Biography
Shawn C. Simmons specializes in notions of queer theory in modern and contemporary American art. His research interests include censorship, countercultural histories, embodiment, artist archives, and intersections between art and science. He received a B.A. in Art History from New York University with an emphasis on loss, memorialization, and affect in art of the AIDS crisis. His M.A. thesis, completed at the University of Colorado Boulder, focused on queer ecological arts practices in relation to futurism and utopia. As a 2023 Rough Gems curatorial fellow at Union Hall in Denver, he curated Against Nature, a group exhibition of five American artists engaging with queer ecology.
Education Details
Ph.D., History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh, in progress
M.A., Art History, University of Colorado Boulder, 2023
Thesis: ‘Mapping a Multispecies Future: Utopian Longing in Queer Ecological Arts Practices’
B.A., Art History, New York University, 2020
Minor in Urban Design and Architecture Studies
Selected Publications
‘On Entropy’ (exhibition catalogue essay on Matías Alvial’s Entropy series). I Feel Everything at a Moment's Notice., Ed. Varie, Lower Manhattan, 2023.
Public Projects
Curator & Rough Gems Fellow, Against Nature, Union Hall, Denver, 2023
Selected Awards
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, 2023-2024
Schwalbe Travel Award, Center for Humanities & the Arts, University of Colorado, 2023
Hazel Barnes Grant, Center for Humanities & the Arts, University of Colorado, 2023
Archives and Research Intern, Ellsworth Kelly Studio, 2023
Art History Area Research Scholarship, University of Colorado, 2022
Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of Colorado, 2021-2023