Julia Weist (born 1984) is an American visual artist. Themes in Weist's work include archival science, knowledge organization, media distribution, algorithmic technology, history and politics. Weist often uses found images and media to create photographs, video, installations, sculptures, artist books and public artworks.Orit Gat (June 17, 2015), Artist Profile: Julia Weist Rhizome
Early life and education Weist was born in New York City in 1984. Her brother, Nicholas, is a curator. She received her BFA from the Cooper Union in 2007 and a MLIS from Pratt Institute in 2011.
Before becoming a full-time artist, Weist worked as a librarian at the New York Public Library, as well as an information scientist, photo editor, and artist's assistant for Janine Antoni and Spencer Finch.
In 2007, Weist and Maayan Pearl created The Public Library of American Public Library Deaccession, which commented on public library deaccession practices by collecting deaccessioned books to create an online database and a physical installation. As a part of the project, Weist wrote a manuscript of a romance novel, the most commonly withdrawn genre from libraries, and submitted it to publishers in order to collect rejection letters; however, the book was accepted and in 2008, published as Sexy Librarian: Critical Edition of the Original Novel. The piece coincided with Weist's MLIS program, and culminated in a physical display of discarded library books alongside her degrees in 2011.
Public artworks and response In 2015, Weist's public artwork Reach went viral.Maddie Stone (June 21, 2015), The Word the Internet Didn't Know Gizmodo The artwork consists of a single word ("parbunkells"), that had never been used on the Internet, installed on a billboard in Forest Hills, Queens.Eric Limer (June 22, 2015), This Billboard Brought an Ancient Word to the Internet Popular Mechanics The public response to the project was wide-ranging, with an extensive amount of social media activity related to the billboard. Entrepreneurial attempts to capitalize on the project included the creation of T-shirts and other merchandise on Redbubble and the sale of a domain using the word parbunkells which was listed on eBay for $20,000.Betsy Morais (July 1, 2015), A New Word on the Internet The New Yorker From 2013 to 2015, Weist worked on the project After, About, With, manipulating the search results for the artist Haim Steinbach as a way to explore how meaning about artists' work is codified online.Orit Gat (May 10, 2016), Julia Weist ArtReview
In 2019, Weist was selected for a public artwork commission initiated by the Department of Cultural Affairs in New York City in 2019.Sophie Haigney (April 5, 2019), Artists as ‘Creative Problem-Solvers’ at City Agencies The New York Times As part of that project, she served as an artist-in-residence at the NYC Department of Records and Information Services and created artworks that were classified as government records.Margaret Carrigan (May 20, 2020), 'Victimised and rejected': new work explores the history of artists working in New York and the need for public art The Art Newspaper In 2022, Weist's second billboard-based project premiered in Times Square, in conjunction with an exhibition at Rachel Uffner Gallery, which featured work inspired by her residency at the Department of Records and Information Services.Morgan Becker (November 15, 2022), Julia Weist’s ‘Governing Body’ questions what we deem indecent in the scope of mainstream cinema Document Journal Through this billboard, Weist advertised her short film, Governing Body with promotional design that Motion Picture Association of America disapproved for public use. The National Coalition Against Censorship issued a statement of support for Weist's Times Square billboard, calling on the Motion Picture Association to update its standards.Sarah Cascone (November 16, 2022), Artist Julia Weist Is Protesting the R Rating of Her New Film by Advertising the Project on a Times Square Billboard Artnet News
Exhibitions Weist's work has been presented in museum exhibitions including Limits of Control at the Museum of Modern Art, NY in 2023, Open Call at The Shed (arts center) in 2019, 17.(SEPT) [By WeistSiréPC]™ at the Queens Museum, NY in 2017, Art In The Age Of…Planetary Computation at Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam in 2015e-flux Announcements (May 8, 2015), No Humans Involved e-flux and The Book Lovers at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp in 2013 among several others. Weist participated in the 12th Gwangju Biennale.Grace Halio (April 2, 2018), Here’s the Artist List for the 2018 Gwangju Biennale ARTnews Her most recent solo exhibition was with Rachel Uffner Gallery in 2022.Cat Tyc (June 8, 2022), Art and Government: Julia Weist Interviewed by Cat Tyc BOMB Magazine
Recognition In 2015, Weist was given a national advertising award from the Out of Home Advertising Association of America for her public artwork Reach.Colby Chamberlain (2015), Julia Weist at 83 Pitt Street Artforum She received the Net-based Audience Prize from Haus der Elektronischen Künste (Basel, Switzerland) in 2016.
Personal life Weist lives in Brooklyn, New York and has a studio in Catskill, New York. She is married to artist Andrés Laracuente.
Notable works in public collections
Definitions (2020), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Demonstration (2020), Museum of Modern Art, New York From the Future (2020), Art Institute of Chicago Giuliani (2020), Brooklyn Museum International (2020), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Rubrics (2020), MIT List Visual Arts Center Should(n't) (2020), The Guggenheim
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