I've been working on for many months: "The Magic Hype: Andy Warhol and Trans Visibility in the 1970s" at the Dia Foundation in Chelsea. In coordination, Dia will have three days of screenings of Warhol films.
diaart.org/program/cale...
diaart.org/program/cale...
Fri 1/23/26 NYC: at the "Locating Downtown" conference (NYU+Whitney). I'll be talking about Stephen Varble's "Costume Tours of New York," returning to this research for my new book project on the queer street in 1970s performance. Registration required but free.
nyu.manifoldapp.org/projects/loc...
nyu.manifoldapp.org/projects/loc...
January 13, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Fri 1/23/26 NYC: at the "Locating Downtown" conference (NYU+Whitney). I'll be talking about Stephen Varble's "Costume Tours of New York," returning to this research for my new book project on the queer street in 1970s performance. Registration required but free.
nyu.manifoldapp.org/projects/loc...
nyu.manifoldapp.org/projects/loc...
Later this month, I'll be in Vienna to give a few talks, including this one at MUMOK on the 29th of January, a research seminar for the University of Vienna, and a symposium for the Ludwig Foundation exhibition (event hosted by MUMOK).
www.mumok.at/en/calendar/...
www.mumok.at/en/calendar/...
www.mumok.at/en/calendar/...
www.mumok.at/en/calendar/...
Lecture: David J. Getsy | Illegitimate Heirs: Queer Artists’ Claims on the Modernist Canon | mumok
www.mumok.at
January 8, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Later this month, I'll be in Vienna to give a few talks, including this one at MUMOK on the 29th of January, a research seminar for the University of Vienna, and a symposium for the Ludwig Foundation exhibition (event hosted by MUMOK).
www.mumok.at/en/calendar/...
www.mumok.at/en/calendar/...
www.mumok.at/en/calendar/...
www.mumok.at/en/calendar/...
This article took 8 years to write & revise, but it's out now in _American Art_. In many ways, it encapsulates my thoughts on Scott Burton's work of the 80s, and it's 2nd of 3 essays on the decade (final out in a journal next year) that could have been a vol.2 to my book.
doi.org/10.1086/738511
doi.org/10.1086/738511
December 30, 2025 at 2:53 PM
This article took 8 years to write & revise, but it's out now in _American Art_. In many ways, it encapsulates my thoughts on Scott Burton's work of the 80s, and it's 2nd of 3 essays on the decade (final out in a journal next year) that could have been a vol.2 to my book.
doi.org/10.1086/738511
doi.org/10.1086/738511
[New pub. alert] My essay on Alex Da Corte charts the queer and other experiences that inform his epic 2018 film. Alex was generous in our conversations and in trusting me with the responsibility of talking about this work in a different, more personal way.
static1.squarespace.com/static/5d40a...
static1.squarespace.com/static/5d40a...
November 6, 2025 at 6:55 PM
[New pub. alert] My essay on Alex Da Corte charts the queer and other experiences that inform his epic 2018 film. Alex was generous in our conversations and in trusting me with the responsibility of talking about this work in a different, more personal way.
static1.squarespace.com/static/5d40a...
static1.squarespace.com/static/5d40a...
Chicago in October! Advanced notice: the Scott Burton exhibition is traveling to Wrightwood 659, and on October 9th I will be giving a revelatory lecture at The Art Institute of Chicago in relation to the show.
www.artic.edu/events/6222/...
www.artic.edu/events/6222/...
Lecture: Public Affections—The Revelations of Scott Burton's Last Works | The Art Institute of Chicago
What does it mean for an artist to embed his lived queer experience into everyday objects? Join David J. Getsy, author of Queer Behavior: Scott Burton and Performance Art (2022), for a discussion of t...
www.artic.edu
July 31, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Chicago in October! Advanced notice: the Scott Burton exhibition is traveling to Wrightwood 659, and on October 9th I will be giving a revelatory lecture at The Art Institute of Chicago in relation to the show.
www.artic.edu/events/6222/...
www.artic.edu/events/6222/...
Yay Oberlin! That place made me who I am, and I'm particularly honored to be alongside my fellow art history classmate (and Patricia Mathews mentee!) Libby Otto!
www.oberlin.edu/news/five-ob...
www.oberlin.edu/news/five-ob...
Five Oberlin Alumni Earn 2025 Guggenheim Fellowships | Oberlin College and Conservatory
Five Oberlin alumni have been awarded prestigious Guggenheim Fellowships.
www.oberlin.edu
April 26, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Yay Oberlin! That place made me who I am, and I'm particularly honored to be alongside my fellow art history classmate (and Patricia Mathews mentee!) Libby Otto!
www.oberlin.edu/news/five-ob...
www.oberlin.edu/news/five-ob...
I can’t tell you how much it means to me to be named a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow! Thank you all #guggfellows2025
www.gf.org/stories/anno...
www.gf.org/stories/anno...
April 16, 2025 at 1:49 PM
I can’t tell you how much it means to me to be named a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow! Thank you all #guggfellows2025
www.gf.org/stories/anno...
www.gf.org/stories/anno...
Recording of Dec 2024 talk at the MCA Australia on 3 artists I’ve been thinking about for a long time re: #queerabstraction: Harmony Hammond, Lula Mae Blocton, & Felix Gonzalez-Torres. They've featured in my surveys before, but here I go into depth on key works. Plus some Australian examples!
David Getsy: Unnatural Relations—Queer Abstraction and the Intercourse of Forms in Contemporary Art
YouTube video by Power Institute
www.youtube.com
January 28, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Recording of Dec 2024 talk at the MCA Australia on 3 artists I’ve been thinking about for a long time re: #queerabstraction: Harmony Hammond, Lula Mae Blocton, & Felix Gonzalez-Torres. They've featured in my surveys before, but here I go into depth on key works. Plus some Australian examples!
Next month, on Feb 27, I will be with the fabulous TOM BURR at SculptureCenter in NYC, where we will have a public conversation about cruising as method, Scott Burton, Álvaro Urbano's exhibition, and of course Tom's beautiful and sharp work.
www.sculpture-center.org/events/14266...
www.sculpture-center.org/events/14266...
David J. Getsy and Tom Burr on Scott Burton
RSVP This conversation highlights convergences and differences in queer understandings of artist Scott Burton’s (1939–1989) writing, performance, and sculpture from the late 1960s through the late ...
www.sculpture-center.org
January 24, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Next month, on Feb 27, I will be with the fabulous TOM BURR at SculptureCenter in NYC, where we will have a public conversation about cruising as method, Scott Burton, Álvaro Urbano's exhibition, and of course Tom's beautiful and sharp work.
www.sculpture-center.org/events/14266...
www.sculpture-center.org/events/14266...
Good @nytimes.com review of #scottburton exh, but it misquotes my claim that the "sculptures perform as furniture." (inverted in the review) There is a difference. Maybe this just matters to me, but it's key to the works' complexity and their roots in queer experience
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/a...
Scott Burton’s Civic Engagement and Eroticism Merge at the Pulitzer
Paradigm-shifter for public art in the ’80s, groundbreaking (and openly queer) performance artist in the ’70s, Burton showed new ways of connecting.
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Good @nytimes.com review of #scottburton exh, but it misquotes my claim that the "sculptures perform as furniture." (inverted in the review) There is a difference. Maybe this just matters to me, but it's key to the works' complexity and their roots in queer experience
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/a...
December 13th in Sydney, I'll be giving a talk for the Power Institute and the MCA Australia. With Julie Mehretu exhibition on view, I'll be revisiting some of my work on queer abstraction (but with a focus on artists like Lula Mae Blocton and Harmony Hammond)
powerinstitute.org.au/events/unnat...
powerinstitute.org.au/events/unnat...
Unnatural relations: Queer abstraction and the intercourse of forms in contemporary art | The Power Institute
powerinstitute.org.au
November 15, 2024 at 4:03 PM
December 13th in Sydney, I'll be giving a talk for the Power Institute and the MCA Australia. With Julie Mehretu exhibition on view, I'll be revisiting some of my work on queer abstraction (but with a focus on artists like Lula Mae Blocton and Harmony Hammond)
powerinstitute.org.au/events/unnat...
powerinstitute.org.au/events/unnat...
If you are in St. Louis next week (on 11/20), I'll be giving a talk at the Pulitzer Foundation in relation to the exhibition "Scott Burton: Shape Shift." My focus will be on how Burton's sculptures thematized key experiences of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. pulitzerarts.org/events/david...
Dr. David J. Getsy Lecture on Scott Burton
The Pulitzer welcomes Dr. David J. Getsy for a public lecture on Scott Burton’s Public Sculpture and the Knowledge of AIDS. Known for his sculptures and groundbreaking performance art, Scott Burton’s ...
pulitzerarts.org
November 12, 2024 at 7:15 PM
If you are in St. Louis next week (on 11/20), I'll be giving a talk at the Pulitzer Foundation in relation to the exhibition "Scott Burton: Shape Shift." My focus will be on how Burton's sculptures thematized key experiences of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. pulitzerarts.org/events/david...
I've always wanted to be part of a band... "Decades later, an unlikely band of curators, scholars, and artists — many of whom never knew Burton personally — have become so invested in him that they are refusing to let his work fade into obscurity." #scottburton
www.nytimes.com/2024/10/29/a...
www.nytimes.com/2024/10/29/a...
Scott Burton Left His Legacy to MoMA. Today’s He’s Almost Forgotten.
Scott Burton, one of America’s leading sculptors, entrusted his estate to the museum in 1989, when he was sick with AIDS, to ensure his place in art history. It turned out to be a bad idea.
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2024 at 6:08 PM
I've always wanted to be part of a band... "Decades later, an unlikely band of curators, scholars, and artists — many of whom never knew Burton personally — have become so invested in him that they are refusing to let his work fade into obscurity." #scottburton
www.nytimes.com/2024/10/29/a...
www.nytimes.com/2024/10/29/a...
On 6/13, I'll be in Montréal for a public dialogue with Théo Bignon about his fantastic exhibition at the Centre CLARK, featuring meticulously embroidered memory-images of queer connections, cruising sites, and the residue of the possibility of others. centreclark.com/en/exhibitio...
Double entendre – Centre Clark
Defiantly, public sex breaks norms and laws, offering to its participants an encounter with desire and connection. It is a queer activity, one…
centreclark.com
May 30, 2024 at 4:44 PM
On 6/13, I'll be in Montréal for a public dialogue with Théo Bignon about his fantastic exhibition at the Centre CLARK, featuring meticulously embroidered memory-images of queer connections, cruising sites, and the residue of the possibility of others. centreclark.com/en/exhibitio...
NYC Friday 12/15, 7pm, at Artists Space NYC I'll be giving a talk in recognition of the Dedalus Foundation's Robert Motherwell Book Award for 'Queer Behavior: Scott Burton and Performance Art' (Chicago, 2022). Free and open to public.
artistsspace.org/programs/lec...
artistsspace.org/programs/lec...
December 12, 2023 at 4:40 PM
NYC Friday 12/15, 7pm, at Artists Space NYC I'll be giving a talk in recognition of the Dedalus Foundation's Robert Motherwell Book Award for 'Queer Behavior: Scott Burton and Performance Art' (Chicago, 2022). Free and open to public.
artistsspace.org/programs/lec...
artistsspace.org/programs/lec...
art.as.virginia.edu/mapping-art-...
On Mon, 12/4, I'll be doing a public interview of the always charming and ever insightful Steven Nelson at the Lindner Center for Art History at UVA. (regionals: it's worth the trip!) We'll be talking about what motivates writing—and the field.
On Mon, 12/4, I'll be doing a public interview of the always charming and ever insightful Steven Nelson at the Lindner Center for Art History at UVA. (regionals: it's worth the trip!) We'll be talking about what motivates writing—and the field.
November 28, 2023 at 1:07 AM
art.as.virginia.edu/mapping-art-...
On Mon, 12/4, I'll be doing a public interview of the always charming and ever insightful Steven Nelson at the Lindner Center for Art History at UVA. (regionals: it's worth the trip!) We'll be talking about what motivates writing—and the field.
On Mon, 12/4, I'll be doing a public interview of the always charming and ever insightful Steven Nelson at the Lindner Center for Art History at UVA. (regionals: it's worth the trip!) We'll be talking about what motivates writing—and the field.
In recognition of the Robert Motherwell Book Award for my "Queer Behavior: Scott Burton and Performance Art," I'll be giving a lecture at Artists Space in NYC on December 15th at 7pm. Sponsored by Dedalus Foundation.
November 15, 2023 at 6:01 PM
In recognition of the Robert Motherwell Book Award for my "Queer Behavior: Scott Burton and Performance Art," I'll be giving a lecture at Artists Space in NYC on December 15th at 7pm. Sponsored by Dedalus Foundation.
'll be giving a talk at Stanford on Thursday 11/17 if you're in the San Francisco area and so inclined... art.stanford.edu/events/weint...
November 15, 2023 at 3:45 AM
'll be giving a talk at Stanford on Thursday 11/17 if you're in the San Francisco area and so inclined... art.stanford.edu/events/weint...