Pope.L



Selected Works

Exhibitions

Biography

Pope.L

This is an artwork titled Edit Painting by artist Pope.L made in 2018

Pope.L
Edit Painting, 2018

Pope.L “Fewsha Congo Tranny Tilanne,” 2017-2018

Pope.L
“Fewsha Congo Tranny Tilanne,” 2017-2018

Pope.L Black Letter Painting, 2016-2017

Pope.L
Black Letter Painting, 2016-2017

Pope.L Poptarts, 1997 - 1998

Pope.L
Poptarts, 1997 - 1998

Pope.L Triptych, 1998 - 2000

Pope.L
Triptych, 1998 - 2000

This is an artwork titled Trophy (Small Panda) by artist Pope.L made in 2007

Pope.L
Trophy (Small Panda), 2007

Pope.L Quad Figure (Four Tarts), 1997 - 1998

Pope.L
Quad Figure (Four Tarts), 1997 - 1998

Pope.L Trinket AKA Slave Ship, 2000 - 2005

Pope.L
Trinket AKA Slave Ship, 2000 - 2005

This is an artwork titled Negro Idea #253 by artist Pope.L made in 2003

Pope.L
Negro Idea #253, 2003

This is an artwork titled Trophy (Big Bear) by artist Pope.L made in 2007

Pope.L
Trophy (Big Bear), 2007

Pope.L Heaven (Vielmetter Version), 2013/2015

Pope.L
Heaven (Vielmetter Version), 2013/2015

This is an artwork titled AKA Fuschia Ending by artist Pope.L made in 2015

Pope.L
AKA Fuschia Ending, 2015

This is an artwork titled Gold People Are Black Children by artist Pope.L made in 2015

Pope.L
Gold People Are Black Children, 2015

Pope.L

Pope.L

Inaugural Exhibition

February 16 – March 23, 2019

Pope.L: Forest

October 23 – December 5, 2015

Pope.L: Conquest

September 21, 2019, Public Art Fund, New York, NY

The Foundation of the Museum: MOCA's Collection

May 19, 2019 – January 27, 2020, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Whitney Biennial 2017

March 17 – June 11, 2017, Whitney Museum of American Art

1955
Born in Newark, NJ
Lives and works in 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

Solo Exhibitions

2019
"Pope.L: Instigation, Aspiration, Perspiration," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Public Art Fund, New York, NY (forthcoming)
"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
2017
"Brown People are the Wrens in the Parking Lot," Logan Center Gallery, Chicago, IL
"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

Group Exhibitions

2019 – 2020
"Mask: In Present-Day Art," Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland
2019
"EBSPLOITATION," Martos Gallery, New York, NY
"Great Force," Institute for Contemporary Art, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (forthcoming)
"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
"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
"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
"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
"Agora," The High Line, New York, NY
"Other Mechanisms," curated by Anthony Huberman, Secession, Vienna
"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
"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
"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 [email protected]," 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

Press

2019
"AN rounds up must-see exhibitions to catch this summer," The Architect's Newspaper, July 31
Schuster, Clayton. "Why the Whitney, MoMA and Public Art Fund are Uniting for an Exhibition About Artist Pope.L," Observer, July 25
Small, Zachary. "Pope.L Wants You to Crawl Across New York With Him," Hyperallergic, July 24
Stoilas, Helen. "Volunteers wanted to crawl with performance artist Pope.L," The Art Newspaper, July 22
"The Most Influential Living African-American Artists," Artsy, February 25
"Arts Power 50: The Changemakers Shaping the Art World in 2019," The Observer, April 1
Arn, Jackson. "When Performance Art Takes to the Street, the Results Are Moving," Artsy, April 9
Cotter, Holland. "MoMA, the New Edition: From Monumental to Experimental," New York Times, February 5
Ongley, Hannah. "moma is closing to diversify the art canon," i-D, February 7
2018
Reichert,Elliot J. "Pope.L: The Escape," Brooklyn Rail, December 20
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
Freeman, Nate. "What Sold at FIAC," Artsy, October 22
Princenthal, Nancy, "3 Outdoor Art Shows and One Trusty Dog (With Tricks!)," New York Times (web), September 6
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
Sussman, Anna Louie, "What Sold at Art Basel," Artsy (web), June 17
Wargo, Abby, "Differing, Drawn: Scholar Examines Pope.L’s "Skin Set" Drawings," The Elm (web), April 28
"Pope.L, Jennifer Russell, and Rachel G. Wilf Join NYU Institute of Fine Arts’ Board of Trustees," NYU (web), April 4
O'Grady, Megan, "Answering Society's Thorniest Questions, with Performance Art," T Magazine, New York Times, March 2
2017
Hawbaker, KT, "Glass Curtain takes on the brain, Logan Center visits notions of home," Chicago Tribune (web), December 1
Sharp, Sarah Rose, "Pope.L’s Conceptual Bottled Water Project Calls Attention to the Crisis in Flint," Hyperallergic (web), October 18
Piper, Matthew, "Selling Flint’s water? Art installation raises funds and awareness for Flint, Detroit water victioms," Model D (web), October 10
Russeth, Andrew, "Pope.L is Raising Funds to Bottle, Sell Flint Water," ArtNews (web), August 8
"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
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
Forbes, Alexander, "15 Documenta Artists with Staying Power," Artsy (web), June 9
Michalska, Julia, "What is the market for Documenta 14 artists?," The Art Newspaper (web), June 13
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
Valentine, Victoria L., "Best in Show: Pope.L Named Recipient of Whitney Biennial 2017 Bucksbaum Award," Culture Type (web), June 6
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
Kleinman, Adam, "The 2017 Whitney Biennial," frieze, May
Fateman, Johanna, "Rights and Privileges," Artforum, May
Locks, Mia, "Americanismo," Mousse Magazine, February
Miller, M.H., "Protest Art in the Era of Trump," The New York Times Style Magazine, February 19
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

Recent Performances

2019
"Conquest," Public Art Fund, New York, NY (forthcoming)
"An Evening with Ralph Lemon and Pope.L," Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
2018
"Pope.L: The Escape," The Art Intitute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2017
"Shopping Craw," Social Service, Artists Space, New York, NY
2016
"The Problem," Art Basel Unlimited, Basel, Switzerland
"Baile," 32nd Biennal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2015
"The Beautiful," Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL
"Cage Unrequited," MCA Live, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
2014
"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

2017
VIA Art Fund Grant
Bucksbaum Award, Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY
2012
Joyce Foundation Award
2007
Tiffany Foundation Award
Nancy Graves Foundation Award
2006
United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship
LEF Foundation
Bellagio
2005
Grizedale Foundation Residency Fellowship
2004
Guggenheim Fellowship
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, faculty in residence. Skowhegan, ME
2003
Rockefeller Foundation
2002
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

Select 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 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