The Silvia Kolbowski Papers, MSS.026, span almost four decades, from the late 1970s to 2018, and document the artistic output and career of Argentinian-born American artist Silvia Kolbowski. Kolbowski primarily works with time-based media, installation formats, and photography, often using historical figures and events to analyze power imbalances, cultural phenomena, and the politics of spectatorship. The collection covers Kolbowski’s expansive career as an artist, writer, and co-editor of October magazine (1993-2000). The archival records are organized largely by project or material type. The collection includes Kolbowski’s writings, correspondence, ephemera, project files, and teaching materials. The collection also includes what Kolbowski refers to as her essential library - a tightly edited selection of over 500 publications she considers to be significant influences and publications that document her work.
Kolbowski’s work has been exhibited in many contexts, including The Taipei Biennial, The Whitney Biennial, and The Hammer Museum, among many others. She has had solo exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, the Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, The Secession, Vienna, and LAX<>ART. Kolbowski has had an equally long career teaching. She has taught at The Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, the CCC program of the Ecole Superiéure d’Art Visuel in Geneva, the Architecture Department of Parsons The New School for Design, and the School of Art at The Cooper Union. Kolbowski lectures widely, and her writings have been included in many publications, including Artforum, Texte zur Kunst, Documents, Parachute, and October.