Curatorial Feelings
by Eloise Sweetman and edited by Eloise Sweetman & Jo-ey Tang.
Published 27 July 2021 by Shimmer Press, Rotterdam
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"Curatorial Feelings is a book that collects arts practitioner Eloise Sweetman’s writing from the past decade—written on the occasion of exhibitions she curated, written on and for individual artworks, as well as for public talks. Sweetman often wrote while, and not before, the artworks were on view. The time of retrospection, and of being with artworks, imbues her language. Moving between prose and poetry, impressions and reflections, coursing through the writing is a commitment to senses, to subjectivity, to social responsibility.
Sweetman’s writing contributes to a genre of curators’ writing that takes things to heart, and takes things personally. Calling out her ‘curatorial feelings’ juxtaposes and unites the two modes of engagement: as a curator and as a sentient being. Curatorial feelings foreground subjectivity, intuition, senses, and belief systems, while pushing for new art historical narratives and ethical professionalism." - From Introduction to feelings: Taking things to heart by Jo-ey Tang in ‘Curatorial Feelings’
Sweetman writes to the work of Malin Arnell, Gwenneth Boelens, Katarzyna Kobro, Charlotte Posenenske, Miyeon Lee, Arin Rungjang, Jo-ey Tang, and Katie West while connecting back to exhibitions at Shimmer in Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands; Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; and Treignac Projet Treignac, France. The author shares digital and film photography and process material from exhibitions with Zarouhie Abdalian, Ruth Buchanan, Sofia Caesar, Theo van Doesburg, Marcel Duchamp, Ian Kiaer, Lee Kit, Liu Chao-tze, Ma Qiusha, K.R.M. Mooney, Elena Narbutaitė, Kate Newby, Shanta Rao, Himali Singh Soin & David Soin Tapperser, and Louwrien Wijers.
Curatorial feelings is designed by Dongyoung Lee and published by Shimmer Press, Rotterdam. The publication is supported by LAPS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Droom en Daad, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Stichting Stokroos, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Mondriaan Fonds, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
About the editor
Jo-ey Tang is a Hong Kong–born American artist, curator, and writer, in non-hierarchical order. In thinking with and alongside artists, he often calibrates and reimagines the encounters of divergent and resonant artistic practices in multiple, overlapping temporalities. He was curator at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, from 2014 to 2015 and arts editor of the Brooklyn-based literary journal n+1 from 2009 to 2014.
Tang has curated exhibitions around the world, including the exhibition and book project arms ache avid aeon: Nancy Brooks Brody / Joy Episalla / Zoe Leonard / Carrie Yamaoka: fierce pussy amplified, with “chapters” at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2019), Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2022) and various sites; Inside China–L’intérieur du Géant that travelled from Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2014) to Chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai (2015), and K11 Pop-Up Space, Hong Kong (2015); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2020–2021); and FUTURA Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague (2016). Tang’s writing has appeared in publications such as Artforum.com, The Brooklyn Rail, Flash Art, Kaleidoscope, LEAP, and ArtAsiaPacific, and for institutions such as the Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; and S.M.A.K, Ghent.