Born: 1955, Newark, NJ

Died: 2023, Chicago, IL

1983-1985

Mabou Mines Re.Cher.Chez. Theater Intensive, New York, NY

1979-1981

Mason Gross School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, M.F.A.

1977-1978

Whitney Museum Independent Studio Program, New York, NY

1975-1978

Montclair State College, Montclair, NJ, B.A.

1973-1975

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

Selected Solo and Two Person Exhibitions

2023-2024

"Hospital," South London Gallery, London, UK

2022

"Between A Figure and A Letter, " Schinkel Pavilion," Berlin, Germany

"The Ritual Is For All of us," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

"Four Panels," Mitchell-Innes and Nash, New York, NY

2021

"Pope.L: My Kingdom for a Title," Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, UC of Chicago, Chicago, IL (Link)

"Notations, Holes and Humour," Modern Art, London, England (Link)

"Portikus," Frankfurt, Germany

2019-2020

“Pope.L: Instigation, Aspiration, Perspiration,” Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Public Art Fund, New York, NY

"Pope.L: Well," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

"member: Pope.L, 1978–2001," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

"Pope.L: Choir," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

2019

"Pope.L: Conquest.," Public Art Fund, New York, NY

"No thing: Pope.L, Adam Pendleton," Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland

2018

"One thing after another, Part II," Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY

“One thing after the other,” La Panacée, Montpellier, France (Link)

2017

“Brown People are the Wrens in the Parking Lot,” Logan Center Gallery, Chicago, IL (Link)

“Flint Water Project,” What Pipeline, Detroit, MI

“Proto-Skin Set,” Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY

2016

“Pope.L and Will Boone,” Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY

2015

"Forest," Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA

"Desert," Steve Turner, Los Angeles, CA

"Trinket," The Geffen Contemporary, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA

2014

Gold People Shit In Their Valet, Galerie Catherine Bastide, Brussels, Belgium

2013

Cage Unrequited, Soto Vlez Cultural and Educational Center, New York, NY

Performa 13, New York, NY

Colored Waiting Room, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY

Forlesen, The Renaissance Society, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

A Long White Cloud, Te Tuhi, Auckland, New Zealand

2012

Reenactor, Williams Center Gallery at Lafayette College, Easton, PA; traveled to Hodgepodge Building on Strawberry Alley, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN

Three Projects, Galerie Catherine Bastide, Brussels, Belgium

2011

Child, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK

2010

landscape + object + animal, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY

color isnt matter, Samson Projects, Boston, MA

2009

The Black Factory, Art Projects Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL

Corbu Pops, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

William Pope.L, Kenny Schachter ROVE, London, UK

Yard (to harrow), Hauser + Wirth, New York, NY

2008

October Projects, GreetingLine, New York, NY

Animal Nationalism: Small Cup, Grand Arts, Kansas City, MO

Animal Nationalism: Trinket, Exhibition Hall at Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO

Biting Through Innocence, Galerie Catherine Bastide, Brussels, Belgium

2007

Drawing, Dreaming, Drowning, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Art After White People: time, trees, & celluloid, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA

William Pope.L: snow, spraypaint, hair, sperm & baloney, Kenny Schachter ROVE, London, UK

William Pope.L: The Black Factory and Other Good Works, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA

The Void Show, MC Kunst, Los Angeles, CA

2006

Condoleezza Rice Day, Galleria Civica, Trento, Italy

Trophy Room, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria

Under All, Above Most, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

2005

some things you can do with blackness, Kenny Schachter ROVE, London, UK

Props & Propositions, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH

2004

Five Ways to Say the Same Sadness, University Art Museum, University at Albany, NY

eRacism: electronica, Contemporary Art Museum St Louis, St. Louis, MO

reFunkt: prints & dvds, The Project, New York, NY

eRacism, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; traveled to Artists Space, New York, NY

2003

Foddah, Drew University, Madison, NJ

Some: Of Place and Desire, ArtHouse, Austin, TX

eRacism, DiverseWorks, Houston, TX; traveled to Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, OR

2002

Whats Inside a Boy, The Project, Los Angeles, CA

eRacism, ICA at Maine College of Art, Portland, ME

Incontinent, Wood Street Gallery, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh, PA

2001

Hole Theory, The Project, New York, NY

2000

Eracism: White Room, ThreadWaxing Space, New York, NY

The Hole Inside The Space Inside Yves Kleins Asshole, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

Eating The Wall Street Journal And Other Current Consumptions, Mobius, Boston, MA

1998

Recent Work, The Project, New York, NY

1996

Buddy Performance Objects, with Jim Calder, Touchstone Theater, Bethlehem, PA

1993

William Pope.L, Horodner Romley Gallery, New York, NY

1992

William Pope.L, Drew University, Madison, NJ

1991

How Much is that Nigger in the Window, 30 performances, writings and installations, Franklin Furnace, New York, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024

"Walk This Way," Kunstmuseum Ravensburg, Ravensburg, Germany

"On the Absurd Drama That Is Also Life," Moderna Museet Malmö Malmö, Sweden

"A Portrait in Fragments," Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Dusseldorf, Germany

2023

"Unbound: Performance as Rupture," Julia Stoschek Collection, Berlin, Germany

2023-2024

“From Andy Warhol to Kara Walker. Scenes From the Collection,” Museum Brandhorst, Munich, Germany (Link)

2023

"Perpetual Portrait," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

"Gordon Matta-Clark & Pope.L: Impossible Failures," 52 Walker, New York, NY

2022

"Us Them We: Race, Ethnicity, Identity," Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA

"WALK!," Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

"When I State That I Am An Anarchist," PLATO Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia

2021

"Zeros + Ones.," KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany

"Transformed: Objects Reimagined by American Artists," Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ

"The Principle of Hope," Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China

"Oehlen, Pendleton, Pope.L, Sillman," Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, Germany

"The Paradox of Stillness," Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MI (Link)

"A Shared Body," FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

“Everyone Is an Artist” Cosmopolitical Exercises with Joseph Beuys, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany

"Push Over, Push Back," CCS Bard Galleries, Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, NY

"The Holding Environment," Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany

2020

"Climate Changing: On Artists, Institutions, and the Social Environment," Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH

2021

"K as in Knight," Helena Anrather, New York, NY

"Old Growth - New Decay," Chapman University Guggenheim Gallery, Orange, CA

"Dave McKenzie: The Story I tell Myself," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

2020

"Citizenship," Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver, CO.

"Wrecked Alphabet," Broodthaers Society of America, NY, NY

"20 Years," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

"Rituals of Regard and Recollection," Law Warschaw Gallery, Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN

"Stayin’ Alive," ANOTHER SPACE, New York, NY

2019

"Political Affairs: Language is not Innocent," Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

"No Thing: Pope.L, Adam Pendelton," Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland.

"Water After All," Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL

2019-2020

"Cro45 to Now," Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA

"Elements of Vogue (A case of radical performance)," Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico

"Small Talk," Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR

"The Foundation of the Museum: MOCA's Collection," The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, CA

"Counter-Landscapes: Performative Actions from the 1970s — Now," Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ

"Men of Steel, Women of Wonder," Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA

2019

"Prisoner of Love," Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL

"Embodiment," Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY

2019-2020

"Mask: In Present-Day Art," Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland

2019

"EBSPLOITATION," Martos Gallery, New York, NY

2019-2020

"Great Force," Institute for Contemporary Art, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

2019

"Drawn Together Again," FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY

"Men of Steel, Women of Wonder," Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR

"DREAMWEAVERS," UTA Artist Space, Beverly Hills, CA (Link)

"Uptown to Harlem: African American Works from the collection of Martin & Rebecca Eisenberg,” Riverview School, East Sandwich, MA

"From Theory to Practice: Trajectories of the Whitney," University Hall Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA

2018

"The Land We Live in - the Land We Left Behind," Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Bruton, UK

"Talisman in the Age of Difference," Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK

"Rubbish and Dreams: The Genderqueer Performance of Stephan Varble," Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, New York, NY

“Becoming American,” San Juan Island, Seattle, WA (Link)

"Crossroads: Carnegie Museum of Art's Collection, 1945 to Now," Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA,

"Cheeky: Summer Butts," curated by Anthony Iacono and Peter LaBier, Marinaro Gallery, New York, NY (Link)

"Agora," The High Line, New York, NY (Link)

"Other Mechanisms,” curated by Anthony Huberman, Secession, Vienna (Link)

"Wanderlust: Actions, Traces, and Journeys 1967-2017," Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA

"Against the Architecture," Refectoire des Nonnes, Lyon, France

"The Enemy of My Enemy," Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France

"Adam McEwen Selects: Exhibition to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Arts," Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY

"35 days of film," Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY

"Black Pulp!" African American Museum, Philadelphia, PA

"Counternarratives: Performance and Actions in Public Space," Decker Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD

"Learning from the Land and the Water," LookOut! Gallery, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

"Reclamation! Pan-African Works from the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection," Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA

"Walking Point," Greene Naftali, New York, NY

"20/20: Influential Artists of the 20th Century," Mott-Warsh Collection, Flint, MI

2017-2018

“Mechanisms,” The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA

“Elements of Vogue,” CA2M, Madrid, Spain

2017

“20/20: The Studio Museum in Harlem and Carnegie Museum of Art,” Studio Museum, Harlem, NY; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA

“We Are Here,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL

“art on the front lines that speaks to the present political and social climate,” Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Gallery, New York, NY

“Active Ingredients: Prompts, Props, Performance,” Williams Museum of Art, Williams College, Williamstown, MA

“Person of the Crowd: The Contemporary Art of Flanerie,” The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA

“Punching Up,” Richard and Dolly Maass Gallery, Purchase, NY

“You Should be an Artist,” Galerie Catherine Bastide, Brussels, Belgium

"If Not Apollo, the Breeze,” Kadist, San Francisco, CA (Link)

“Invisible Man,” Martos Gallery, New York, NY

“Wanderlust: Actions, Traces, Journeys 1967 – 2017,” University of Buffalo Art Galleries, Bufalo, New York, NY; traveling to Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA

documenta 14, Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany

Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

“The Window and the Breaking of the Window,” Studio Museum, Harlem, NY

2016

“With deepest sympathy: Geopolitics and bodies,” Stadtische Galerie, Munich, Germany

“THE PUBLIC BODY.01,” Artspace, Sydney, Australia

“Less Than One,” Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

“The Invisible Body,” MASS Art, Boston, MA

“The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music from 1965 to Now,” Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA

“Do You, Ms. Jones?” Rosenwald Wolf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

"Body Superficial,” Sgorbati Projectors, New York, NY

“The Window and the Breaking of the Window,” The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

“Blackness in Abstraction,” Pace Gallery, New York, NY

Bienal de São Paolo, Brazil (Link)

“Black Pulp!,” International Print Center New York, New York, NY; travelled to University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, FL; Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University, Middeletown, CT

2015

“(Counter)Public Art, Intervention, and Performances in Lower Manhattan, 1980-1993,” Lower Manhattan Cultural Center, New York, NY

“TOWER,” Ibid, London, UK

“Walking Sculpture: 1967 — 2015,” deCordova Sculpture Park + Museum, Lincoln, MA

“Identity,” Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY

“The Works: Artists in and from Chicago,” CAB Art Center, Brussels, Belgium

“I Like It Like This: Curated by Drake,” Sotheby’s S|2 Gallery, New York, NY

“Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art,” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA

“Brugges Triennial - Politics and the Productions of Space: The Written City,” City Hall, Brugges, Belgium

“Z-ING,” Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA

“Works on Paper,” Greene Naftali, New York, NY

“Let Us Celebrate While Youth Lingers and Ideas Flow: Archives 1915-2015,” The Renaissance Society, Chicago, IL

“The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music 1965 to Now” Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA

2014

“Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art,” Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

“CON/TEXT,” Lynch Tham, New York, NY

“Days Inn,” Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY

“Itinerant Belongings,” Addams Gallery, University of Pennsylvania and Slought Foundation, Philadelphia, PA

“Pierogi X X,” Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY

“Poor Working Conditions,” Martos Gallery, New York, NY

“Ruffneck Constructivists,” Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

“30 Americans,” The Rubell Family Collection, Frist Center for Visual Arts, Nashville, TN; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA

“Warm Side of Zero,” Overduin & Co, Los Angeles, CA

2013

“African American Art Since 1950: Perspectives from the David C. Driskell Center,” Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH; traveled to The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Charlotte, NC; Akron Museum, Akron OH

“Blues for Smoke,” Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; traveled to Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

“Body Language,” Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

“Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art,” Grey Art Gallery, New York, NY

“Burying the Lede,” Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY

“Against the Grain; Wood in Contemporary Craft and Design,” curated by Lowery Stokes Sims, Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY

“Cliff and Better,” Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL

“The Eleventh Hour,” DiverseWorks, Houston, TX

“Hello Goodbye Thank You, Again, and Again, and Again,” Castillo/Corrales, Paris, France

“Kaboom! Comics in Art,” Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen, Germany

“Pull! Reading Room,” SPACES, Cleveland, OH

“30 Americans,” The Rubell Family Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC

“Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art,” Grey Art Gallery, New York, NY; traveled to the The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

2012

“Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art,” Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston TX

“African American Art Since 1950: Perspectives from the David C. Driskell Center,” University of Maryland, College Park, MD

“Blues for Smoke,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA

“Fax,” University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu, HI; traveled to DeVos Art Museum, Marquette, MI; Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY; Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, UT; San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA

“30 Americans,” The Rubell Family Collection, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA

“Wall Text,” Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL

“superHUMAN,” Central Utah Art Center, Ephraim, UT; traveled to Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ

2011

“After Images,” Musee Juif de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium

“Another Kind of Vapor,” White Flag Projects, St. Louis, MO

“The Bearden Project,” The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

“D’un Autre Monde,” Le Printemps de Septembre – à Toulouse, contemporary art festival, Toulouse, France

“Fax,” Apex Gallery, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD; traveled to Saint Paul Street Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand; Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; South London Gallery, London, UK; Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN

“Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA),” Röda Sten Art Centre, Göteborg, Sweden

“History of Disappearance: Live Art from New York 1975 – Present,” PhotoIreland Festival, Dublin, Ireland; traveled to Laznia Center, Gdansk, Poland

“Inti,” On Stellar Rays, New York, NY

“The Painting Show,” Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK

Prospect.2 New Orleans. New Orleans, LA

“30 Americans,” The Rubell Family Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC

2010

“The 2010 DeCordova Biennial,” DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA

“At Home/Not At Home: Works from the Collection of Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg,” Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

“Fax,” Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA; traveled to Plug In ICA, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Barnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC, Canada; Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong, China; Dowd Gallery, State University of New York, Cortland, NY; Museu de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City, Mexico; New Galerie, Paris, France

“History of Disappearance: Live Art from New York 1975 – Present,” Arhus Kunstbygning, Arhus, Denmark

“The Last Newspaper,” New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY

“The Process Show,” 37-A Gallery, Portland, ME

“Resurrectine,” Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY

“Slightly Unbalanced,” Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, Richmond, VA

2009

“Allan Kaprow YARD (to Harrow),” Hauser & Wirth, NY

“30 Seconds Off an Inch,” The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY

“Self as Disappearance,” Centre d’Art Contemporain, La Synagogue de Delme, Delme, France

“Broken Thorn Sweet Blackberry,” Sikkema Jenkins & Co, New York, NY

“Carnival Within – An Exhibition Made in America,” Uferhallen, Berlin, Germany

“Collected: Propositions on the Permanent Collection,” The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

“Fax,” The Drawing Center, New York, NY; traveled to Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD

“Pour,” installation at the Botanical Gardens, Art Projects at Art Basil Miami Beach, Mitchell-Innes & Nash in collaboration with Galerie Catherine Bastide, Miami Beach, FL

“Slightly Unbalanced,” Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV; travled to Rodman Hall Arts Center, St. Catharines, ON, Canada; Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA; Museum London, London, ON, Canada

“Summer Exhibition,” Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY

“Trouble at the Front (Troubles aux Frontieres),” Galerie Marian Goodman, Paris, France

2008

“30 Americans,” The Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL

“Paul Thek: In the Contexts of Today’s Contemporary Art (PART TWO),” Sammlung Falkenburg, Hamburg, Germany

“Black Is, Black Ain’t,” The Renaissance Society at University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

“Brainwave: Common Sense,” Exit Art, New York, NY

“Criminal: Art and Criminal Justice in America,” The International Center for the Arts at San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

“Disinhibition: Black Art and Blue Humor,” Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL

“History of Disappearance: Live Art from New York 1975 – Present,” Sydney Underground Film Festival, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney, Australia

“Informal Architectures (Pt. 2),” Winnepeg, CA

“Mergers and Acquisitions,” Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA; traveled to Retail Value, Dorsky Gallery, Long Island City, NY

2007

“Port City: On Mobility and Exchange,” Arnolfini, Bristol, UK

“History of Disappearance: Live Art from New York 1975 – Present,” Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, Santiago, Chile

“Keeping Up With the Joneses,” Schroeder Romero, New York, NY

“New York – States of Mind,” House of World Culture, Berlin, Germany; traveled to Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY

“Paul Thek: In the Context of Today’s Contemporary Art,” ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany

“Situation Comedy: Humor in Recent Art,” Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, FL

“Informal Architectures,” The Banff Centre, Banff, AB, Canada

“Conceptual Paper,” Arndt & Partner, Zurich, Switzerland

“Plug,” Sister Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

“Silicone Valley,” PS-1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY

“Get Lost,” New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY

2006

“South Bronx Contemporary: Longwood 25th Anniversary,” Longwood Art Gallery, Bronx, NY

“A Noir, E Blanc, I Rouge, U Vert, O Bleu: Farben,” Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg, Germany

“History of Disappearance: Live Art from New York 1975 - Present,” Galleria Neon>fdv, Milan, Italy; traveled to MANmuseum at the Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK

“7e Biennale de l'Art Africaine Contemporaire,” Dakar, Senegal

“Civil Restitutions,” Thomas Dane Gallery, London

“Newark Between Us,” 744 Gallery/Newark Arts Council, Newark, NJ

“Stories,” Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM

“Situation Comedy,” Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg,Canada; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL

“Skowhegan at 60,” Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME

“Humor Me,” H & R Block Artspace, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO

“Relics and Remnants,” Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, New York, NY

“Dreaming of a More Better Future,” Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH

2005

“Hero,” Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM

“History of Disappearance: Live Art from New York 1975 – Present,” Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK

“Looking at Words: The Formal Use of Text in Modern and Contemporary Works on Paper,” Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY

“Moving Collection: Body-Con,” Tactical Museum at Nadiff, Tokyo, Japan

“Reverse Engineers,” Carnegie Art Center, North Towanda, NY

“Landmark,” Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR

“RAPSIDA,” Gallery 138, New York, NY

“Double Consciousness,” Museum of Contemporary Arts Houston, Houston, TX

“Situation Comedy,” Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI

“Decarie,” Saidye Bronfman Center for the Arts, Montreal, Canada

“Defense,” Sweeney Art Gallery, University of California, Riverside, CA

2004

“The Interventionists: Art in the Social Sphere,” MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA

“Watch What We Say,” Schroeder Romero, Brooklyn, NY

“The Big Nothing,” Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

“5 x 7 Exhibition,” Art House Gallery, Austin, TX

“Harlem Postcards: Spring 2004, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

“Romantic Detachment,” PS-1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY

“Brown v. Board of Education 1954-2004,” Gallery 138, New York, NY

“Republican Like Me,” Parlour Projects, Brooklyn, NY

“Moving Collection: Body-Con,” Fukui Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan

“Reverse Engineers,” Herndon Gallery, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH

“Only Skin Deep,” International Center for Photography, New York, NY

2003

“Moving Collection: Body-Con,” Wanakio Festival, Naha, Okinawa, Japan

“distillation," Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden

“In Heat,” Pierogi 2000, Brooklyn, NY

“Motion Studies,” Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, NY

“White,” Bill Maynes Gallery, New York, NY

“Ameri©an Dre@m,” Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Gallery, New York, NY

2002

“Art & Outrage,” Robert Miller Gallery, New York, NY

“Wallow,” The Project, New York, NY

Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

“Reactions,” Exit Art Gallery, New York, NY

“Moving Collection: Body-Con,” Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand

2001

“Video Jam,” Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Palm Bach, FL

2000

“Pix,” Lance Fung Gallery, New York, NY

“Friendships in Arcadia: Writers and Artists at Yaddo in the 90s,” Art in General, New York, NY; traveled to The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY

“Söma Söma Söma,” Sculpture Center, New York, NY

1999

“Out of Actions,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan; traveled to Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain

“The History of the Future,” Franklin Furnace, New York, NY

“Paradise 8,” Exit Art, New York, NY

1998

“warming,” The Project, New York, NY

“Out of Actions,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; traveled to MAK, Vienna, Austria

“Apocalypse Now,” HERE Art Gallery, New York, NY

“Freedom, Liberation and Change: Revisiting 1968,” Longwood Art Gallery, Bronx, NY

“A Negro Sleeps Beneath the Susquehanna,” Hide and Seek Residency, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA

“Peek,” HERE Art Gallery, New York, NY

1997

“Available Culture,” HERE Art Gallery, New York, NY

“Birdhouses,” Robin Hutchins Gallery, Maplewood, NJ

“Birds of a Feather,” Newark Museum, Newark, NJ

“Habitat for Humanity: (bird)Houses,” New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ

“Out on a Limb,” Midland Gallery, Montclair, NJ

1996

“Exquisite Corpse,” Danforth Gallery, Portland, ME

1995 “

Art in the USA since 1950,” Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY

“Dysfunctional Art,” Tompkins Cove Art Center/Hudson Arts at Franklin Furnace, New York, NY

“Outside The Frame: Performance & the Object: A Survey History of Performance”

“Satellite Choice: Young Curators Explore Diversity,” Artists Space, New York, NY

1994

“Art in the USA since 1950,” Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH

“Outside The Frame: Performance & the Object: A Survey History of Performance”

“The Return of the Cadavre Exquis,” Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMOA), Santa Monica, CA; traveled to Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Forum for Contemporary Art, St. Louis, MO; American Center, Paris, France

1993

“The Return of the Cadavre Exquis,” Drawing Center, New York, NY

“Transient Décor,” Roger Smith Hotel, New York, NY

“Various Objects,” Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

1991

“Looking for Aunt Jenny,” Art in General, New York, NY

1990

“Action and Artifact,” Weatherspoon Gallery at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC

1985

“Post-Modern Icons,” Franklin Furnace, New York, NY

1984

“Found Language,” Franklin Furnace, New York, NY

“Radical Culture,” Fashion Moda Gallery, Bronx, NY

1983

“Rutgers Invitational,” Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

Bibliography

2024

Norman, Lee Ann. "Lee Ann Norman on Pope.L," The Brooklyn Rail, October 1

Stiles, Kristine. "POPE.L (1955–2023)," Artforum, March (Link)

Owens, Clifford. "POPE.L (1955–2023)," Artforum, March (Link)

Cuddy, Alison. "Inside the Church of Pope.L: How the Iconic Artist’s Death Affected his Friends and Disciples," NewArtCity, February 7 (Link)

Charlesworth, JJ. "Pope. L: Afterlife," ArtReview, February 1 (Link)

Bailey, Stephanie. "In London, Pope.L Leaves a Lasting Message," Ocula, January 25 (Link)

Lepecki, André. "Making Ways: André Lepecki on Pope.L," MoMA, January 24 (Link)

Sward, Brandon. "Long Live Pope.L, the Friendliest Black Artist in America," LA Review of Books, January 12 (Link)

Marsh, Gervais. "Artist Pope.L’s last interview: ‘I try to set up mysteries for people’," The Financial Times, January 5 (Link)

Heinrich, Will. "Pope.L, Provocative Performance Artist, Dies at 68," The New York Times, December 27 (Link)

Basciano, Oliver. "Pope.L obituary," The Guardian, January 15 (Link)

2023

Greenberger, Alex. "Pope.L, Daredevil Artist Who Invoked Heady Ideas About Blackness, Dies at 68," ArtNews, December 27 (Link)

Chauhan, Shivani. "Ground-Breaking Performance Artist Pope.L Dies at 68, Leaving a Profound Legacy," BNN, December 27 (Link)

Searle, Adrian. "Pope.L review – sublime shipwreck misses its crawling captain," The Guardian, November 23 (Link)

Carrigan, Margaret. "‘As a tool, meaning has its limits’: Pope.L on being inspired by the romantics and the power of the absurd," The Art Newpaper, November 17 (Link)

Westall, Mark. "Unbound: Performance As Rupture Curated By: Lisa Long At The Julia Stoschek Foundation.," FADMagazine, August 14 (Link)

K. Ho, Karen. "Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles Acquires Pope.L’s ‘Trinket’," ARTnews, July 26 (Link)

Staff, Hyperallergic. "Hyperallergic’s Spring 2023 New York Art Guide," Hyperallergic, March 21 (Link)

Lakin, Max, Jillian Steinhauer, Travis Diehl and John Vincler. "What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in March," The NY Times, March 2 (Link)

Haimes, Helena. "Gordon Matta-Clark and Pope.L: Impossible Failures," The Brooklyn Rail, March (Link)

Hullander, Megan. "‘Impossible Failures’ uncovers the shared fixations of Gordon Matta-Clark and Pope.L," Document, February 6 (Link)

2022

"Pope.L: ‘Between a Figure and a Letter’ We visit the latest exhibition by American artist Pope.L at the Schinkel Pavillon," Sleek Magazine, May

Conner, Allison. "Pope.L Invites Us to “Enter The Mess” When Things Fall Apart," Hyperallergic. July 8 (Link)

Stromberg, Matt. "Your Concise Los Angeles Art Guide for July 2022," Hyperallergic, June 30 (Link)

Armstrong, Annie. "Wet Paint In The Wild: Artist Pope L. Photographs His Way Through the Renaissance Society Benefit in Chicago, and Then Enjoys Some Bagels," artnet, June 24

Cotter, Holland. "For Black Artists, the Motivating Power of Melancholia," NY Times, June 23 (Link)

2021

Cardwell, Erica N. "Pope.L, My Kingdom for a Title," The Brooklyn Rail, December 12 (Link)

"Pope.L’s ATM Piece," MoMA Magazine, August 11 (Link)

Kaack, Nicole. "Objects at Rest: 'The Paradox of Stillmess', At the Walker Arts Center," Art in America, July 19 (Link)

Basciano, Oliver. "‘I’m not Jeff Koons!’ – the endurance crawls, weird texts and guerrilla brilliance of Pope.L," The Guardian, July 18 (Link)

Waxman, Lori. "Welcome to Pandemic Aesthetics: How the Health Crisis Is Reshaping Contemporary Art—and Changing the Way We Look at It, Too," Artnet, July 1 (Link)

Regensburger, Jeff. "Art Review: Climate Changing: On Artists, Institutions, and the Social Environment," Columbus Underground, April 7 (Link)

Diehl, Travis. "Uncovering America, one image at a time," ArtBasel, March (Link)

Sorkin, Mark. “Take a closer look at artist Pope.L’s newest exhibition,” UChicago News. March 8 (Link)

Peragine, J, Rebecca Dimling Cochran, Cynthia Hawkins, PhD. "Colliding with History: Works by African American Artists on Paper from the Collection of Wes and Missy Cochran," Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

2020

"Spotlight: Pope L.," Artforum, July 2020 (Link)

Pope L. "A Work in Progress That Explores Our Collective Ignorance," The New York Times, July 23 (Link)

Fazeli, Taraneh. "In Detroit Artists Pursue Afrofuturist Visions of Justice and Afropessimist Strategies of Withdrawal," Art in America, July 9 (Link)

White, Simone. "Pope.L Walks Into A Room: Simone White on the Art of Pope.L," Artforum, February (Link)

Finlayson, Ciarán. "Members Only: Ciarán Finlayson on the Art of Pope.L," Artforum, February (Link)

Schwendener, Martha. "What Makes Pope.L’s Art Endure? (It’s Not the Famous Crawls)," New York Times, January 10 (Link)

2019

English, D., Barat, C., and Lowery, G. D. (2019). Among Others, Blackness at MoMA. Pg 364-365. Museum of Modern Art.

Holmes, Jessica. "Pope.L: Instigation, Aspiration, Perspiration," Brooklyn Rail, December 12 (Link)

Pemberton, Nathan Taylor. "Crawling Through New York City with the Artist Pope.L," New Yorker, November 22 (Link)

Dean, Aria. "THE TRICKSTER ART OF POPE.L DRAWS POWER FROM NEGATION," Art in America, November 20 (Link)

Oppenheimer, Suzie. "Pope.L layers performances and haunted places to question dominant historical narratives," Document, November 12 (Link)

Keats, Jonathan. "Famous For Crawling Up Broadway In A Superman Suit, Pope.L Brings His Politically-Charged Absurdist Art To MoMA," Forbes, November 11 (Link)

Lynne, Jessica. "Pope.L Has Never Been More Urgent," Frieze, October 25 (Link)

Vanasco, Jennifer. "A Newark-Born Artist Explores Water at the Whitney," WNYC, October 24 (Link)

Eastham, Ben. "Acting Out," ArtReview, October (Link)

Zara, Janelle. "The Condition of ‘Have-Not-Ness’: Why Performance Artist Pope.L Puts His Body on the Line and Embraces Vulnerability," artnet, September 26 (Link)

Sheets, Hilarie M. "Pope.L’s Group Crawl: Protest, Pathos, Provocation," New York Times, September 22 (Link)

Armstrong, Annie. "‘Someone’s Got to Suffer’: Pope.L’s Group Crawl Takes Over Manhattan," ArtNews, September 21 (Link)

Tauer, Kristin. "Pope.L Begins His New York Fall Art Crawl," WWD, September 19 (Link)

Fusco, Coco. "With solo shows at MoMA, the Whitney, and a momentous public performance, Pope.L’s New York moment is set to last," Art Basel, September 24 (Link)

Williams, Mandy Harris. "POPE. L CEMENTS HIS PROVOCATEUR STATUS WITH THREE SHOWS ACROSS MANHATTAN," Cultured, (Link)

Miller, M.H. "The T List: What to Visit, Eat and Know About This Week," T Magazine, September 18 (Link)

Gural, Natasha. "Intrepid Art Of Pope.L Takes Over New York, Crawling Through The West Village, Spilling And Crashing Into The Whitney And Sprawling Through The MoMA," Forbes, September 19 (Link)

Saltz, Jerry and Carl Swanson. "The Best and Biggest Art Shows to See to This Fall," Vulture, September 11 (Link)

Cotter, Holland. "At 19 Art Shows, From Los Angeles to Manhattan, All Eyes Are on Inclusion," New York Times, September 9 (Link)

Cascone, Sarah and Caroline Goldstein. "23 Essential New York Museum Shows to See This Fall, From Vija Celmins at the Met to Pope.L at MoMA," artnet, September 9 (Link)

Belcove, Julie. "African-American Artists Will Deliver a Tidal Wave of Compelling Work This Fall," Robb Report, September 7 (Link)

Kissick, Dean. "THE SEPTEMBER OPENINGS: NEW YORK’S MUST-SEE SHOWS," Cultured, September 4 (Link)

Murray, Yxta Maya. "“POPE.L: CONQUEST,” “POPE.L: CHOIR,” AND “MEMBER: POPE.L 1978–2001.” Artforum, September (Link)

"AN rounds up must-see exhibitions to catch this summer," The Architect's Newspaper, July 31 (Link)

Schuster, Clayton. "Why the Whitney, MoMA and Public Art Fund are Uniting for an Exhibition About Artist Pope.L," Observer, July 25 (Link)

Small, Zachary. "Pope.L Wants You to Crawl Across New York With Him," Hyperallergic, July 24 (Link)

Stoilas, Helen. "Volunteers wanted to crawl with performance artist Pope.L," The Art Newspaper, July 22 (Link)

"The Most Influential Living African-American Artists," Artsy, February 25 (Link)

"Arts Power 50: The Changemakers Shaping the Art World in 2019," The Observer, April 1 (Link)

Arn, Jackson. "When Performance Art Takes to the Street, the Results Are Moving," Artsy, April 9 (Link)

Cotter, Holland. "MoMA, the New Edition: From Monumental to Experimental," New York Times, February 5 (Link)

Ongley, Hannah. "moma is closing to diversify the art canon," i-D, February 7 (Link)

2018

Reichert,Elliot J. "Pope.L: The Escape," Brooklyn Rail, December 20 (Link)

Johnson, Steve. "'Pope.L: The Escape' reworks a slavery play as performance art and dares you to wonder what to think about it," Chicago Tribune, November 16 (Link)

Freeman, Nate. "What Sold at FIAC," Artsy, October 22 (Link)

Princenthal, Nancy, "3 Outdoor Art Shows and One Trusty Dog (With Tricks!)," New York Times (web), September 6 (Link)

Valentine, Victoria L., "Loaded with Symbolism, a Fountain Sculpture by Pope.L is Among New Acquisitions at Carnegie Museum of Art," The Culture Type (web), July 29 (Link)

Sussman, Anna Louie, “What Sold at Art Basel,” Artsy (web), June 17 (Link)

Wargo, Abby, "Differing, Drawn: Scholar Examines Pope.L’s “Skin Set” Drawings," The Elm (web), April 28 (Link)

"Pope.L, Jennifer Russell, and Rachel G. Wilf Join NYU Institute of Fine Arts’ Board of Trustees," NYU (web), April 4 (Link)

O'Grady, Megan, "Answering Society's Thorniest Questions, with Performance Art," T Magazine, New York Times, March 2 (Link)

2017

Hawbaker, KT, “Glass Curtain takes on the brain, Logan Center visits notions of home,” Chicago Tribune (web), December 1 (Link)

Sharp, Sarah Rose, “Pope.L’s Conceptual Bottled Water Project Calls Attention to the Crisis in Flint,” Hyperallergic (web), October 18 (Link)

Piper, Matthew, “Selling Flint’s water? Art installation raises funds and awareness for Flint, Detroit water victioms,” Model D (web), October 10 (Link)

Russeth, Andrew, “Pope.L is Raising Funds to Bottle, Sell Flint Water,” ArtNews (web), August 8 (Link)

“VIA Art Fund,” e-flux (web), June 29

Smith, Roberta, “The Expansive Provocateur Pope.L, in Smaller, Potent Doses,” New York Times (web), June 29 (Link)

Korman, Sam, “”The Whitney Biennial is not the only story in town, as this roundup of exhibitions reveals,” Art Review, May

Huffman, Jibade-Khalil, “Slaves to Meaning: Jibade-Khalil Huffman in conversation with Pope.L,” FlashArt, June / July / August (Link)

Forbes, Alexander, “15 Documenta Artists with Staying Power,” Artsy (web), June 9 (Link)

Michalska, Julia, “What is the market for Documenta 14 artists?,” The Art Newspaper (web), June 13 (Link)

Urist, Jacoba, “How Do You Conserve Art Made of Bologna, or Bubble Gum, or Soap?,” The Atlantic, June 9

Freeman, Nate, “Careful Whisper: Pope.L Discusses His Documenta Sound Work, Hidden Across Kassel,” ArtNews (web), June 8 (Link)

Valentine, Victoria L., “Best in Show: Pope.L Named Recipient of Whitney Biennial 2017 Bucksbaum Award,” Culture Type (web), June 6 (Link)

Greenberger, Alex, “Pope.L Wins Whitney Museum’s $100,000 Bucksbaum Award,” ArtNews (web), June 2

Laster, Paul, “William Pope.L weighs in on art and social change,” TimeOut New York (web), May 23 (Link)

Kleinman, Adam, “The 2017 Whitney Biennial,” frieze, May (Link)

Fateman, Johanna, “Rights and Privileges,” Artforum, May

Locks, Mia, “Americanismo,” Mousse Magazine, February (Link)

Miller, M.H., “Protest Art in the Era of Trump,” The New York Times Style Magazine, February 19 (Link)

Greenberger, Alex, “Pope.L’s Bologna-Filled Whitney Biennial Installation Stinks – And Then Some,” ArtNews (web), March 17

Gopnik, Blake, “At the Whitney, Pope.L’s ‘Jewish’ Room Evokes the Famous Womanhouse,” Artnet News (web), March 22

Thackara, Tess, “The 2017 Whitney Biennial is a Pitch-Perfect Survey of Art Today,” Artsy (web), March 14

2016

Griffith, Phillip, “Pope.L Will Boone,” The Brooklyn Rail (web), March 4

“Pope.L monkeys around in a gorilla suit at Art Basel,” The Art Newspaper (web), June 14

Herriman, Kat, “In Conversation with Adrienne Edwards and Pope.L,” Blouin Artinfo (web), June 29

Duray, Dan, “Pope.L gets conceptual with slavery play at Drawing Center,” The Art Newspaper (web), August 15

Pogrebin, Robin, “Here Comes the Whitney Biennial, Reflecting the Tumult of the Times,” New York Times, November 18

Boucher, Brian, “Artists Aren’t Afraid to Get Political at Art Basel Miami Beach,” ArtNet News (web), November 30

2015

Nelson, Solveig, The Freedom Prinicple: Experiemnts in Art and Music, 196 to Now, Artforum, November

Miranda, Carolina, Review: William Pope.L returns to L.A. with twin gallery shows focused on race, Los Angeles Times (web), November 13

Golden, Thelma, Best of 2015, Artforum, December

Chiaverina, John, Muscle Men and Free Cash: Xavier Cha and Pope.L Shine at Art Basels Public Sector, ArtNews (web), December 3

Knight, Christopher, Best of 2015: The 10 best art exhibitions at LA museums in 2015, Los Angeles Times (web), December 12

Knight, Christopher, “Review: William Pope.L sets the U.S. flag waving at the MOCA/Geffen,” Los Angeles Times, March 24

Finkel, Jori, “William Pope.L Makes Statements From the Fringes,” New York Times, March 18

Herbert, Martin, “William Pope.L,” ArtReview, April

Burns, Charlotte, “William Pope.L Wants to Bring Down the House,” The Artnewspaper, March 16

Wagley, Catherine, “Artist Explaines Why He Hired People to Stumble Around MOCA Blindfolded,” LA Weekly (web), May 1

Joselit, David, “Material Witness: David Joselit on Visual Evidence and the Case of Eric Garner,” Artforum, February

Myers, Terry, “William Pope.L: Trinket,” The Brooklyn Rail, May

Buckley, Annie, “William Pope.L,” Art in America, June/July

Welsblum, Vida, “William Pope.L Flag Makes an Appearance at Kendrick Lamar’s BET Awards Performance,” ArtNews (web), June 29

Harcourt, Glenn, “William Pope.L: Geffen Contemporary / Los Angeles,” Artillery, July

Jablon, Samuel, “”William Pope.L on ‘Acting a Fool’ and Alternative Futures,” Hyperallergic (web), July 10

Shaked, Dr. Nizan, “Under the Banner of Contradiction,” X-TRA, Fall

2014

Motley, John, “William Pope.L, the self-described ‘Friendliest Black Artist in America,’ returns to Portland for ‘Claim’ at PSU,” The Oregonian, February 5

2013

Caniglia, John, “PULL!” offers city a labor of art as it rolls through Cleveland streets,“ The Plain Dealer, June 9

Foumberg, Jason, “Is Chicago Ready for William Pope.L?” ChicagoMag.com, May

Simonini, Ross, “William Pope.L,” Interview Magazine, February 6

2012

Sortor, Carolyn, “Looking Back, Looking Forward”, artandseek.net, September 12,

Dirié, Clément, ed, “William Pope.L: Black People are Cropped.” JRP Ringier

Diaz, Eva, “Prospect.2, New Orleans” Artforum, February

2011

Nathan, Emily, “Prospect.2 New Orleans: Beating Heart Biennial,” ArtNet (web), November

2010

“La Fiac sur Orbite Internationale.” Spécial Fiac, October

“The Twenty.” New York Magazine, August 30 to September 6

Barliant, Claire, “Reviews: The Last Newspaper.” Time Out: New York, November 4

Cotter, Holland. “Art in Review: Art and News, Intersecting in the Digital Age.” The New York Times, October 7

Garza, Evan J, “Review: William Pope.L at Samson.” Flash Art, May to June

Wilson, Michael, “Art Review: William Pope.L., landscape + object + animal,” May

Vanderbuilt, Tom, “Review: The Last Newspaper, the New Museum.” ArtForum, October

2009

Cotter, Holland. “Art in Review: William Pope.L.” The New York Times, October

Marjian, Ana, “Review: William Pope.L at the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Harvard University,” ArtForum, February

Anstead, Alicia, “Art that Pops – A new installation by William Pope.L transforms Carpenter Center into a playground for challenging ideas,” Arts Spectrum, Cambridge, MA. February

Zhong, Fan, “Yard Work,” Interview Magazine, September

2008

“Goings on About Town: William Pope.L,” The New Yorker, October 13

“Agenda: William Pope.L,” New York Magazine, September 17 to 24

Cotter, Holland, “The Topic is Race; the Art is Fearless,” The New York Times, March 30

Levin, Kim, “Reviews: New York, William Pope.L at Mitchell-Innes & Nash,” ARTnews, December

Valdez, Sarah, “William Pope.L at Mitchell-Innes & Nash.” Art on Paper, November/December, pg 84 to 85

2007

Dorin, Lisa and Darby English, “William Pope.L: Drawing, Dreaming and Drowning.” The Art Institute of Chicago Journal, October

Antebi, Nicole et al, “Failure! Experiments in Aesthetic and Social Practices,” Journal of Aesthetics and Protest Press, Los Angeles, CA, pp.60-61, 62-65, 144, 147-148, 176, 180-183, 216.

English, Darby, “How to See a Work of Art in Total Darkness.” MIT Press

Taft, Catherine, “William Pope.L. Critics’ Picks,” ArtForum, November 13

2006

Agans, Elizabeth, “Think Again.” Rutgers Magazine, Winter

Chase, Alisia, “Learning to be Human.” Afterimage, January-February

Lepecki, Andre, Exhausting Dance: Performance and the Politics of Movement, Routledge

Sayer, Laura. “Undies to See the Light,” The New Record, Cincinnati, OH, January 5-8

Storey, Natalie. “On Your Knees!” The Santa Fe New Mexican Magazine, March 12-18

Van Cleve, Emily, “Performer Makes an Art of Humiliation,” The Journal Santa Fe, March 3

2005

Delgado, Jerome, “Amener l'Autoroute a la Montagne,” La Presse. Montreal, Canada, June 2

Dischinger, Mark, “The United Colors of America,” RFT: Riverfront Times, St Louis, MO, June 15-21

Firstenberg, Lauri, “Profile: Tapping the energy of Predicament,” Contemporary Magazine, New York, NY

Harthill, Daniel, “Shazam!” Sun Journal, Lewiston, ME, May 30

Lamarche, Bernard, “Toucher Son But,” Le Devoir, Montreal, Canada, May 15

McKanic, Arlene, “JCAL’s Relics and Remnants.” The New York Amsterdam News, November 3-9

Pope.L, William. “The “Looking for Miss Black Factory” Contest.” Art Journal,Spring, 2005

Pope.L, William. “Letter to a Young Artist.” Art on Paper, July/August, 2005

Sedgewick, Augustine. “Perspective: William Pope.L, The Possibilities of Difference.” Sun Journal, June 12, 2005

Thorson, Alice. “Highlighting ‘Blackness.” Kansas City Star, Kansas City, MO, June 12, 2005

2004

Cotter, Holland. “Hometown of Utopia and Dissent.” The New York Times, New York, NY, July 23

Daily, Meghan. “William Pope.L.” ArtForum, April

Smith, Roberta. “William Pope.L.” The New York Times, January 30

Osei-Bonsu, Aufa. “The Art of Contraries: William Pope.L.”. Afrique, Chicago, IL, April

Thompson, Chris. “Afterbirth of a Nation.” Women and Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory

Tousignant, Isa. “Crawl for Your Life.” The Hour, Montreal, Canada, November 4

Trainor, James. “Ain’t No Such Thing As Superman.” Frieze, London, England, May

2003

Calo, Carole Gold. “Public Art/Private Art.” Public Art Review Crossroads, Fall-Winter

D.K. Row. “Covered In Chocolate, An Artist Dances 'For Democracy'.” The Oregonian, June 12

Owens, Clifford. “Notes on Critical Black U.S. Performance Art.” Fylkingen Net Journal, October 23

Pollack, Barbara. “The Art of Public Disturbance.” Art in America, May

Pope.L, William. “Sandwich Lecture 8”. LIVE Culture, Tate Gallery, London, UK, Spring

Stillman, Nick. “ARTSEEN: William Pope.L, The Great White Way”. The Brooklyn Rail, June

Stillman, Nick. “The Value of Not Knowing.” New York Fine Arts Quarterly (NYFA), Vol. 19, No 2, Spring

Trainor, James. “Walking the Walk: The Artist as Flâneur.” Border Crossings, November

2002

Bessire, Mark H. C., ed. “William Pope.L: The Friendliest Black Artist in America,” MIT Press

Cotter, Holland. “Noted Performance Artist’s Work Slows to a Crawl,” International Herald Tribune, January

Cohen, Ted. “Crawling to Learn.” Maine Telegram Sunday, Portland, ME, October 6

Cotter, Holland. “Tombs, Pop Tarts, and Parties.” The New York Times, August 23

Connors, Philip. “The Man Who Ate the Wall Street Journal.” The Wall Street Journal, April 9

Pollack, Barbara. “Superman Enters the Culture Wars.” Village Voice, New York, NY, January 15

Pope.L, William. “Voices from the Field.” The Visual Art Critic, Columbia University, New York, NY

Pope.L, William, interviewed by Chris Thompson, “America's Friendliest Black Artist,” PAJ, A Journal of Performance and Art, Vol. 24, issue 3, September

2001

Associated Press. “NEA Grant is Denied for Noted Maine Artist.” Boston Globe, Boston, MA, December 20

Cotter, Holland. “Art in Review: William Pope.L.” The New York Times, June 2001

Pogrebin, Robin. “Warhol Foundation Finances Work Rebuffed by N.E.A.” New York Times, December 21

Pope.L, William. “How Do You Make Social Change: Beyond the Proscenium.” Theatre, No. 3, Vol. 31

2000

Carr, C., “Generation Gap: Three Performers and a Waterbed.” Village Voice, New York, NY, July 18

Rush, Michael, “Performance Hops Back Into the Scene.” The New York Times, July 2

Robinson, Dash, “Consumer Demand: William Pope.L.” Cambridge Tab. Needham, MA, January 14

1999

Crawford, Cair. “My Niagra #2 (Bed).” Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art, Issue 10, Summer

Volk, Gregory. “Rolo Castillo, William Pope.L” The Project. Flash Art, March-April

1997

Carr, C. “Some Kind of Protest.” Village Voice, New York, NY, March 4

Weiss, Allen S., ed. Taste Nostalgia. Lusitania Press, New York, NY

1996

Wilson, Martha. William Pope.L. Bomb Magazine, New York, NY, Spring

Performances

2020

"Dressing Up for Civil Rights (Performance 3 of 3)," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

"Haunting the Gallery (Version 3)," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

"Eating the Wall Street Journal (Flag Version - Sean Yetter performs)," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

2019

"Dressing Up for Civil Rights (Performance 2 of 3)," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

"Haunting the Gallery (Version 2)," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

"Eating the Wall Street Journal (Flag Version - Mary Louise Guinier performs)," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

"Dressing Up for Civil Rights (Performance 1 of 3)," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

"Haunting the Gallery (Version 1)," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

"Eating the Wall Street Journal (Flag Version – Pope.L performs)," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

"Pope.L: Conquest," Public Art Fund, New York, NY

"Conquest," Public Art Fund, New York, NY

"An Evening with Ralph Lemon and Pope.L," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

"Flint Water meets the Mighty Hudson," Hudson River, New York, NY

2018

"Pope.L: The Escape," The Art Intitute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (Link)

"Reenactor," Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY

2017

"Reenactor," Dlectricity, Detroit, MI

"Shopping Craw," Social Service, Artists Space, New York, NY

2016

"Baile," 32nd Biennal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

"The Problem," Art Basel Unlimited, Basel, Switzerland

2015

"The Long White Cloud," Black Cinema House, Chicago, IL

"The Beautiful," Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL

"Cage Unrequited," MCA Live, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL

2014

"The Limner Performance," Media Replication Services by Triple Canopy, Whitney Museum, New York, NY

"Mercier and Camier," Portland State University, Portland, OR

"Media Replication Services," with Caroline Bergvall, Lisa Gitelman, and Pope.L, facilitated by Triple Canopy, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

"Costume Made of Nothing," Walk Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

2013

"Burying the Blues," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

"Cage Unrequited," Performa 13: Three Duets, Seven Variations, at Soto Velez, New York, NY

2012

"Firing Squad," Grizedale Arts, Frieze Art Fair, London, UK

"A Personal History of Curation," Case Study: William Pope.L Inteprets Fluxkit, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

2011

"Göteborg Crawl," Röda Sten Konsthall, Göteborg, Sweden

"Blink," Prospect 2, New Orleans, LA

"Paste!" Flux This!, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

2010

"Eating the Wall Street Journal (new millenium version)," New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY

2009

"Corbu Pop Singers," Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

2007

"In the Cabin," Haus der Kultern de Welt, Berlin, Germany

Awards, Grants and Fellowships

2017

Bucksbaum Award, Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY

Knight Arts Challenge

VIA Art Fund Grant

Mellon Collaborative Fellowship for Arts Practice and Scholarship

2015

American Spirit Award

2012

Joyce Foundation Award

2009

Acadia Summer Arts Program (Kippy Kamp), Mount Desert Island, ME

2007

Nancy Graves Foundation Award

Tiffany Foundation Award

2006

Bellagio Center Residency

United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship

2005

LEF Foundation

Grizedale Foundation Residency Fellowship

2004

Guggenheim Fellowship

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, faculty in residence. Skowhegan, ME

2003

International Arts Critic Association Award

Rockefeller Foundation

2002

Acadia Summer Arts Program (Kippy Kamp), Mount Desert Island, ME

Foundation for Contemporary Performance Art

2001

Japan – U.S. Friendship Commission Fellowship

The Andy Warhol Foundation

Creative Capital Foundation

Artist in Residence - Yaddo

2000

Franklin Furnace/Jerome Foundation

Tanne Foundation Fellowship

Artist in Residence - Yaddo

1999

Maine Arts Commission Fellowship Grant

Artist in Residence – Yaddo

1997

Artist in Residence – Yaddo

Tennessee William Writer-In-Residence, Sewanee: University of the South, Sewanee, TN

1996

Ko Performance Festival Residency, Amherst College, Amherst, MA

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Residency, Skowhegan, ME

1995

National Endowment for the Arts

Artist in Residence – Yaddo

Ko Performance Festival Residency, Amherst College, Amherst, MA

1994

National Endowment for the Arts

New England Regional Initiative Project

New Forms Artist’s Project Award

Maine Arts Commission Fellowship Grant

1993

National Endowment for the Arts

Art Matters

1992

Franklin Furnace/Jerome Foundation Fund for Art

New England Regional Initiative Project Grant

1991

Mid Atlantic Residency

1990

Art Matters Grant

1989

Mt. Holyoke Writers Workshop

Art Matters Grant

1988

New England Regional Initiative Project Grant

1987

New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Playwright’s Development Grant

1986

Just Above Midtown Curator-Artist/Television Grant

Artists Space Grant

1984

Artists Space Grant

Selected Talks, Lectures and Panels

2023

"Pope.L At Museum Brandhorst," Museum Brandhorst, Munich, Germany (forthcoming) (Link)

2022

"'Alzheimer’s Talk’," Kutztown University Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 15200 Kutztown Rd, Kutztown, PA

"Nuremberg Symposium," Historical Townhall Nuremberg, Nuremberg, DE

"Artist talk at Städelschule," Städelschule, Portikus, Frankfurt, DE

"Pope.L & Andrea Fraser in Conversation," Vielmetter Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

2020

"Open Dialogue: Generational Inequality and the Environment with Pope.L, What Pipeline, Jenny Kendler, and Rachael Havrelock," Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL

2019

"Pope.L Artist Talk with Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw at Barnes Foundation," Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA

"Book Launch for Pope.L: Campaign in conversation with Pope.L, Dieter Roelstraete and Yesomi Umolu," Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry. Chicago, IL

"Pope.L: Public Art Fund Artist Talk at Cooper Union," New York, NY

2018

"Pope.L in conversation with Noam Segal," Mitchell Innes and Nash, New York, NY

"Several Major Projects," The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, New York, NY

"Poetics in a Time of Climate Collapse and Human Rights Abuses,” University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

“X-TRA presents Pope.L reads “The Cypress” followed by conversation with Hamza Walker,” The Underground Museum, Los Angeles, CA

“Artist Talk in conjunction with Mel Chin: All Over The Place,” Queens Museum, Queens, NY

“Recent Works to Date, Intersections," Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

"Artist Talk with Pope.L and Dieter Roelstraete," University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

2017

"Recent Works to Date,” University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

“Conversation Between the Artist and Christopher Y. Lew,” Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

“Recent Works to Date. Sawyer Seminar: Urban Projects,” University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

2016

“Whispering Workshop,” Continuum: documenta 14 at Polytechnion, Athens, Greece

“Conversation (A) with Pope.L,” Oswald Andrade Cultural Office, Sao Paulo, Brazil

2015

“Conversation with Anthony Huberman,” ‘In-Practice: symposium’ The Renaissance Society Centennial, Chicago, IL

“Conversation with Claudia Rankine,” Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago, IL

“‘Humors’ Panel. “Painting and Its Humors,” University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

“Keynote Address,” “Far-sited: Creating and Conserving Art in Public Places”

Getty Conservation Institute/CSU Long Beach, CA

"Conversation with Adrienne Edwards. Symposium: New Circuits: Curating Contemporary Performance” at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

“Conversation with Jenny Schlenzka,” College Art Association, New York, NY

“Klingon Talk (Attempt#2): The Colony,” 10th Serpentine Transformation Marathon. Serpentine Radio

“Leonard and Merle Nelson Social Justice Fund Lecture,” Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME

2014

“Art Talk: William Pope.L,” University of Southern California, Roski School of Art and Design with The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA

“(K)NOW: Artists & the Production of New Knowledge, Now – William Pope.L, The Two Projects Talk,” Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN

“Media Replication Services,” With Lisa Gitelman and Caroline Bergvall for Triple Canopy, Whitney Biennial 2014, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

“PSU MFA Studio Lecture Series,” Portland State University, Portland, OR

“The Diversity Talk. Panel with Zachary Cahill, Wolfie E. Rawk, Lise Yun Lee, and Romi Crawford,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL

2013

“Artist Talk,” Columbia University, New York, NY

“Artist Talk,” Kent Hall, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

“Artist Talk - Two Projects,” Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

“Episode 405: William Pope.L. Bad at Sports,” Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL

“Skowhegan Conversations #5: Pope.L & Zachary Fabri,” The Drawing Center, New York, NY

“William Pope.L: Before and After PULL!” Cultural Conversation Series, High Concept Laboratories, Chicago, IL

2012

“Artist Talk. Conversations with Artists Series: Art as Experiment,” Center for the Study of Modern Art, The Phillips Collections, Washington, DC

“Artist Talk. Grossman Visiting Artist,” Williams Center, Lafayette College, Easton, PA

“Mike Kelley Moving Forward. Panel with Rachel Harrison and Joe Scanlan,” MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY

“Three Projects,” Movement Lecture Series, Scheler Humanities Forum, Linderman Library, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA

“Visiting Artist Talk,” Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN

“William Pope.L Artist Talk,” Frances and Armand Hammer Auditorium, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

2011

“Awards Speech for Geoffrey Hendricks,” VaVa Voom! Visual AIDS Vanguard Awards, New York, NY

“Graduation Talk,” Commencement, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME

“Think Tank,” The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

2010

“Expanded, Exploded, Collapsed?,” Panel with Johanna Burton and Josiah McElheny moderated by Fionn Meade, hosted by Vera List Center for Art and Politics and the Sculpture Center, at The New School, New York, NY

“Visiting Artist Talk,” Department of Art, Yale University, New Haven, CT

“William Pope.L Artist Talk,” Poag Auditorium, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN

2009

“Artist Talk: Recent Work,” Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA; Haverford College, Haverford, PA; Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

“Residency Presentation,” Acadia Summer Arts Program (Kippy Kamp), Mount Desert Island, ME

2008

“Artist Lecture,” Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

“Artist Talk,” Grand Arts and Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO

“Artist Talk,” Plug In at ICA, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

“Artist Talk,” Montclair Art Museum and Montclair University, Montclair, NJ

“Artist Talk,” Visiting Artist Lecture Series, Columbia University, New York, NY

“Panel Discussion,” The Renaissance Society, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

“Recent Projects,” Hunter College, New York, NY

“Some Recent Things I Made That Do Not Go Together – a lecture by William Pope.L,” Grand Valley State University and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI

2007

“Art as Intervention,” Roundtable discussion moderated by Mark Bessire, Art of Concern Symposium 2007, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH

“Artist Talk,” Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

“Artist Talk,” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA

“An Evening with William Pope.L,” Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA

“Influence Lecture, version 11,” Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY; University of Michigan School of Art and Design, Ann Arbor, MI

“Visiting Artist Talk,” Union Institute & University at Vermont College, Montpelier, VT

2006

“Artist Talk,” Center for Contemporary Art Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM Black Factory Round Table Discussion. Gallery 400, Chicago, IL

“Black Factory Talk, version 3,” Foreman Gallery, Bishop’s University, Lennoxville, QC, Canada

“Black Factory Talk, version 4,” Nova Art Fair, Chicago, IL

“Graduation Talk,” Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA

“Influence Lecture, version 11,” University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA; California College of Art, San Francisco, CA; Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Culture Center at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA; University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto, ON, Canada; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

“Lecture Seminar,” University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

“Politics of Visual Culture, Black Factory Talk,” College Art Association, Annual Conference, Boston, MA

2005

“Influence Lecture, version 11,” Montana State University, Bozeman, MT; American University, Washington, DC; University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY

2004

“Artist Talk,” Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Barbara Lee Artist Lecture Series, Skowhegan, ME

"Community Conversation with the Artist on eRacism," Mason Gross Art Galleries, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

“Conversation with Christian Rattemeyer + Lowery Sims,” Artists Space, New York, NY

“eRacism Panel Discussion. With Barbara Pollack, Andre Lepecki, José Muñoz, and Midori Yoshimoto,” Paul Robeson Cultural Center, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ

“Influence Lecture, version 3,” Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, MO; University of Colorado, Boulder, CO; Carnegie Mellon School of the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL; University of California, Davis, CA; Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD; University of Illinois, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL; University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; Columbia University, New York, NY; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY; Artists Space, New York, NY

“Madison Project: Challenging the Public Art Paradigm,” Panel at University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

“Project Lecture: The Black Factory,” Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME

“The Third Body,” Panel at House of World Cultures, Berlin, Germany

2003

“Artist Talk,” Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR

“Conversation with Lowery Sims,” DiverseWorks, Houston, TX

“Influence Lecture, version 2,” University Art Museum, State University of New York, Albany, NY; Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI; Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; Drew University, Madison, NJ; University of Texas, Austin, TX; New York Studio School, New York, NY

“Sandwich Lecture 8 (Klingon Talk),” Live Culture: Performance and the Contemporary, Tate Modern, London, UK

2002

“Sandwich Lecture,” Ingestation, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME

2000

“Bocio Text. Symposium on African Art,” ICA at Maine College of Art, Portland, ME

“Yves Klein & Neil Young,” Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

1998

“Interventionism,” Panel with Kika Thorne, Adrian Blackwell, D. Anne Taylor, Anna Banana, and J. Householder

“7a*11d,” (moderator), International Festival of Performance Art, Toronto, Canada

Curatorial Projects

2018

"Brown People are the Wrens in the Parking Lot," Logan Center Gallery, Chicago, IL

2011

"Flux This! With Rob Andrews, Maren Hassinger, Geoffrey Hendricks, Martin Kersels, Clifford Owens, Rafael Sanchez, Xaviera Simmons, and Catherine Sullivan," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

2000

"Söma Söma Söma," With Patty Chang and Geoffrey Hendricks, Sculpture Center, New York, NY

Public Collections

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME

Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY

Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA

CCS Bard Hessel Museum, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY

Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH

Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, CT

Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA

Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY

Museum Brandhorst, Munich, Germany

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA

Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME

Renaissance Society, Chicago, IL

Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS

Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

University Art Museum at University of Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY