{{Short description|American art curator and writer}} '''Christopher Y. Lew''' is an American art curator and writer based in New York City.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pogrebin |first1=Robin |title=With New Urgency, Museums Cultivate Curators of Color |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/arts/design/museums-curators-diversity-employment.html |website=The New York Times |date=8 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Christopher Lew on Curating |url=https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/chris-y-lew-on-curating/ |website=thecreativeindependent.com}}</ref> Lew is the former the Nancy and Fred Poses Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whitney.org/exhibitions/pope-l|title=Pope.L: Instigation, Aspiration, Perspiration|website=whitney.org|language=en|access-date=2019-02-10}}</ref>
==Career== ===Curating=== Before taking his job at the Whitney in 2014, Lew had held positions at MoMA PS1 starting in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=MoMA - Author: Christopher Y. Lew |url=https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/author/clew/ |website=www.moma.org}}</ref> At MoMA PS1, he organized numerous exhibitions including ''Chim Pom'', Clifford Owens: ''Anthology'', and Nancy Grossman: ''Heads'' (with Klaus Biesenbach), as well as projects by Edgard Aragón, Rey Akdogan, Ilja Karilampi, James Ferraro, and Caitlin Keogh.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artforum.com/diary/michael-wilson-around-new-york-12201|title=Our Gay Apparel|website=www.artforum.com|date=16 December 2006 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Christopher Y. Lew - post |url=https://post.at.moma.org/profiles/36-christopher-y-lew |website=post.at.moma.org}}</ref> Additionally, Lew has curated exhibitions and programs in New York City at other venues such as Artists Space and Aljira.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/chris-y-lew-on-curating/|title=Christopher Lew on Curating|website=thecreativeindependent.com|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref> Prior to joining the museum, he worked as managing editor at ArtAsiaPacific and held positions at the Aperture Foundation and the Asian American Arts Centre.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://artradarjournal.com/2014/07/11/whitney-museum-appoints-christopher-y-lew-as-associate-curator/|title=Whitney Museum appoints Christopher Y. Lew as associate curator {{!}} Art Radar|last=Radar|first=Art|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref>
At the Whitney, Lew organized the first United States solo exhibitions for emerging artists Rachel Rose (artist) and Jared Madere. He also organized, with Curator Jay Sanders, the first U.S. theatrical presentation by New Theater. His other exhibitions at the Whitney include “Sophia Al-Maria: ''Black Friday''” (2016); “''Open Plan'': Lucy Dodd” (2016); and the group show “''Mirror Cells''” (2016), co-organized with associate curator Jane Panetta, and "Eckhaus Latta: ''Possessed''" (2018), co-organized with Lauri London Freedman, the head of product development at the Whitney.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-whitney-eckhaus-latta-blurs-fashion-contemporary-art|title=At the Whitney, Eckhaus Latta Blurs the Line between Fashion and Contemporary Art|last=Cohen|first=Alina|date=2018-08-08|website=Artsy|language=en|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whitney.org/exhibitions/eckhaus-latta|title=Eckhaus Latta: Possessed|website=whitney.org|language=en|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Whitney Announces Curators for 2017 Biennial |url=https://whitney.org/2017-biennial-curators |website=whitney.org |language=en}}</ref>
Christopher Y. Lew co-organized the 2017 Whitney Biennial, with Mia Locks.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Russeth |first1=Andrew |title=Christopher Lew and Mia Locks Will Organize the 2017 Whitney Biennial |url=http://www.artnews.com/2015/11/04/christopher-lew-and-mia-locks-will-organize-the-2017-whitney-biennial/ |website=ARTnews |date=4 November 2015}}</ref>
Lew curated Kevin Beasley's solo exhibition, “''A view of a landscape''”, the artist's first solo exhibition at a New York museum, opening in late 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Loos |first1=Ted |title=Firing up Weird Science at the Whitney |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/arts/design/kevin-beasley-whitney-museum.html |website=The New York Times |date=12 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Kevin Beasley: A view of a landscape at Whitney Museum of American Art, December 15, 2018 – March 10, 2019 |url=https://artssummary.com/2018/12/16/kevin-beasley-a-view-of-a-landscape-at-whitney-museum-of-american-art-december-15-2018-march-10-2019/ |website=Arts Summary |language=en |date=16 December 2018}}</ref>
In November, 2021, it was announced Lew was leaving the Whitney where he spent close to seven years as the Nancy and Fred Poses Curator.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Curator Christopher Y. Lew Exits the Whitney|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/curator-christoper-y-lew-exits-the-whitney-87182|access-date=2021-12-24|website=www.artforum.com|date=15 November 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> In December 2021, it was announced Lew would be the inaugural chief artistic director of Horizon, a new nonprofit foundation and artist residency in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Former Whitney Curator Christopher Y. Lew to Lead New L.A. Art Foundation|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/former-whitney-curator-christopher-y-lew-to-lead-new-l-a-art-foundation-87418|access-date=2021-12-24|website=www.artforum.com|date=12 December 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> As a guest curator for the Whitney, he organized "''[https://whitney.org/exhibitions/josh-kline Josh Kline: Project for a New American Century]''" in 2023 which as the artist's first US museum solo show.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-04-28 |title=Josh Kline's Survival Art for 21st-Century America (Published 2023) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/arts/design/kline-whitney-notebook-work-labor-art.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241122162736/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/arts/design/kline-whitney-notebook-work-labor-art.html |archive-date=2024-11-22 |access-date=2024-12-15 |language=en}}</ref>
===Writing=== Lew has written broadly for both art periodicals and mainstream news publications.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/christopher-y-lew|title=Christopher Y. Lew {{!}} HuffPost|website=www.huffingtonpost.com|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
==External links== *[https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/chris-y-lew-on-curating/ Christopher Y. Lew on curating - The Creative Independent] *[https://whitney.org/exhibitions/2017-biennial Whitney.org - Whitney Biennial 2017] *[https://www.wmagazine.com/story/whitney-biennial-2017-how-the-museums-riskiest-most-political-survey-in-decades-came-together Whitney Biennial 2017: How the Museum's Riskiest, Most Political Survey in Decades Came Together] *[https://www.standardhotels.com/culture/the-whitney-biennial-2017-curators-interview The Making of the 2017 Whitney Biennial with Curators Mia Locks and Christopher Lew]
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lew, Christopher Y.}} Category:Living people Category:American art curators Category:People associated with the Whitney Museum of American Art Category:People associated with the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) Category:Year of birth missing (living people)