Out of Character: Self-Imaging through Narrative

USC Roski School of Art and Design Graduate Studios
3001 South Flower Street (enter on 30th Street), Los Angeles, CA 90007
Gallery hours: Wednesday–Sunday 1–5pm, or by appointment

Out of Character: Self-Imaging through Narrative examines contemporary artists who construct characters in their work to explore and better understand aspects of themselves and their own lived experiences. Through sculpture, photography, video, installation and live performance, these artists simultaneously engage and challenge societal expectations, exposing their multiple racial, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic identities.

Participating artists include: Alex Bag, Claudia Cano, Sharif Farrag, Max Grau, Xandra Ibarra, Roy Martinez, Jayson Musson, Jon Rafman, Martine Syms, and Ilona Szwarc.

Out of Character is curated by Ana Briz, Yishun Li, Seymour Polatin, Wenzhuo Wu, and Emilia Huiqian Yin, the 2019 candidates for the MA Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere at the USC Roski School of Art and Design. 

Study with renowned art historians, critics, and curators in the USC Roski School’s MA Curatorial Practices Program
The MA Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere is an intensive Master’s-level program in curating, studied through the lenses of critical theory, art history and visual culture. During two years of full-time academic study, students explore different modes of curatorial practice combining seminars and professional training. With a broad conception of curating, the program focuses on the research and exhibition of contemporary art practices including performance, film, video, and experimental/interactive media.

The curriculum includes Critical Studies seminars that provide students with an in-depth background in histories and theories of art, curatorial practice and exhibitions. In three consecutive Practicum courses, students conceptualize and curate a public project during the first two semesters, then produce a publication or another kind of public interface in the final semester. The program prepares students to achieve their intellectual and professional goals with attention paid to how curating activates art in relation to a range of publics.

Courses are led by the USC Roski School’s internationally acclaimed artists, scholars, critics and curators. Current faculty includes: Andrew Campbell, Cecilia Fajardo-Hill, Amelia Jones, Suzanne Lacy, and Karen Moss, director of the MA program.

The Visiting Artist and Scholar Seminars bring in internationally and nationally known artists, curators, and scholars to work directly with the graduate students each semester. Recent visitors include Nayland Blake, Tania Bruguera, Erin Christovale, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Minerva Cuevas, Theaster Gates, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Mia Locks, Julia Mehretu, Senga Nengudi, Pepon Osorio, Mira Schor, and Hamza Walker.

Roski graduate students take full advantage of faculty across the university (including from USC’s world-renowned six major arts schools) and the huge range of art events across Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Students engage with visiting artists, curators, and scholars via classes, fieldtrips, and internships with galleries, museums, and alternative venues for art and performance art across this city and beyond.   

Alumni of the Roski MA program work in galleries and museums including Aspen Art Museum; California African American Museum, Los Angeles; For-Site Foundation, San Francisco; Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; Hauser & Wirth, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions; Palm Springs Museum of Art; Prospect, New Orleans; Rhizome, New York; The Underground Museum, and the Whitney Museum, New York.

The Curatorial Practices program can also be combined as a dual master’s degree with the Master of Planning degree offered jointly with the USC Price School of Public Policy, to pair knowledge of planning, community development, and administration with an understanding of urban public space.

MA Curatorial Practices Information Session: Friday, December 7, 2–4pm. Reserve space here.
Priority application deadline: March 1, 2019

Admission information

For details and course descriptions, visit: https://roski.usc.edu/academic/ma

For Roski School of Art and Design information, visit: https://roski.usc.edu

For more details, contact
roski [​at​] usc.edu / T (213) 740 2787
850 West 37th Street, Watt Hall 104, Los Angeles, CA 90089