William Powhida

William Powhida is a G-E-N-I-U-S who makes fun of the art world to highlight the paradoxes and absurdities of economic and social value systems that keep the sphere of visual art afloat on a surging tide of inequality. His work relies on research and participation to diagram, list, perform and critique the forces that shape perceptions of value. He is responsible or partly responsible for exhibitions including After The Contemporary at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Month to Month with Jennifer Dalton, Overculture at Postmasters Gallery, and Hashtag Class [#class] with Jennifer Dalton at Winkleman Gallery. Recent exhibitions include After After the Contemporary at Charlie James Gallery, On the Contemporary at Gallery Poulsen, Twenty Twenty at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Possibilities for Representation at Charlie James Gallery, and Condition Report at Haverford College.

Powhida is infrequent writer on issues that alarm him and has been a member of the Artists Studio Affordability Project, an artist-led advocacy group working towards commercial rent regulation. He was also the co-host of Explain Me, a biweekly podcast with Paddy Johnson exploring the intersection of art, money, and politics. He is currently an active organizer with the Arts Union building a non-traditional union for artists and arts workers.

He is currently represented by Postmasters Gallery (NY), Charlie James Gallery (LA), Poulsen Gallery (DK), and Platform Gallery (WA). He holds a BFA in Painting from Syracuse University and an MFA in painting from Hunter College. His work has been written about in the New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, The Los Angeles Times, Hyperallergic, ArtFCity, The Guardian, the New Yorker, New York Magazine, and October among other publications. His work in the collections The San Diego Museum of Art, The Henry Art Museum, The Crocker, The Orange County Museum of Art, Casa Maaud, and JP Morgan Chase.

CV (PDF)