Activities | Ross Simonini

Ross Simonini is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and musician.

He has held solo presentations of his work at the Sharjah Biennial (UAE), Francois Ghebaly (NYC), anonymous gallery (NYC), Et Al (SF), SHRINE (LA), suns.works (Zurich), Shoot the Lobster (LU), and Human Resources (LA).

His novel, The Book of Formation (2018, Melville House) chronicles the rise of a fictional philosophical movement.

He releases music under his own name and has previously released music as a member of the bands, NewVillager and Trespassers William. He has performed at Performa, Andy Warhol Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum.

He served as the interviews editor at The Believer from 2007 — 2020, where he is now a contributing editor. His essays and dialogues appear in the New York Times, The Paris Review, and many monographs.

He has created podcasts for ArtReview, SFMOMA, and KCRW.

As an adjunct professor, he has taught seminars on experimental process, writing, art, sound, and dialogue at Columbia University, CCA, Stanford, and UCLA.

He lives in Los Angeles, where he sometimes runs ALICIA, a gallery & performance space on his property.

Contact: hello [at] rossimonini.com

www.instagram.com/rosssimonini

"Ross Simonini’s artistic project hinges on a kind of generosity—open, plural considerations of connection, meaning, and form. Simonini is a painter, musician, author and multi-hyphenate wordsmith. Over the past two decades, he’s produced a singular oeuvre, one dedicated to the crossing and recrossing of boundaries of medium (anywhere from a roman à clef novel to site-specific performances to studio LPs) in the pursuit of an unmistakable personal poetics."

-from the press release for Scrolls at François Ghebaly

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024, Scrolls, Francois Ghebaly, New York

2023, PAN, suns.works, Zurich

2023, Tales, SHRINE, Los Angeles

2022, The All, anonymous Gallery, NY

2021, Refrains, Et Al, San Francisco

2019, Thank You, Cat Box Contemporary, NY

2018, My Whole Entiled World, E scolar, CA

2017, Anxiety Napkins, Sharjah Biennial 13, UAE

2014, Quartering Myself, Shoot the Lobster, Luxembourg (solo)

TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2016, Suncakes, Vacancy, LA

2015, Sweather, Fredericks & Freiser, NY

2013, Bathers, Blackston, NY

2012, Temporary Culture, Human Resources, LA (NewVillager)

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS

2025, Upside Down Zebra, Watermill Center

2025, Go Bag (curated by Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer)

2025, One Hundred Percent (curated by Aram Moshayedi)

2024, The Trees, Gana Contemporary, Los Angeles

2024, Sleight of Hand, MePaintsMe

2024, Hisssss, Los Angeles

2024, Mystery Villa No. 1, Society of Art LA, Los Angeles

2024, Raffi and Al's, Vielmetter, Los Angeles

2023, Drawn Out, Francois Ghebaly/Rhinoceros, Rome

2022, Chris Johanson, Altman Siegel, San Francisco

2021, 100 Sculptures, Anonymous Gallery, NY

2021, The Shaker, Sgomento Zurigo, Zurich, Switzerland

2020, Birds Sun Such Trees, Et al + Arts of Life, Chicago

2020, 100 Sculptures, No Gallery, LA

2018, Gnaw The Bone That Falls To Thy Lot, Kimberly Klark Gallery, NY

2017, Mind Control, Alterspace, SF

2016, Shakey Towns, AlterSpace, SF

2016, World Made By Hand, Andrew Edlin Gallery, NY

2015, Negative Hand, Anonymous Gallery, Mexico

2015, Box Lunch, SkyLab, Columbus, OH

2013, Draw Gym, 247365 & Know More Games, NY, curated by Brian Belott

2013, Brush Crusher, NY curated by Gerasimos Floratos

2013, Age of Small Things, Dodge Gallery, NY

2013, Devotional Spaces, Ventana 244, NY

2013, Bad Fog, Martos Gallery, NY, curated by Eddie Martinez

2013, Eat or Die, Denny Gallery, NY (two)

2012, Nature Balance, Fredericks and Freiser Gallery, NY

2012, Human Resources, curated by Dawn Kasper, NY

PROJECTS

2022, Milk Heaven, Exhibition A

2020, Energy Calendars, Fresh Bread, Chicago

2020, To Your Under, Heavy Heavy Breathing

2020, The Well, Mother Culture

2019, Contradict Yourself, Other Places Art Fair, Los Angeles

2018, Books of Deformation, an edition, Exhibition A, New York

2016, Algae Bibs, Colpa Press

2016, Picnic, Martinez studio, NY (pop up solo)

2016, Prospect Drawings, Exhibition A

2015, Digestive Napkins, Martos Gallery

PERFORMANCES

2019, My Whole Entiled World, Escolar, Forestville, CA

2019, Quartering Performance, Interface Gallery, Oakland

2018, Mudslinger, Stable Gallery, Other Places Art Fair, LA

2012, NewVillager, Jack Hanley Gallery, New York

EVENTS

2019, The Feeling Sense: a lecture, Kadist Foundation, San Francisco

2018, On Interviewing: a talk at Likeminds, Hudson, NY

2018, Fluid Humanity: A talk with Anicka Yi, Printed Matter, NYC

2017, People Pool Pie, Performa 17, NYC (conductor)

2017, A Conversation with Anna Halprin, Jessica Silverman Gallery

2015, Queens Museum (solo musical performance)

2015, Me Want Food with Brian Belott, Performa 15 (conductor)

2014, Interview with John Maus, Frieze art fair

2012, Brooklyn Museum (as NewVillager)

2011, Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (as NewVillager)
2011, Powerplay festival, Bridgehampton (as NewVillager)

MUSICAL PROJECTS

2017 — ongoing, Ross Simonini

2007— 2012, NewVillager

2003 —2007, Trespassers William

SELECTED ALBUMS

2021, Refrains, Ross Simonini

2018 - 2020, Standards, Ross Simonini

2011, NewVillager, NewVillager

2006, Having, Trespassers William

PUBLICATIONS

The New York Times, McSweeneys, The Believer, ArtReview, T Style, The Paris Review, Art in America, The New York Times Magazine, The Fader, Interview, Mousse, Gagosian Quarterly, Ursula, LitHub, California Sunday, ArtNews, frieze, Salon, Bomb, Los Angeles Times, Stop Smiling, LA Weekly, Bookforum, Modern Painters, Seattle Weekly, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Stranger, Psychology Today, SFMOMA Open Space, Affidavit, 11:11, Mean, Hazlitt, The Globe and Mail, Poetry Magazine, Yeti, Manhattan Art Review,

ZINES (pdfs)

2016, Brian Belott and Ross Simonini

2015, MoMY

2014, Ross Simonini Drawings

2013, RotDraw2

2012, Rotdraw

BOOKS (as editor)

2012, Always Apprentices, Believer Books (editor, with Sheila Heti)

2014, The appearance of Confidence: Believer Books (editor, with Vendela Vida)

MONOGRAPHS (as contributor)

2023, Sam Moyer, Rizzoli (dialogue)

2022, Reassembler 3, Brian Belott (essay)

2021, N.Dash, Mehdi Chouakri (essay)