Roselee Goldberg

American art historian

RoseLee Goldberg is an American based art historian, author, critic and curator of performance art. She is most well known as being the founder and director of Performa, a performance art organisation. She is also currently a Clinical Associate Professor of Arts Administration at New York University.

Born in Durban, South Africa, Goldberg studied Political Science and Fine Arts at Wits University, Johannesburg. In 1970 she attained a degree in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

As director of the Royal College of Art 'Gulbenkian' Gallery, London, (1972–75) Goldberg set precedents for exhibiting modern and contemporary performance and organised exhibitions, performance series, and symposia on a broad range of multi disciplinary artists including Marina Abramović, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Christian Boltanski, Brian Eno, the Kipper Kids, Piero Manzoni, Anthony McCall, and Christo and Jeanne Claude. In 1975 Goldberg moved to New York City. In 1978 Goldberg became a curator at The Kitchen, New York. She also organised performances by Philip Glass, Peter Gordon, Meredith Monk, and Robert Wilson and curated the first solo exhibitions of Jack Goldstein, David Salle, and Cindy Sherman, among others. Goldberg has curated several performance series including "Six Evenings of Performance," as part of the High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture, exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York and Couleurs Superposees: Acte VII, a performance by Daniel Buren, (in association with Works & Process), at the Guggenheim, New York. In 2001 Goldberg commissioned and produced Logic of the Birds, a multi media performance by Shirin Neshat. According to the organisation's Mission Statement, Performa was created to commission new performance projects, to present a dedicated performance biennial, to consult and collaborate with art institutions, and to offer ongoing education on performance art. Artists who have created performances include William Kentridge. Goldberg has taught at New York University since 1987 and has lectured at Columbia University, the Guggenheim Museum, New York, Kyoto University of Art and Design, the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, the Tate Modern, London, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Yale University, among other institutions. In 2009, Goldberg co curated 100 Days, a travelling exhibition on the history of performance art with Klaus Biesenbach. In 2013 Goldberg produced rapper Jay Z's performance art video for his song "Picasso Baby," which included notable artists such as Marina Abramović, Lawrence Weiner and Fred Wilson.

In 2006 Goldberg was named a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. In 2010 Goldberg was awarded with the ICI Agnes Gund Curatorial Award. In 2013 Goldberg was ranked 24th on ArtReview's Power 100 list of the most influential figures in the contemporary art world.