https://www.curtconfer.com/performances/projects daily 1.0 2025-11-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1611418771067-WC9Q7A69ITY5P28TXDHN/image.jpg performances/projects - The Beginning of Dreaming, (video for projection, excerpt), 2021 This project began by exploring two sources of imagery: the tornado scene from The Wizard of Oz and scenes from the film Querelle. The former is the very first sublime imagery I can remember seeing as a child, and the latter is sublime imagery I discovered as an adult. I created a miniature set loosely based on some of the color palettes and sounds from these films. I was thinking about how these two sources have become iconic symbols in a queer lexicon, but also how they can be used to create a new landscape to dream of possible futures or alternative mindscapes — an idea inspired by José Esteban Muñoz’s writings of a “queer futurity.” The project, for me, is as much about looking back to the origin of my imagination as it is about getting lost in an unfolding present or dreaming of possible futures. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1700568939038-QLIF79MZZY7SM7JCWIJJ/image-asset.jpeg performances/projects - Iridescent Transfer (for Fred Herko), live installation, duration: 2 hours; materials: steel, aluminum, light, light filters, fan, sound, the artist, 2023 What new energy can be brought forward from remnants of a past life? ….A life that was vibrant, adventurous, rebellious, and “incandescent” – to use a word writer José Esteban Muñoz uses to describe Fred Herko. Herko was a queer dancer, performer, muse for Andy Warhol, and participant in the performance circles of Judson Church. The opening question above prompted me to find new materials and means to make a live space to pay homage to the dancer. Herko tragically died at the age of 28 when he leaped naked in the form of a perfect jeté out of a friend’s fifth story apartment window in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1964. A close friend of Herko, Diane DiPrima, talks about her friendship with him in her memoir. When going through his belongings shortly after his death, she wrote, “On the floor in his room there was a book by Mary Renault open at the page where the king leaps into the sea. Where the ritual to renew the world is described. It was the closest we found to a suicide note.” Movement was a primal element in Herko’s life. When making an artwork to honor him, it felt necessary to respond through movement. I wanted to form an oceanic image that would literally move, so I began to make small, kinetic sculptures to experiment with this idea. The stands of the sculptures became roller skates: a reference to one of Herko’s performances where he danced with one foot on a roller skate, the other one untethered. I then chose key words Muñoz and DiPrima used to describe Herko that captured his energy and personality. All the words together formed a new script. I chose to whisper each word slowly, syllable by syllable – the first syllable spoken on an inhale, the next on an exhale, and followed that alternating pattern for the duration of the piece. After exploring a range of texts that capture different aspects of Herko’s life, one is confronted, of course, with his death and all the complicated emotions and questions surrounding it. This work was a way to meditate on Herko and what he leaves behind, but also to try to suspend myself in a realm more fantastical, mythical, and beyond the ordinary, like he did. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1599693696905-XM36KEE1PSZT8P0355RS/3_TheSpaceofLonging_Confer+copy.jpg performances/projects - The Space of Longing, live installation, duration: 2 hours, materials: envelopes, wire, furniture, video projector, and the artist, 2004 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1561920460580-LSW3O6V77RJZL69JDSKU/16todaysentrybackground.jpg performances/projects - Today's Entry, 1 hour, 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1561905405310-6GPNZDTVTILOOOCUEF0V/9.JPG performances/projects - We love the noun! performance, duration: 8 minutes, materials: flags, sound, the artist, 2014 Inspired by the writings of George W. S. Trow, this performance included over fifty different gestures celebrating and mocking the speed of human progress. Gestures attempted to mimic inventions such as the telegraph, the Model T, trains, computers and also included movements to evoke the archetypes of the cowboy, the politician, the gameshow host, and others. The soundtrack layered sounds of travel, machines, band music, and ended in a digital meltdown and explosion. Flags lined the performance space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1599697771109-TAYCDRBZJGOVQOJTGHW8/image-asset.jpeg performances/projects - In Touch, multimedia project including drawings, video, and photographs, 2020 Thirty leaves were made, each one representing a person. I asked a small circle of friends and family to send in the name of a person close to them they have lost and a quote to remember that person. The quote formed the midrib on each leaf and once finished, was sent through the mail. All thirty leaves hold three different spheres of influences in my life: two artists that I have been collaborating with, a circle of friends and family, and a larger circle of writers who discuss how we can deepen or reawaken our relationships to people and places. Leaves were made for these writers as well, many of them still living. During the different stages of making this project, many connections arose when mapping the veins of thought between people, places, and their words. The project was finished when the leaves finally reached the hands of all the people who sent in a name. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1664411132728-KTKQPF1DS1STU5KS9WTH/image-asset.jpeg performances/projects - Opening, installation, dimensions variable, materials: drafting paper, elastic cord, glue, white pencil, chair, 2022 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1726318757595-MZ5B3KRPU7TWR0Q1KBD8/courtyardfinaldraft6.22.jpg performances/projects - A Reading in the Square, 2017 These images were part of a proposal to make a site-specific work in Brooklyn Prospect Charter School’s courtyard. A main source of the project’s inspiration was Paul Rogat Loeb’s book, The Impossible Will Take a Little While (2004); an anthology of writers who discuss ways to overcome adversity and create positive social change. During a one day event, excerpts from this book were to be read by teachers and students, one at a time, at the center of the space. Thirty handmade flowers (each holding a quote by an author at its center) were also designed to be in the space. A speaker is installed fifty feet from the reader on the railing of the school’s entrance overlooking the courtyard, so those entering the school can also hear, and be close to, the voice of the reader. The project’s goal was to spark new conversations as a way to cultivate greater hope and stronger connections within a school community. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1726320235952-O6KLGKJK0ZE606PEKU38/Housed1forwebsite.jpeg performances/projects - Housed, performance with live video feed, duration: 1 hour, materials: projector, video camera, mirror, wood, pastel, flashlight, the artist, 2006/2011 Originally performed during NYU's open studios in 2006, Housed was performed again in 2011 as a part of the exhibit, "Desperate Acts: Performance into Art" at Columbia University. In this hour-long performance, I sat cross-legged under a basic wooden structure resembling a house. The live footage of my mouth speaking was projected down into the house. I spoke excerpts from my journal that referenced the experience of growing up gay in rural New Jersey. I repeated different groupings of phrases to evoke different patterns of thought and whispered them to draw viewers in close to me. At certain moments during the performance, I felt slightly invaded when someone’s leg would brush up against me. But being that close was needed to turn inside out assumptions of what normal delineations of space are. The repeated phrases over time brought viewers into an intimate mindscape that revealed the interconnectedness of desire, longing, and memory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1745334243593-PIXN1WCBQ395LIDTGLLY/image-asset.jpeg performances/projects - On Aura live installation, duration: 3 hours, materials: paint, aluminum, steel, batteries, motors, light, the artist, and sound (‘Aurora’ by Jon Hassell), 2025 How do we cultivate and sustain our energy when it is constantly being drained? I have turned to books, to gesture drawing, and to the color blue as a way to respond to this question. I decided to translate three texts into gesture drawings and then used those drawings as guides to create twenty-six individual gestures to perform as letters of the alphabet. There was something inherent in these live gestures that helped me find a new energy. Part of this came from experimenting with invented and nonsensical actions to break away from habitual forms of movement to find a new awareness. The three texts I used were excerpts taken from Luce Irigaray’s “The Way of Love,” Rebecca Solnit’s “A Field Guide to Getting Lost,” and Roland Barthes’s “A Lover’s Discourse.” These excerpts discuss the importance of air in sustaining relationships, the color blue as it relates to longing, and the anxiety that surfaces from an absent lover. These writers’ words have helped me to more fully embrace and cope with paradoxical moments between action and emotion and to shift my thinking to a renewed perspective. Irigaray’s excerpt was translated letter by letter into movement during hour one, Solnit’s excerpt during hour two, and Barthes’s excerpt during hour three. On Aura is a constantly shifting space where a figure puts things into motion and, in turn, is moved by things. It is a string of movements where his attention bends and shifts in relation to internal and external forces, all in a pursuit to reach a freer version of himself. On Aura was originally presented at the School of Visual Arts in 2019 as part of the Fertile Ground Performance Series and was then restaged in 2025. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1602472532940-V5BMLSN6S46YHCO8Z39Q/CallingYou1.jpg performances/projects - Calling You, live installation, duration: 2 hours, materials: ice, sand, flashlights, map, wire, the artist, and other found objects, 2020 Three quotes, from three different sources that comment on the nature of communication and relationships were translated into movement letter by letter. Sound by William Basinski. https://www.curtconfer.com/2d-1 daily 0.75 2025-01-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1735937056752-D8HUEB71HWDXXB8ALWI9/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Here, charcoal and graphite on paper, 30" x 22", 2025 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1679943100789-DU3RYUN6VEUGUUSMYO8N/image-asset.jpg 2D work - The Thorn (after Rumi), graphite on paper, 24" x 19", 2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1735937056752-D8HUEB71HWDXXB8ALWI9/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Here, charcoal and graphite on paper, 30" x 22", 2025 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1735936887574-DCRRO99PCP91MJI4Y4CH/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Here, charcoal and graphite on paper, 30" x 22", detail shot, 2025 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1715110343579-35ECBI4CIBMXRLQLJMXD/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Into what?, charcoal, graphite, pastel, white pencil on paper, 12" x 18", 2024 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1710107350241-QFXYB01TLK9SO2WO0MWC/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Para, charcoal, colored pencil, pastel, graphite, 18" x 26", 2024 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1710107788229-1D88YG4O5QWE8L0GBE3V/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Para, (detail) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1664307244720-IENTB7HMKLZ9GJYORBP2/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Illuminated, mixed media, 14" x 17", 2022 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1664307749109-M9OENOE56FMX7F71ER1Q/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Illuminated, (detail) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1693419634200-P8B5RQLY0XVZUYT5NURW/FredHerkoPortraitFINAL.jpg 2D work - Portrait of Fred Herko, charcoal, pastel, graphite, 14" x 20", 2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1648080017027-ELH82DO8WSVACX42V7C4/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Unnameable (Study), charcoal and pastel on paper, 13" x 18", 2022 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1644684895574-XZMIZKKB4XM62Y7TRD2D/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Unnameable, charcoal and pastel on paper, 106" x 125", 2022 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1644685409342-TJ7YF6TVT4V0IQ0KKRXZ/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Unnameable, (side view), charcoal and pastel on paper, 106" x 125", 2022 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1679943934905-0LX5JE5V48BP24UJJMVG/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - The Thorn (after Rumi), graphite on paper, 24" x 19", 2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1680003359972-ZW4ZB556XV4DOYPSQB8C/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Possibility (from Martin Duberman's Stonewall), colored pencil on paper, 24" x 19", 2023 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1680690721497-1BI2VRQZBYQVOWOOB9M2/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - Possibility (from Martin Duberman's Stonewall), (detail) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1619471991552-92TUVUY4QU8QKWSH9V7L/nowheregt1.jpg 2D work - nowhere gathered together #1, colored pencil on paper, 18" x 24", 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1619471766553-N38QM7Y43GOWVRG6292W/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - nowhere gathered together #1, colored pencil on paper, 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1619472308704-5M90033S0JXDSIIV1A72/nowheregt2.jpg 2D work - nowhere gathered together #2, colored pencil on paper, 14" x 12", 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1619473638056-C1X5F4V7LXA71JSLDWI7/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - nowhere gathered together #3, colored pencil on paper, 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1619472837155-LDWGXQLB0KTG8VE8GR1W/image-asset.jpeg 2D work - nowhere gathered together #4, colored pencil on paper, 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1561903235239-B8LVVGBOHR6G3J7QFSCF/NGT4.jpg 2D work - nowhere gathered together #1, colored pencil, 2016 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1561912860580-ZSTXI6I82ER8RT4V5YUW/17_StudyforInto%2Coutof_Confer+copy.jpg 2D work - Study for into, out of, graphite and charcoal on paper, 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1561912459228-2OTQMOP7KIQQ97I2DPUO/Intooutof.JPG 2D work - into, out of, graphite and charcoal on paper, 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/1631983246881-ML37GRPUAS64TAD6WY2W/StartingPoint_Confer.jpg 2D work - Starting Point, gelatin silver print, 8" x 10", 2004 https://www.curtconfer.com/biocontact daily 0.75 2025-10-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d17bb4aa2deee00018051ea/43a2ff52-7b09-47c1-80e6-7e569e1fde14/Curt+Confer-studio+shot+copy.jpeg Bio https://www.curtconfer.com/contact-1 daily 0.75 2026-02-17