Justin Brice Guariglia
Responsibility
Statement
Biography
Frequently collaborating with scientists, poets, and philosophers, Guariglia’s research-based practice bridges art and science, catalyzing vital dialogue around ecological themes. Through methodical investigation and creative translation, his work seeks to challenge viewers to perceive our environment through new lenses—transforming abstract ecological concepts into visceral experiences that can be felt rather than merely understood.
Encountering artwork in cultural institutions, unexpected places, or at unexpected moments, has a unique impact on engaging the viewer’s attention, instigating conversation and, ideally, cultural progression. Guariglia’s work does not merely convey information—he seeks to disrupt everyday life, and plant an “ecological thought” in the viewer’s mind.
Notable collaborations include a series of missions flown with NASA¹ scientists beginning in 2015 to document Greenland’s rapidly changing ice, images used as foundational source material in his paintings and prints. In Guariglia’s recent public artworks, he has collaborated with activists like Greta Thunberg, writers including Zadie Smith, Craig Santos Perez, and Mariam Womack, and Indigenous Elders from across the globe on excerpts used in series, REDUCE SPEED NOW!, WE ARE THE ASTEROID, and ECO-HAIKUS FOR MARQUEES. The public nature of Guariglia’s installation work, notability his 2019 Earth Day take over of London’s Somerset House courtyard show, REDUCE SPEED NOW!, offers a democratic, accessible way to challenge prevailing narratives. By making ecological issues tangible and immediate, his works aim to elevate public consciousness and inspire meaningful action beyond gallery walls. Public works have been displayed with Storm King Art Center, Kunsthal KAdE, Netherlands, MAAM, Boston, and a breadth of important institutions across the United States.
As Beatrice Galilee, Daniel Brodsky Associate Curator of Architecture and Design at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, said on Justin Brice Guariglia’s body of work, “...the cognitive dissonance on these issues is so great, artists like Justin can provide something to hold onto.” ²
Justin Brice Guariglia (b. 1974, Maplewood, New Jersey) lives and works in New York City. He earned his BFA from Wake Forest University and participated in study programs with Capital Normal University, Beijing, China, and Casa Artom, Venice, Italy. Notable solo exhibitions include REDUCE SPEED NOW!, Somerset House (London); Earth Works: Mapping the Anthropocene, Norton Museum of Art (West Palm Beach) and Fisher Museum (Los Angeles); Baked Alaska: A Community Response, Anchorage Museum; Topographies of the Anthropocene, Lincoln Center (New York). Guariglia’s work has been included in the 2019 Venice Biennale (official collateral event); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; Storm King Arts Center; Anderson Ranch; and Colby College Museum of Art, among others. His 2018 public art project Climate Signals produced by the Climate Museum, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of NYC, and was seen across all 5 boroughs of New York City.
Guariglia is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Howard Foundation Fellow at Brown University, a New York Foundation for the Arts Finalist, and shortlisted for the COAL Art and Environment Prize (France) awarded to artists working to address ecological issues. He held the title of Senior Fellow and Artist-in-Residence at the climate change think tank Woodwell Climate Research Center (fka Woods Hole Research Center), and is a Distinguished Fellow and Special Envoy to the Ecological Crisis at the Pratt School of Architecture.
1. Hilary M. Sheets, New York Times, Art and Science Meld as NASA Announces a New Artist Collaboration, Sept 16, 2016
2. Ted Loos, New York Times, A Man on an Eco-Mission in Mixed Media, Aug 29, 2017
For inquiries within BENELUX, please contact Maruani Mercier Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Avenue Louise 430, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
+32 2 512 50 10
Avenue Louise 430, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
+32 2 512 50 10