Series 001/07: in conversation with Claire Gilman
“You’ve got to commit to it, when you have it and show why it is meaningful to you and hope that it will be meaningful to other people too.”
Claire Gilman is a curator and writer living in New York City.
We discuss the power of drawings and the intention for revealing a work to the public. The importance of being prepared as a curatorial practice of care and the process of research in acquainting oneself with the artist behind the work. Through Claire’s expertise, she is enabling us to participate in connections between present and past works. Her upcoming curatorial projects at The Morgan Library include works of Lisa Yuskavage and an investigation into the history of Tarot, centered on the 15th Century Visconti-Sforza Tarot Deck from the Morgan Library collection.
Claire is Acquavella Curator and Department Head, Modern and Contemporary Drawings at The Morgan Library in New York City. Claire’s trajectory as a curator of drawings has included her role as the Chief Curator at The Drawing Center, fostering the eclectic presentation of artist and exhibitions grounded in exploring new ways of "what drawing is and what drawing can do", including; A Greater Beauty: The Drawings of Kahlil Gibran [2013], Tomi Ungerer [2015], Ways of Seeing: Three Takes on the Jack Shear Drawing Collection [2022], as well as the works of established artists such as Cecily Brown and Rashid Johnson. Claire received a Ph.D. in Art History at Columbia University, she has served as a curatorial fellow at MoMA and taught art history and critical theory at Columbia University and The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. Claire has contributed articles to Art Journal, CAA Reviews, Documents, Frieze and October. Claire co-authored with Roger Malbet, 'Drawing in The Present Tense', published with Thames and Hudson [2013].
Interview by Emily Nam