b. 1987, California, USA; lives and works in Philadelphia, U.S.

Spanning sculpture, installation, video, and photography, Carolyn Lazard's work delves into the operational dynamics of cultural institutions, particularly their extractive tendencies. By scrutinizing these institutions through the prisms of gender, race, and disability, Lazard discerns a recurring pattern wherein museums often co-opt the critical essence of contemporary art, presenting it as a performative gesture rather than a genuine commitment to structural transformation. Lazard's body of work exacts the artist's gaze on the intricate politics surrounding ecologies of care. Within this context, they propose alternative avenues for conceiving structural equity while challenging the ableist fixation on productivity and consumption within a capitalist framework. Acknowledging that capitalism imposes ableist expectations on both bodies and objects, Lazard's art aims to disrupt conventional notions of utility and use, fostering a productive queering of these concepts.

Recent solo shows include Long Take, ICA Philadelphia, Philadelphia; Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham: Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis (2023); Hintertür, Kunstverein Braunschweig, Braunschweig (2021); SYNC, Maxwell Graham/Essex Street, New York (2020); and Epigenetic: Juliana Huxtable and Carolyn Lazard, Shoot the Lobster, New York (2018). Recent group shows include World as diagram, work as dance, Emalin, London (2023); on affairs, Halle für Kunst Steiermark, Graz (2023); Changes, Mumok, Vienna (2023); Beneath Tongues, Swiss Institute, New York (2022); The Milk of Dreams, 59th International Art Exhibition at la Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2022); While we are embattled, Para Site, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong (2022); An apology, a pill, a ritual, a resistance, Remain Modern, Saskatoon (2021); Crip Time, Museum Für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2021); Greater New York, MoMA PS1, Long Island City (2021); Zeros and Ones, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2021); Antibodies, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2020); The Body Electric, Miami Dade College Galleries of Art + Design, Miami (2020); Civic Duty, Cell Project Space, London (2019); Colored People Time, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2019); Whitney Biennial, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2019); If you can’t share no one gets any, Carolyn Lazard and Collective Text, LUX, London (2018); Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon, New Museum, New York (2017); Care, a Rehearsal for a Performance, Roots and Culture, Chicago (2016); and Canaries, Cleopatra’s, Brooklyn (2014).

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