Gabo Camnitzer (born 1984) is a Swedish and U.S. artist,

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

, and musician.

Life and work

Using installation, sculpture, drawing and pedagogical interventions, Camnitzer's work focuses on questions surrounding childhood, subject formation, and socialization. Camnitzer has said that his interest in early childhood is in parted inspired by his experience with

middle ear The middle ear is the portion of the ear medial to the eardrum, and distal to the oval window of the cochlea (of the inner ear). The mammalian middle ear contains three ossicles, which transfer the vibrations of the eardrum into waves in the ...

effusion In physics and chemistry, effusion is the process in which a gas escapes from a container through a hole of diameter considerably smaller than the mean free path of the molecules. Such a hole is often described as a ''pinhole'' and the escape ...

as a small child, which led to significant hearing loss and language-learning difficulties in his early life. Having worked as an elementary school teacher, Camnitzer often draws on collaborative and anti-hierarchical forms of education to engage groups in explorations of experimental knowledge forms. In 2016 Camnitzer initiated the artistic research project titled, Meaning Machine, at the

Royal Institute of Art The Royal Institute of Art ( sv, Kungliga Konsthögskolan) is an institution in Stockholm, Sweden for higher education in art, The project was supervised by the educational researcher Liselott Mariette Olsson. Other projects of Camnitzer have explored the assimilationist educational practices of charter schools in New York City (The Student Body); the problematic origins of developmental psychology (in collaboration with the architect, Lluís Alexandre Casanovas Blanco); and the connection between aesthetic abstraction and epistemological abstraction (Evil Shapes). Camnitzer attended the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude ...

's Independent Study Program and

Valand Academy Valand Academy ( sv, Akademin Valand) is a school for film, photography, literary composition, and fine art at the University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was formed in 2012 through the merger of three formerly independent schools/de ...

, Gothenburg University, Sweden, where he studied with Esther Shalev-Gerz. After graduating from

, Camnitzer worked as an assistant to the Brazilian artist,

Cildo Meireles Cildo Meireles (born 1948) is a Brazilian conceptual artist, installation artist and sculptor. He is noted especially for his installations, many of which express resistance to political oppression in Brazil. These works, often large and dense, e ...

. Camnitzer is Assistant Professor of Social Practice and Director of Foundations at

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth or UMassD) is a public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly Southeastern Massachusetts Un ...

. He has previously held teaching positions at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Gothenburg University The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 s ...

, and Gerlesborg School of Fine Art. Camnitzer sits on the editorial board of Sweden's oldest art journal, '' Paletten''. Camnitzer is the son of Uruguayan conceptual artist

Luis Camnitzer Luis Camnitzer (born November 6, 1937) is a German-born Uruguayan artist, curator, art critic, and academic who was at the forefront of 1960s Conceptual Art. Camnitzer works primarily in sculpture, printmaking, and installation, exploring topic ...

, and political scientist, Selby Hickey.

Exhibitions

*Queens Museum, New York *Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden *Malmö Konsthall, Sweden *Netherland Flemish Institute, Cairo, Egypt *Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway *Nurture Art, New York *Artists Space, New York *GfZK Leipzig, Germany *Tenthaus, Oslo, Norway *11th Mercosul Visual Arts Biennial, Porto Alegre, Brazil *Västerås Art Museum, Sweden *Gertrude Contemporary Art Center, Melbourne; *Exit Art, New York; *El Basilisco, Buenos Aires *Kunstsaele, Berlin; *Göteborg Konsthall, Sweden; *Museo Blanes, Montevideo, Uruguay.

Music

Camnitzer was the frontman of the Gothenburg-based band, Gabo and the Wartels. As Oma 333 label head and Stockholm based concert promoter, Gavin Maycroft describes it: “Gabo and the Wartels started in May 2007 when Gabo Camnitzer, an artist and musician came across a family playing marching band music on the side of the street in Gothenberg. The family band was made up of a girl, Georgia (b.1995), playing bass drum, her father, Jonny Wartel (b.1959), playing sax, and her cousin, Andreas (b.1984), playing snare. Gabo approached the Wartels and proposed a collaboration. The band was formed in the basement of the

two days later and the week after that they were on stage supporting Deerhoof.” The group went on to record several EPs and an album, touring the US and Scandinavia. They released ''In a Very Small Boat'', on the label Oma 333 in 2013. Camnitzer also founded the band Glenn and Glenn with Markus Görsch of

Love Is All (band) Love Is All is a Swedish five-piece indie pop band from Gothenburg, Sweden. It releases songs in English. ''Paste Magazine'' has stated that it makes "infectiously lo-fi punk rock laced with saxophone and melodic vocals". Their most acclaimed ...

, self-releasing a record in 2010, and an EP on Swedish imprint, Zeon Light in 2013. Camnitzer played guitar in the band

on tours across the US and Europe in 2009 and 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camnitzer, Gabo Living people 1984 births 21st-century American artists 21st-century Swedish artists 21st-century American musicians 21st-century Swedish musicians Columbia University faculty Valand School of Fine Arts alumni