50 Artists: Frank Smigiel on Alice Neel

The thousands of artworks at SFMOMA offer countless opportunities to look closely and think deeply about some of the most amazing artists of our time. To celebrate both the artists on view in the newly expanded museum and the creative communities of the Bay Area, 50 Artists invites local artists and creative professionals to share how icons of modern and contemporary art matter to them. This week, SFMOMA’s own Frank Smigiel presents on the life and work of Alice Neel.

Smigiel is associate curator, performance and film, at SFMOMA, where he commissions visual arts-based performances and designs modern and contemporary cinema programs. His curatorial interests include the intersection of theatrical and live art forms, commerce by artists, and queer histories. He has realized live work with William Kentridge, Rashaad Newsome, Athi-Patra Ruga, Rebecca Solnit, Stephanie Syjuco, and Mika Tajima/New Humans, among others. He recently curated a long weekend of newly commissioned performances by Desirée Holman, Naomi Rincón Gallardo, and Jacolby Satterwhite exploring eccentric science fictions, utopian possibilities, and radical futures as part of Performance in Progress.