Sean Raspet

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*Scent molecule formulation Diffuser*, 2018

Image courtesy of the artist and Bridget Donahue.

*Deformulation*, 2015

Image courtesy of the artist and Société.

*Atmospheric Reformulation (Oxygen 18 Isotope)*, 2015

Image courtesy of the artist and Room East.

*New Flavors and Fragrances*, 2014

Image courtesy of the artist and New Galerie.

*Hydrocarbon Reformulation (Reconstituted Crude Oil with 2-Point Resolution: Molecular Weight Average)*, 2014

Image courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman Gallery.

*Residuals*, 2014

Image courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman Gallery.

Sean Raspet’s works have often consisted of liquid chemical formulations of artificial flavor and fragrance molecules. More recently his works have involved food, nutrition, human metabolism and human cellular development via stem cells. He is a flavor and fragrance chemist and co-founder of the algae-based food company Nonfood. His practice prioritizes movement away from the specialized art economy, in favor of endeavors that circulate in the economy-at-large, utilizing prevailing modes of production––such as mass-produced products and proprietary molecular structures.

Raspet’s work has been exhibited at the The Artist’s Institute, New York, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit; de Young Museum, San Francisco; Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco; M Woods Museum, Bejing; Societé, Berlin; the 9th Berlin Biennale; Bridget Donahue, New York; SculptureCenter, New York; and The Kitchen, New York, among others.

Education

2011-2014

MFA, University of California, Los Angeles

2007-2008

Whitney Independent Study Program, Whitney Museum of American Art

2002-2003

BFA, Sculpture, Rhode Island School of Design

2001-2002

Fine Art, Goldsmiths College

Public Collections

The Hammer Museum

The Rubell Family Collection

Public Projects

2019

IF THE SNAKE, Okayama Art Summit 2019, Okayama Japan (Pierre Huyghe, Artistic Director)

2018

Rhizome Seven on Seven 2018, with Francis Tseng

Rhizome Seven on Seven Beijing (10th Anniversary), with Francis Tseng

2017

Second Vienna Biennale, Artificial Tears, MAK Vienna

2016

9th Berlin Biennale, Berlin various venues

Texture Map (Normal) J01 - J04 Smoking or Bus Shelter, Jardin des Plantes, Paris (public sculpture organized by FIAC)

Solo Exhibitions

2019

New Molecules and Stem Cell Retinoid Screen, Empty Gallery, Hong Kong (with Kiara Eldred and Shengping Zheng)

2018

Structure, The Artist’s Institute

Receptor-Binding Variations, Bridget Donahue, New York

2016

Soylent R&D Promotional Trade Show Booth, Frieze New York Art Fair

2015

Arche Apeiron, Minibar, Stockholm, Sweden (with Eva Löfdahl)

Calculus of Negligence, Room East, New York, NY (with Marte Eknæs)

Xyzzy, Chateau Shatto, Los Angeles, CA (with Kelly Akashi)

Deformulation, Société, Berlin, Germany

2014

Residuals, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Untitled (Registration/PIN: G0009296/78GY76DM; G0009297/99ER43TB; G0009298/39ZL54SJ), New Galerie, New York

New Flavors and Fragrances, New Galerie, Paris

2013

Entity∆: Advance Viewing (featuring 2Registration::(ÒUntz'tled (Police Incident (7[c])) 6, (((2007-2012) 2007-2011. Ó) Ó) 2012) 2012 - 2013), Appendix Project Space, Portland, Oregon

2012

Untitled (Sublet), Bund Deutscher Architekten, Berlin

2011

Binder, Société, Berlin

2010

As If Written In, The Kitchen, New York

20/02, Max Hans Daniel, Berlin

2008

The Ones We Work For, Daniel Reich Gallery, New York

The Generations, Daniel Reich Gallery, Chelsea Hotel Space, New York

Group Exhibitions

2018

I Was Raised on the Internet, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

74 million million million tons, SculptureCenter, New York

Supplies and Demands, The Bolsky Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles

2017

DIS “Thinkspo” opening event at de Young Museum, San Francisco (in collaboration with Nonfood)

Heart of the Tin Man, M Woods Museum, Beijing

99 Cents or Les, Detroit Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit

EXO EMO, Greene Naftali, New York

2016

War Games (curated by Benjamin Godsill), Moran Bondaroff, Detroit, MI

ESPERANTO, curated by CURA, Rowing Projects, London, UK

Vinny Dotolo Summer Group Show, M+B, Los Angeles, CA

Le temps de l’audance et de l’engagement – De leur temps, Institut d’art contemporain Villeurbanne, Villeurbanne, France

2015

1,000 Islands, Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong

Office Space, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA

In the Flesh Part l: Subliminal Substances, Martos Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

PAVILLON DE L’ESPRIT NOUVEAU 2.0, The Swiss Institute, New York, NY

Take Me (I’m Yours), Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France

…Looking down at myself from the second floor of an Italian restaurant in the Catskills…, American Medium, Brooklyn, NY

Any Human Measure, M + B Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

DIDING – An Interior That Remains an Exterior?, Künstlerhaus KM–, Halle für Kunst & Medien, Graz, Austria

Castles Burning, Room East, New York

2014

Passive Collect, Chin’s Push, Los Angeles

Scars of Our Revolution, Yvon Lambert, Paris

Strauss Bourque-LaFrance, Caitlin Keogh, Sean Raspet, Pam Lins, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of, C L E A R I N G, New York

+/-, The Artist’s Institute, New York

2013

Time Machine, Fonds M-ARCO, Marseilles, France

Digital Infinity, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco

Rematerialized, New York Gallery/New Galerie, New York

Brand Innovations for Ubiquitous Authorship, (organized by Eva and Franco Mattes), Carroll/Fletcher, London

2012

Brand Innovations for Ubiquitous Authorship, (organized by Artie Vierkant), Higher Pictures, New York

Domino Effect, Catherine Bastide, Brussels, Belgium

Motion, Seventeen Gallery, London

In Practice: You never look at me from the place from which I see you, Sculpture Center, New York

Images Rendered Bare, Vacant, Recognizable, Stadium, New York

Jannic Yoray, Jeanette Mundt, Sean Raspet/ Gruppenaustellung 3, Société, Berlin

Synthetic Vertigo, Elaine, Basel

BCC#8, Control Room, Los Angeles 2011

Forms and Inflections, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco

Untitled Document, Tony Wight Gallery, Chicago

Discursive Arrangements, or Stubbornly Persistent Illusions, (curated by Timothy Hull and Lumi Tan) Klaus Von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York

2011

Forms and Inflections, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Untitled Document, Tony Wight Gallery, Chicago, IL

Discursive Arrangements, or Stubbornly Persistent Illusions, Klaus Von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY

2010

A Relative Expanse, Curated by Maxwel G. Graham, Renwick Gallery, New York, NY

The Morning News, Curated by Lumi Tan, BE-PART Contemporary Art Center, Waregem

2009

RU-486 at Artisterium, (curated by Benjamin Godsill), T’bilisi, Republic of Georgia

Exhibition, 211 Elizabeth St., New York

Convention, (curated by Ruba Katrib), MOCA Miami

If the Dogs are Barking, Artist’s Space, New York

To One Whose Love was Service, with Amir Mogharabi, Daniel Reich Gallery

1999, Ten Year Anniversary Show, China Art Objects, Los Angeles

The Shape of Things to Come, The Saatchi Gallery, London

A Starting Point: Intrude Art & Life 366, (retrospective exhibition selected from projects over the past year), Zendai MOMA, Shanghai

2008

Intrude: Art & Life 366, (curated by Biljana Ciric)

Zendai MOMA, Shanghai

Palm Beach Biennial, Gavlak, West Palm Beach

PDF (curated by Summer Guthry, Lumi Tan and Nicholas Weist), Various Locations

Without Walls, Museum 52, New York

Poster Project, Nine Things, Frankfurt

Whitney ISP Studio Practice Exhibition, New York

2007

Ilya Lipkin, Sean Raspet, Ned Vena, (organized by Arnd Seibert) Cohan and Leslie, New York

Untitled (Perfect Lovers), BC Project Room, New York

The Way Things Are, Daniel Reich Gallery, New York

Inaugural Exhibition, Museum 52, New York

2005

Cynisme, Atelier Ford, Geneva

2004

Cardboard Motherboard, Numbers Gallery, London

Writing and Publication

2016

“Towards an Olfactory Vocabulary System” Future Anterior, Columbia University (forthcoming) Artforum, Artist’s Artists

Raspet, Sean W. "Formulation 0.10." Berlin Biennale. Berlin Biennale, 08 June 2016

2013

Raspet, Sean, thehighlights.org,

“2GFR24SMEZZ2XMCVI5L8X9Y38ZJ2JD 25RZ6KW4ZMAZSLJ0GBH0WNNVRNO7GU 2MBYMNCWYB49QDK1NDO19JONS66QMB 2RCC26DG67D187N9AGRCWK2JIHA7E2 2H1G5TYMNCWYM81O4OJSPX11N5VNJ0″

Raspet, Sean, theivorytower.tv: “Beyond the Critical Economy: Kathryn Bigelow from Art & Language to Point Break”

(Untitled Sublet(2)) Sublease Template, Shifter Magazine

2010

"IMG MGMT: Untitled", Artfcity.com, October 11th

"No" INPUT Journal, 2 , (2010): pages 226 - 241

2009

"*: Example Contract", Art Economies beyond Pattern Recognition, ed. Biljana Ciric, Shanghai: Osage, 2009, 100 - 105

2008

Raspet, Sean "No", Farimani, Issue 1, (2008), pages 159 - 172

2007

A Parody of Existence, Artist Book


2024-09-27	James T. Hong at Argo Factory, Tehran
	I Am Standing in the Middle of the Information Highway and Laughing is a new exhibition curated by Raha Raissnia and Martin Germann, opening August 16 through October 18 at the Argo Factory in Tehran. Taking its title from late artist Jonas Mekas’ Manifesto Anti-100 years of Cinema, a performative exhibition in Tehran will unfold over two different episodes. Its main aim is to celebrate the unbound energy of collaborative work and friendship on the one hand and moments of reflection and stillness on the other. Its point of departure is the Manichean binary between darkness and light, as sine qua non condition for the existence of technologically mediated images. The second chapter of the exhibition, curated by Martin Germann, opens on Friday, September 27, with Marco Fusinato, James T. Hong, Tiffany Sia and Sam Lewitt. Read more …
2024-09-22	Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork in Slipper, Personal Space, Vallejo, California
	Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork is participting in the group exhibition Slipper at Personal Space, Vallejo, California. Featuring works by: David Bayus, Lemia Monet Bodden, Kari Cholnoky, Ximaps Dong, Erik Frydenborg, Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork, Albert Herter, Catalina Ouyang, and Elina Vainio. “Slipping between registers, like prophesy, some excessive field leaves deposits in our shared existence. It takes form, in the shape of slips of the tongue, or a slipped disc, articulated and yet still monstrous. The environment is overpopulated by tools and weapons that encode our lust or aggression into metal, plastic, or paper, infused with the unspeakable. Here is a collection of objects, of various media, that cannot be fully accounted for, that leave a remainder or lapsus, that aren’t completely discrete, and sit like cairns on a landscape, death’s representatives, recording trajectories between past and future. Marking the differences that matter, that can be utilized to situate oneself and guide a famished party. Small signs, like fragments of fossils, can refer to immensity.” – Albert Herter Read more …
2024-09-20	Vunkwan Tam in Improvisation at Inside Out Museum, Beijing, curated by Carol Yinghua Lu
	Improvisation is on view through January 19th, 2025 at the Inside Out Museum in Beijing. It was curated by Carol Yinghua Lu with Na Rongkun, Sining Zhu, Cao Liyao, Li Huiyi and Sun Yuhan. Participating artists and collectives include Cang Xin, Chen Liang, Chen Zhou, Ergao (He Qiwo), Gao Fu, He Liping, He Ruijun, Hu Yiyao, Liu Zhan, Luo Lin, M Art Group, Ma Liuming, Pak Sheung Chuen, Peng Xueying, Rong Rong, The Cement Park, Song Xiaohong, Song Dong, Vunkwan Tam, Tong Tianqing, Wang Shihua, Wang Sishun, Yorkson, Zhang Huan, Zhang Wei, Zhang Zhihui, Zhong Yunshu, Zhou Bin, Zhu Fadong, Zuoxiao Zuzhou. Improvisation is one of the characteristics of art, as well as a method of creative practice. It highlights an artistic process where the artist finishes their work immediately and swiftly, using everything at hand, when the inspiration, provoked by an external stimulus or an internal impulse, hits unpreparedly and uncontrollably. In the context of traditional Chinese music culture, due to its unique system of notation and inheritance, improvisation was once a ubiquitous technique in musical practice. Improvisation is a cross-cultural phenomenon that is probably as old as the human race. This is the reason why we encounter improvisation frequently throughout different historical moments and creative activities in the long history of art. From the Dada’s rejection of logic and introduction of chaos and irrationality into their creative practice, to the Situationists who, out of an ideal to fight against Capitalism’s alienation of the individual, advocated the pursuit of genuine desires, the experience of life, and the sense of adventure. People can see that improvisation is the method, the idea, the principle, and the real life itself. Read more …
2024-09-19	Empty Gallery Staff Announcement
	Empty Gallery is pleased to announce the appointment of Alexander Lau as senior director, and Kaitlin Chan as director. Lau has served as director of the gallery, and its associated label Empty Editions, for over nine years, and been foundational in the development of our exhibition program and artist roster. Based in New York and Hong Kong, Lau also sits on the board of Primary Information (NYC). Chan joined the gallery in 2020 as associate, and has since contributed to over ten exhibitions as an artist liaison, as well as through public programming, communications, art fairs and sales. Chan is also a cultural worker who creates comics and lectures on self-publishing amongst other topics.
2024-09-19	Henry Shum in Bodily Powers at Crèvecœur, Paris
	Bodily Powers is now on view at Galerie Crevecouer (9 rue des Cascades, Paris) through November 2, 2024. Participating artists include Koichi Enomoto, Ester Knapová, Stanislava Kovalcikova, Autumn Ramsey, Emma Reyes, Margaret Salmon and Henry Shum. Read more …
2024-09-17	Taro Masushio in formazione di forme.. curated by Matilde Guidelli-Guidi at Felix Gaudlitz, Vienna
	formazione di forme.. curated by Matilde Guidelli-Guidi at Felix Gaudlitz, Vienna, as part of curated by 2024, is on view from 17 September through October 19, 2024. The exhibition features works by Alighiero Boetti, Aria Dean, Taro Masushio, and Samson Young, chosen for their distinct approach to form-making. Masushio took the Untitled (Youth) pictures in San Francisco in the early aughts, at a time of youthful infatuation with the aesthetics and techniques of formalist photography. He shot the SoMa scene through that lens: analog camera and the zone system, the body flattened and closely cropped in black-and-white symmetries. Finding those negatives in his archive last summer arose feelings of embarrassment toward his puppy love days. An embarrassment that he worked through, coming face to face with that innocent attraction to formalism, and by extension to a younger self, that is akin to kink. So that in the printing process, he treated the negatives to further heighten the compositional elements in ways that replay the darkroom devotion of his youth. Masushio said: “Vis-à-vis my personal history, I want to propose a provocation of (modernist?) aesthetics and the taboo of being a formalist, which I thought was kind of kinky. (A kind of parallel between concept/ form vs norm/ taboo). But there is always a bit of embarrassment about making these kinds of (po-mo) gestures, too.” The form/ affect dyad shifts valence from attraction to embarrassment to kink in the reception of these works. Which is real? This fractal approach to the archive is typical of his overall method. An earlier body of work emerged from fortuitously finding, in a temporary lodging, a box of prints and recognizing them as the work of the late Jun’icha En’ya—an elusive figure and one of the earliest Japanese photographers of homoerotica. A visit to En’ya’s environs in Osaka generated Masushio’s works: photographs of pencil-traced snapshots that he furtively took in En’ya’s archives, and still-life pictures of the objects that En’ya owned or that he might have. Between Masushio and the En’ya “idea” there is no articulated relationship of influence. Form escapes filiation there: the pressure of the archival materials and the pencil pressing against paper. Read more …
2024-09-07	Tishan Hsu in Interface Remix, MoCA Toronto
	Tishan Hsu’s solo exhibition Interface Remix at MOCA Toronto opens to the public on Sunday, September 8.  “Interface Remix” showcases key works from the past five decades of Hsu’s career alongside never-before-seen creations that explore themes of transformation and alienation. In his first ever Canadian solo exhibition, Hsu’s groundbreaking work navigates the intersection of technology and the human body through his multidisciplinary practice spanning painting, sculpture, and installation. Hsu will also be in conversation with Alex Da Corte on September 8th at 2PM in an accompanying program. Read more …
2024-09-04	Works by Mickael Marman, Emmanuel Louisnord Desir, & Cici Wu at 47 Canal
	Cici Wu’s Lovers Revolt, Lovers Resolve (Reincarnations of Lantern), 2020, is now on view at 47 Canal through September 14 in a group presentation with Mickael Marman and Emmanuel Louisnord Desir. Read more …
2024-08-23	Jes Fan in Dream States, Groundspace of The Metropolitan Museum of Manila
	Jes Fan’s Bivalve II is now on view at Dream States, Groundspace of The Metropolitan Museum of Manila, through January 2025. Artists: Jes Fan, Katharina Grosse, Michael Ho, and Olafur Eliasson. Special thanks to Tim Tan.
2024-08-15	Raha Raissnia at Argo Factory, Pejman Foundation
	I Am Standing in the Middle of the Information Highway and Laughing is a new exhibition curated by Raha Raissnia and Martin Germann, opening August 16 through October 18 at the Argo Factory in Tehran. Taking its title from late artist Jonas Mekas’ Manifesto Anti-100 years of Cinema, a performative exhibition in Tehran will unfold over two different episodes. Its main aim is to celebrate the unbound energy of collaborative work and friendship on the one hand and moments of reflection and stillness on the other. Its point of departure is the Manichean binary between darkness and light, as sine qua non condition for the existence of technologically mediated images. For the first chapter of the exhibition, a number of artists have been carefully selected by Raha Raissnia to accompany two of her own works. In the spirit of Mekas’s Manifesto, they are all friends whom she has known personally from many years of living and working in New York City. Artists: Jonas Mekas, Raha Raissnia, Andrew Chalk, Pip Chodorov, Martha Colburn, Milton Cruz, Albert Herter, Andrew Lampert, Jeanne Liotta, Timo Van Luijk, Panagiotis Mavridis, Jordan Mintzer, Jason Babak Mohaghegh, Stom Sogo and Justina Zukauskaite Read more …

Bodily Powers is now on view at Galerie Crevecouer (9 rue des Cascades, Paris) through November 2, 2024.

Education

Public Collections

Public Projects

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions

Writing and Publication