Kerry Oliver-Smith

Background

About Kerry Oliver-Smith

Kerry Oliver-Smith is the Curator of Contemporary Art the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida. She oversees the museum’s contemporary collection in all media from 1945 to the present and has also curated and coordinated over sixty exhibitions. Her research interests focus on the juncture of art and politics, with an emphasis on photographic and film/video practice. Oliver-Smith has published and contributed to many publications including Swamp: On the Edge of Eden, Europa: Imagining the (Im) Possible and Cuba Avant-Garde. She has received several grants including two from the National Endowment of Art, two from the Andy Warhol Foundation and research grants from the University of Florida. Select exhibitions include The Architecture of Time in Video Installation, Terry Adkins Deeper Still Art, Media and Material Witness. Her exhibitions have traveled nationally and internationally. For over a decade, she curated RISK Cinema, an experimental and art film. Prior to serving as the curator of contemporary art the Harn, she served as the museum’s Curator of Education. Oliver-Smith was born in Argentina and brought up in Latin America. A founder and artistic co-director of Florida’s Hippodrome State Theatre, she has a degree in Film and Media Studies and has worked extensively in theatre and film including projects in the United States, England, Scotland and Spain.