Solo Exhibitions
2022 People in Reverse, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China (publication)
2020 Twentieth Century Hustlers, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH (publication)
2019 The political economy of bodies AKA the Night Staff, CRP, Douchy-les-Mines, France
2015 Big Boss and the Ecstasy of Pressures, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL (publication)
2014 Monsters, Ratio3, San Francisco, CA
2011 Inside us all there is a part that would like to burn down our own house, Ratio3, San Francisco, CA
2008 Invisible Hand, The Project, New York, NY
2006 Goldchains Headspace Freedom, The Project, New York, NY
2005 Politics as Objects as Forms, MC, Los Angeles, CA
1999 Golems, Gallery 16, San Francisco, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 I miss the future, New Discretions, Catskill NY
2021 Ad-Diriyah Biennale: Feeling the Stones, Ad-Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. Curated by Phillip Tinari (publication)
2020 Four Flags, Chicago Manual Style, Chicago IL Wordsmiths, Craven Contemporary, Kent, CT
2019 Consider Pink (and Others' Great Yellows), BASEMENT, Chicago IL. Curated by Roni Packer
2018 Inquiry 01, Spertus Institute, Chicago IL. Curated by Ionit Behar and Ruslana Lichtzier Declaration, Institute for Contemporary Art VCU, Richmond VA. Curated by Stephanie Smith The Dangerous Professor, Flatland Gallery, Houston TX. Curated by Ruslana Lichtzier Brown People Are the Wrens in the Parking Lot, Logan Center Exhibitions, Chicago IL. Curated by Pope.L
2016 Responsibilities, Sensibilities (Performance), The Arts Club of Chicago. Curated by Janine Mileaf
2015 A Painting is a Painting isn't a Painting, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris and San Francisco. Curated by Hamza Walker The Works, CAB Art Center, Brussels, Belgium. Curated by Dieter Roelstraete and Abigail Winograd (publication)
2014 The Fifth Dimension, Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago IL. Curated by Monika Szewczyk
2013 AGORA, 4th Athens Biennale 2013, Athens Greece. Curated by Katerina Tselou, Stephanie Smith (publication) Things may appear different than they are, Eleven+, Nuremberg, Germany. Curated by Pamela Auchincloss
2012 Graphite, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis IN. Curated by Sarah Green (publication) Color Bind, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago IL. Curated by Naomi Beckwith Attitude Cinema, Pesaro Film Festival, Chiesa della Maddalena, Pesaro, Italy. Curated by Camilla Boemio (publication) The Displaced Person, Invisible Exports, New York, NY
2011 Agitated Histories, The Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD & SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM. Curated by Irene Hofmann
2010 Restless Empathy, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO. Curated by Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson (publication)
2009
Biannual Exhibition, LAXART, Los Angeles, CA
Inaugural Exhibition, Galerie Christian Haye, Berlin, Germany
2007 88:88, The Project, New York, NY
2006 The Gold Standard, PS1 Contemporary Arts Center, Long Island City, NY. Curated by Walead Beshty & Bob Nickas On the Road Again: Beat Culture, Bush Era, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 Makeshift World, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Temporary Exhibition Spaces, New York, NY and San Francisco, CA Little Triggers, Cohan & Leslie, New York, NY
2002 Same/Difference, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA Video Sho, Ego Park Gallery, Oakland, CA Inside View, Pond, San Francisco, CA
2001 Five Star, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA (publication) Blind Date, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
2000 Fuzzy Logic, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA Snapshot, The Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD (publication)
Curatorial Projects
2023 The Metropol Drama, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago IL
Participating Artists: An Aztec Ceramicist, A Babylonian Metalsmith, A Bohemian Glassmaker, Jacques Callot, The City of Berlin,
Chen Xiaoyun, Robert Crumb, Regina José Galindo, A Mesopotamian Scribe, John Miller, A Photographer working for the
Associated Press, Pablo Picasso, Aleksandr Rodchenko, August Sander, A Safavid Painter, Charles Joseph Traviés de Villers, an
Unknown Photographer working in Chicago
2017 The Hysterical Material, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago IL (publication)
Participating Artists: Bruce Nauman and Auguste Rodin
2009 Dr. Wax Captures the Big and Small Machines for the Enjoyment of the People, DOVA Temporary
Participating Artists: Cristian Andersen, the Bomb Squad, Joseph Grigely, Steve Reich, Matt Saunders, and Sun Ra
2007 The Secretariat, Aftermodern Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Participating Artists: Walead Beshty, Tim Davis, Desiree Holman, Olga Koumondorous, Yoshua Okon, Patrick Rock
1999 Blink:30, the Seventh Annual Short Attention Span Film and Video Festival.
New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, Los
Angeles, CA, Seattle, WA (Traveling)
1998 Filler, Three Blue Lights, San Francisco, CA
Participating Artists: Phillip W. Estlund, Merijn van der Heijden, Lisa Sanditz
Authored Texts
Untitled Broadsheet, 25.08 x 32.58 inches, produced by the Smart Museum of Art as a component of the exhibition The Metropol
Drama, 2023
The Hysterical Material, 108 pages, Hardcover 6 x 9 inches, published by Soberscove Press and the Smart Museum of Art, 2017
Specters in Public, Critical Inquiry and the Art and Public Life, 2014
Modular Objects Civil Society, 152 pages, Hardcover 6 x 9 inches, published by WhiteWalls Inc. edited by Anthony Elms, 2013
The Objects of Civil Society, A print based project for The Point Magazine, Fall, 2010
Critical Writings
Getsy, David J. "Incommensurable Structures: Sculpture as Metaphor in Geof Oppenheimer's People in Reverse", 2023
Tinari, Phillip. "Archetype Play: Geof Oppenheimer and the Aesthetics of Retroactive Precarity", 2023
Zhao Chuan. "In the Garden of Geof Oppenheimer", 2023
Sennett, Richard. "Hustling", 2020
Chari, Anita. "A Perceptual Physics of the Present", 2020
Cann, Tyler. "The System's Architecture: On Geof Oppenheimer's Twentieth Century Hustlers", 2020
Holmes, Brian. "The Boss and the Bubble", 2015
Elms, Anthony. "Staged, not performed", 2015
Roelstraete, Dieter. "Man of Steel", 2015
Corrin, Lisa G. "Big Boss and the Ecstasy of Pressures: An Introduction", 2015
Roelstraete, Dieter. Catalogue essay, The Works, May, 2015
Smith, Stephanie. "The AGORA Anthology", 2013
Urist Green, Sarah. "Carbon-Based Forms", Graphite Exibition publication, Indianapolis Museum of Art, 2013
Boemio, Camilla. "Attitude Cinema", 2012
Williams, Griff. "These Are The People In Your Neighborhood; Sixteen Years of Gallery 16", 2011
Rattemeyer, Christian. "Empathic Objects", Restless Empathy publication, Aspen Art Museum, 2010 Zuckerman Jacobson, Heidi. "It is too late now", Restless Empathy publication, Aspen Art Museum, 2010
Zuckerman Jacobson, Heidi. "Five Stars", Five Star publication, Berkeley Art Museum, 2001
Selected Bibliography
Urist Green, Sarah. You Are An Artist, 2020
Chari, Anita. Catalyst "Mirrors", September, 2018
Urist, Jacoba. Cultured Magazine "Declaration at VCU's New ICA", May, 2018
Best of the New Season: Art, The New York Times, September, 8, 2017
Stockholder, Jessica. Art in America, Best of 2015, Chicago, December 2015
DeLand, Lauren. Art in America, Big Boss and the Ecstasy of Pressures, December 2015
"Pick of the Week", The Chicago Tribune, November 12, 2015
Hanna, Noah. New City, Review: Big Boss and the Ecstasy of Pressures, October 15, 2015
Chun, Kimberly. "Politics Shape Sculptor's Work", The San Francisco Chronicle, May 16, 2014
Morris, Barbara "Geof Oppenheimer, Ratio 3", Artillery Magazine, February / March 2013 vol 6
Wolff, Rachel. "Giving Graphite a Grand Show", The Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2012
Sussman, Matt. Occupational hazards, San Francisco Bay Guardian, November 2, 2011
Noonan, Kate. "Agitated Histories", Art in America, June/July 2011
McCabe, Bret. "Agitated Histories", Baltimore City Paper, February 16, 2011
"Restless Empathy", The Huffington Post, July 2010
Williamson, Damien Alexander. "Aspen Art Museum hosts town-wide exhibition", Aspen News, June 2010
Peers, Alexandra. "Mountaintop Art", New York Observer, May 19, 2010
Carson, Craig. "Object Lessons", The Point Magazine, Fall 2010
Ridlen, Tim. "Review: Dr wax captures the big and small machines for the enjoyment of the people", New City, December 2008
88:88, The New Yorker, August 13, 2007
Rosenberg, Karen. "88:88", nymag.com, July 27, 2007
Smith, Roberta. "menace, glitter and rock in visions of dystopia", The New York Times, December 29, 2006
Myers, Holly. "potent view of an artists memory", Los Angeles Times, August 12, 2005
"Little Triggers", Flavorpill.com, March 2003
Olson, Marisa. Switch Journal, September 2003
Bing, Allison. "same/difference at SF camerawork", sfgate.com, August, 2002
Buuk, David. "inside view at pond", Artwork, April 2002
Westerbrook, Lindesy. "mighty fine art", East Bay Express, July 2001
Zuckerman, Heidi Jacobson. "Five Star", Look Magazine, Spring 2001
Freedman, Marcy. "Picks", SF Weekly, February, 1998
Published Talks, Interviews & Conversations
"The Common Foundation of Collage", Oui Art, March 29, 2023
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/nlQk_pEldSeAZ01R3U_cbw
"Geof Oppenheimer: People in Reverse", April 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oVifr3rvRc
"On the Metropol Drama", January 9, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnrYlYQ1dAg
"Useful Art", December 12, 2022
https://vimeo.com/700476441
"Art, Labor, and the Landscape: A Conversation with Anita Chari and Tyler Cann", May 1, 2020
https://vimeo.com/422944728
Interview with La Voix du Nord Radio, Lille, France, March 3, 2018
https://soundcloud.com/crpnord/geof-oppenheimer/s-7RBuH2FhdRv
"Radical Form/Radical Politics: The Avant-Garde Today", New Art Examiner, January/February 2019
http://www.newartexaminer.org/radical-formradical-politics.html
"Citizen Sociologist: Richard Sennett & Geof Oppenheimer in Conversation", October 24, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQuc6AL05HI
"Critical Inquiry: Art and Public Life Symposium", October 4, 2014
http://criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/art_and_public_life_symposium_video/
"People Problems", March 19, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCZeFZlrtHY
Interview with Kelly Huang, August 19, 2011
http://blog.art21.org/2011/08/19/inspired-reading-geof-oppenheimer/
Interview with Heidi Zuckerman, Aspen Art Museum, 2010
http://www.aspenartmuseum.org/geof_oppenheimer_video.html
Selected Public Engagements
On the Metropol Drama, Institute for the Formation of Knowledge, Chicago IL, 2023 (lecture)
Useful Art, Ad-Diriyah Biennale, Ad-Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, 2022 (lecture)
People Problems, University of Lille, Lille, France, 2019 (lecture)
People Problems, Emily Carr University of Art & Design, Vancouver, Canada, 2018 (lecture)
Meaning and Material (with Virginia Overton), The Renaissance Society, Chicago IL, 2017 (presentation)
The Political Life of Cultural Production in the 21st Century, University of California, San Diego, 2017 (lecture)
Cultural Policy and the Arts in Contemporary China, University of Chicago Beijing Center, 2015 (co-organizer)
Art and Public Life, Critical Inquiry Symposium, Chicago IL, 2014 (panel participant)
People Problems, University of Chicago Beijing Center, 2013 (lecture)
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD, 2009 (visiting artist)
Northwestern University, 2009 (visiting artist)
University of Illinois, Urbana, 2009 (visiting artist)
George Washington University, 2005 (visiting artist)
University of California, Berkeley, 2004 (visiting artist)
University of Illinois, Urbana, 2003 (visiting artist)
California College of Arts and Crafts, 2003 (visiting artist)
Teaching and Residencies
Currently Associate Professor of Practice, Department of Visual Arts and the College, University of Chicago
Currently Member of the Board, Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago IL
Jewish Artists Fellowship, Spertus Institute, Chicago IL, 2017-18
Visiting Artist, Acre Residency, Steuben WI, 2015
Member of the Editorial Board, the Point Magazine, Chicago IL, 2013-2016
The MacDowell Colony Fellow, Peterborough NH, 2008
Sculpture Instructor Lecturer and Graduate Advisor, University of California, Berkeley, 2004-2007
Artist in Residence, Korean National University of the Arts, Seoul, South Korea, 2005
Visiting Instructor Lecturer, Humboldt State University, Arcata CA, 2004
Artist in Residence, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach FL, 2002
Visiting Instructor, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco CA, 2000-2001
Awards
The Institute on the Formation of Knowledge Research Grant, 2023
Mellon Project Grant, 2016
Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Grant, 2010
Eisner Award, 2001
Grand Mariner Foundation Working Grant, 2001
UC Berkeley Fellowship, 2000
Myerhoff Scholar, Maryland Institute College of Art, 1996
Phillips Electronics Traveling Grant, 1999
Education
University of California, Berkeley, MFA, 2001
Maryland Institute, College of Art, BFA, 1996
Academie voor Beeldende Vorming, Tilburg, Netherlands, 1994