john ros is a queer, non-binary, brooklyn-based artist, curator and professor. they are a first generation american, born in new york city, to cuban and québécois immigrants who are both classically trained musicians, turned educators. john obtained an mfa from brooklyn college, city university of new york and a bfa from the state university of new york at binghamton.
john’s multiform, conceptual installations focus on ritual as performance, space and place, light, sound and time. they see teaching, curating and program development as extensions of their social practice which they have implemented in a number of different projects over the last twenty years.
john has exhibited internationally with recent solo exhibitions at dc arts center, washington, dc (2019), rosefsky gallery, suny binghamton, (2017), dolph, london, uk (2017) and art space, new haven, ct (2014) and two-person exhibits at swiss cottage gallery, london, uk (2018) and dadu, nashville, tn (2018). their three-person exhibits include stand4 gallery, brooklyn, ny (2018) and zuccaire gallery, suny stony brook, stony brook, ny (2017). john’s work is included in the collections of camden art collection, london, uk, center for the study of political graphics, los angeles, ca, gabarron foundation, new york, ny/valladolid, es and interference archive, brooklyn, ny, among others.
recent awards include, BCBCQ residency (2021), newtown creek a.i.r., artist-in-residence (2020), curator-in-residence, stand4 gallery (2019-2021), inaugural fellowship at squareworks laboratory (sqw:lab) in mumbai, india (2018-19), where they received funding from the center for global engagement, the school of art, design and art history and the college of visual and performing arts, james madison university; emergency grant from the foundation for contemporary arts (2017); brooklyn college, dedalus foundation award nomination (2012) and a puffin foundation grant (2010). john has been on several residencies over the past 16 years including artist-in-residence at stand4, brooklyn, ny (2017), wassaic project (2015) and vermont studio center (2003).
in 2015, john founded studioELL, an alternative, transient and hybrid space for higher education in studio art, where they are currently the director and teach a variety of courses. they are also a lecturer at the school of the museum of fine art at tufts university. from july 2017 through june 2019, john was an assistant professor of art at james madison university where they also served as the director and chief curator of the duke hall gallery of fine art. john has also taught at the city literary institute (london, uk), brooklyn college, cuny, suny binghamton and the national academy of art. they have been a visiting artist at pratt institute, mica: rinehart school of sculpture and mount royal school of art, hollins university, nyu: steinhardt, london metropolitan university, ual: central st. martins and george mason university, among many others.
during the past 24 years, john has worked on more than 80 exhibitions with over 250 artists. in 2008 they founded galleryELL, a transient hybrid gallery in brooklyn, ny, where they served as director and chief curator for eight years until its close in 2016. john is currently founding director and curator at the intermission museum of art, in new york city. from 2020-2021 they served as a guest curator at in-visible ink, of the museum of tolerance and freedom in perth, australia. john also co-founded, co-directed and curated pocket, a brick-and-mortar gallery in binghamton, ny (2002-2005). they have curated exhibits at mica, baltimore, md (2019), spring/break art show, new york, ny (2020, 2019), st. francis college, brooklyn, ny (2016), academic, long island city, ny (2016), in addition to curating extensively at galleryELL (2008-2016) and duke hall gallery of fine art (2017-2019). along with writing many exhibition essays, john has also contributed critical writing to galleryELL, sluice_ magazine and hyperallergic.
john has run many programs within their curatorial projects as well as collaborated with such organizations as staunton public library, arts council of the valley, new market library, queens college arts center, wassaic project, altmfa, trestle projects, showroom 170 and others. they have also been involved in many artist and non-profit initiatives such as: founding committee member, arts council of the valley, a.i.r. program (2019-present, harrisonburg, va); board member, harrisonburg downtown renaissance (2018-2019, harrisonburg, va); art director, perspectives international (2005-2008, new york, ny); board member, spool mfg (2004-2005, johnson city, ny); and museum educator, hillwood art museum (2000, brookville, ny).
exhibitions & curatorial | awards & collections | lecturing & publications | course list
biography | collaborations