The Spring 2026 Graduate Art guest lecture series, organized by Jack Bankowsky and Jason Smith.

Ryan Trecartin

This event is free and open to the public. RSVPs are not required.

Ryan Trecartin (b. 1981, Webster, TX) is an Athens, Ohio-based artist celebrated for his expansive practice incorporating video, installation, sculpture, sound design, and photo-based work. Writing—whether in the form of scripts for his videos or poetic prompts for his work in other media—is the bedrock of a practice focused on the fluid nature of identity, unfolding definitions of community, and the complexities of subject formation. Engaging the psychic and aesthetic effects of emergent technologies (from reality television to online sharing platforms like YouTube or TikTok), Trecartin’s art resides at the disorienting interface of the body and developing technology, clocking attendant transformations of both individual and shared identities.

Trecartin has exhibited widely here and abroad, and his work is held in the permanent collections of over thirty institutions internationally. Recent solos include: Lizzie Fitch | Ryan Trecartin: It Waives Back, Prada Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan (2025); Audience Plant, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO (2024); and Lizzie Fitch / Ryan Trecartin, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway (2018). Whether Line, Trecartin’s epic, in-progress undertaking with his longstanding collaborator Lizzie Fitch, was commissioned by Fondazione Prada, Milan and is set on the rural Ohio property that he and Fitch share. Incorporating a water-park-size lazy river and a 50-foot watchtower, the project is expanding, and encompassing contributions from other artists with the aim of establishing an “art amusement park” and residency.

Image: Whether Line (2019), Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin.

See the full Spring 2026 Seminar schedule here.

Support for this series is generously provided by the following: Jack Shear, Brenda R. Potter, Brendan Dugan, Lisson Gallery, Beth Rudin DeWoody, BLUM, Hannah Hoffman, David Kordansky, and Jeffrey Deitch.

ArtCenter's Graduate Art program is based on intensive studio practice and rigorous academic coursework. The program is distinguished by its low faculty-to-student ratio that provides students with the attention and feedback they need to refine and achieve their artistic goals. Faculty and students are artists working in all genres—film, video, photography, painting, sculpture, performance and installation. A significant number of alumni have achieved national and international acclaim and often return to share their insights and expertise as visiting faculty and guest lecturers.