Steven Holmes


Steven Holmes is a Canadian curator based in Hartford, Connecticut.

Biography

He was born in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada and educated at The University of Toronto , Harvard University and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
As an artist, Holmes worked as a photographer and briefly exhibited work in several Canadian venues, including in Toronto, and Anna Leonowens Gallery in Halifax.

Curatorial work

Steven Holmes is Curator of in Hartford, Connecticut where he oversees a collection of 2,000 objects The collection includes post war and contemporary art as well as early printed books and incunabula, Medieval illuminated manuscripts, and early Flemish masterpieces.
From 2009 to 2012, Holmes was Adjunct Curator at The Bass Museum of Art in Miami. There, he oversaw the development of the museum’s collection policy and collection planning process, and conceived of and curated numerous exhibitions, including:
Holmes was the Director of Visual Arts and Public Programming at in Hartford from 2000 – 2005. There, he served as managing director of all visual arts and public programming, co-wrote grants, represented the organization in external affairs, curated exhibitions, and directed education and outreach staff.
Additionally, Holmes has curated exhibitions for The Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, The Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art in Hartford and the Boston Center for the Arts, working with more than 200 artists including Charles Ledray, Kehinde Wiley, The Atlas Group / Walid Ra’ad, Kate Gilmore, Harrell Fletcher, Paul Chan, Joe Amrhein, Chris Doyle and Sol Lewitt.
Holmes conceived of and worked with Creative Time to mount the multi-city performance of Fairytale – 1001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei. Simultaneous performances took place in Hong Kong, Berlin, Paris, Athens, Helsinki, Toronto, New York, Chicago, LA, Madrid, Brussels, Stockholm and twenty other cities around the world. Holmes was a founding member of The Khyber Arts Society in Halifax, now a Canadian National Exhibition Center. Holmes has published in the areas of critical theory and art criticism.
In 2008, Holmes edited FESTSCHRIFT, with essays by Carlos Basualdo, Nicholas Baume, and James Rondeau.
Holmes has been a visiting critic for Skowhegan, Yale School of Art, Art Omi, University of Connecticut, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, University of Lethbridge and Hartford Art
School. Projects have been reviewed in The New York Times, Art in America, Art Forum, The New Yorker Magazine, artnet, artUS, Art News, Tema Celeste, Flash Art International and Art New England.
He has appeared on TV and Radio in the United States and Europe to speak about contemporary art, and art and social change, including NBC Miami, BBC5 London, CBC Halifax
and Toronto, and Connecticut Public Radio.

Selected publications