Frank Wasser
Wasser has exhibited, collaborated with, and worked within numerous major institutions across Europe, including Tate Modern, the Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths, University of the Arts London, South London Gallery (London), Salzburger Kunstverein (Austria), Jerwood Arts (London), Villa Empain (Brussels), and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). These institutions often serve not only as venues but as subjects of his ongoing critique, as he explores the complexities of institutional frameworks and the politics of display. His research frequently challenges prevailing assumptions around exhibition-making as a decolonizing practice, scrutinizing the sustained presence and symbolism of the white cube.
His work unfolds through a wide array of materials and forms—performative lectures, sculptural interventions, publications, images, installations, and gestures that range from the discreet to the overt. Central to his practice is an investigative preoccupation with class, colonialism, and the bureaucratic and pedagogical structures embedded within the art world and academia. Often evading conventional forms of exhibition making, documentation and mediation, his works demand active engagement and reflection.
In 2024, Wasser completed a practice-based doctorate in Fine Art at Oxford University (Ruskin School of Art) , supervised by the artist Katrina Palmer and Lee Triming. He currently lectures in Fine Art and Critical Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is also the current artist-in-residence at Tate Library and Archive, supported by Askeaton Contemporary Arts (Ireland) , where he is developing a new book scheduled for release in 2026.
Lectern (From One State to Another State), 2024, Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria. Photography by Manuel Carreon Lopez
Born in Dublin, Ireland, 1988
Lives and works in Vienna, Dublin and London
EDUCATION
Lecturer in Fine Art and Critical Studies, Goldsmiths University of London (2021 – )
Lecturer/Artist Educator at Tate Modern and Tate Britain on Contemporary Art Theory (2012-)
DPhil, University of Oxford (2019 – 2022) Supervised by Katrina Palmer and Lee Triming examined by Elizabeth Price and Sarah Jones.
MFA Fine Art, NCAD, Dublin Ireland, 2012
BA Fine Art Painting and Art History, NCAD, Dublin, Ireland, 2009
HKU, Erasmus exchange, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2007
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 ‘The Irish Face’ – Solo Performance at Tate Britain, UK
2024 ‘Plot/Hole’, University of Oxford, produced by University of Oxford and Daria Martin, Oxford, UK
2024 ‘Split (Revised)’, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Curated by Sara Muthi, Dublin, Ireland
2024 ‘Title to be announced’, Steam Works Gallery, curated by Kirsten Cooke, London UK
2023 ‘Split’, South London Gallery, London, UK
2022 ‘On tenterhooks’, Pallas Projects/Studios, Dublin, Ireland
2021 ‘Title, to be announced’, Catalyst Arts, Belfast
2020 ‘On the impossible histories of Art/Artist and Activism’, lecture performance, Pallas Project Space, Dublin, Ireland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 ‘Infra- and Parastructures of a Contemporary Liveness’, Kunstraum Niederosterreich, Austria
2024 ‘Debt’, curated by Hana Ostan-Ožbolt-Haas, Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria
2024 ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood, Askeaton Contemporary, Limerick, Ireland
2023 ‘Tráctas’, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK
2022 ‘Speech Sounds’, VISUAL, Carlow, Ireland
2022 ‘Perodic Review 11’, Pallas Projects/Studios, Dublin, Ireland
2021 ‘URGENCIES’, Centre for Contemporary Art, Derry/Londonderry
2020 ‘Tue AM’, Reykjavik International Film Festival, Iceland
2020 ‘Everything Happened So Much’, selected by Jesse Darling, HET NIEWE INSTITUT, Netherlands
2020 ‘Sounds’, curated by Ashley Holmes, Outpost Gallery, Norwich, UK
2020 ‘The Graveside Orations of Carl Einstein’, South London Gallery, London, UK
2019 ‘Survey’, Baltic, Gateshead, UK
2018 ‘The Slow abrogation of the future’, Jerwood Arts, UK
2019 ‘Trust is the Ultimate Currency’, Harlesden High Street, London, UK
2018 ‘Bedwell’, Damien and the Love Guru, Brussels
2015 ‘On Curating Histories’, Curated by Kate Strain, NCAD, Dublin, Ireland
2015 ‘9 TO 5’, Performance with Andrew Hardwidge and Dan Graham, Max Mayer Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany
2014 ‘Concrete song as part of Mirrorcity’, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
2014 ‘EX’, Catalyst Arts, Belfast, Ireland
2014 ‘Shady Dealings with Language’, Curated by Claire Potter, Toast, Manchester, UK
2014 ‘Underline’, Occupy Limerick, Ireland
2014 ‘Penumbra’, Tactic Art, Cork, Ireland
2013 ‘Beaker’, Open Space, Dublin, Ireland
2013 ‘Exhibition continues, this Way’, Manchester International Festival, Manchester, UK
2013 ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’, Cobourg Road gallery, London, UK
2013 ‘Football Match’, Tate Modern, Turbine Hall, London, UK
RESIDENCIES
2024-2026 Artist in resident at Tate (In collaboration with Askeaton Contemporary)
2025 Residency at Oakville Galleries, Canada
2022 Research Residency at Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria
2017 Residency at Villa Empain, Brussels
AWARDS
2025/2026 Arts Council of Ireland Visual Arts Bursary
2023/2024 Arts Council of Ireland Visual Arts Bursary
2021/2022 Arts Council of Ireland, Agility Award
2022 Carlow Arts Festival, ARTWORKS Award
2019 The Inger Lawrence Award, University of Oxford
2018 Arts Council of Ireland Bursary
2006 International Best Self-Portrait- One Minute Video Festival, Amsterdam
2005 M.I.T Ceres Connection Award, Phoenix, Arizona
2005 Intel Student Excellence Award, Dublin, Ireland
