Sharon Lockhart

Sharon Lockhart
Name	Sharon Lockhart
Birth date	1964
Birth place	Norwood, Massachusetts, United States
Nationality	American
Field	Photography, Film, Video, Installation
Training	California Institute of the Arts, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Sharon Lockhart is an American artist known for her work in photography, film, and installation, notable for long-duration single-take films, carefully composed multi-channel projections, and documentary-based projects. Her practice often explores labor, pedagogy, community, and the material conditions of making through collaborations with performers, students, and institutions. Lockhart's works have been shown internationally at major museums, biennials, and festivals, and are held in prominent collections.

Early life and education

Lockhart was born in Norwood, Massachusetts and trained in the United States, studying at California Institute of the Arts and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. During her formative years she encountered artists and educators associated with Fluxus, Minimalism, and Conceptual art, and was influenced by film and photographic practices emerging from New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Her education put her in contact with curators and critics from institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and major university art departments including Yale University, Columbia University, and University of California, Los Angeles.

Artistic practice and themes

Lockhart's practice integrates references to cinema, studio practice, and site-specific research, working with performers from communities linked to Poland, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and various United States cities. She often foregrounds craftsmanship and modes of instruction found in places like dance studios, industrial workshops, and public schools, engaging with institutions such as the Tate Modern, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and Fondation Cartier. Her films use formal strategies related to Andrei Tarkovsky, Chantal Akerman, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Ken Jacobs, while her photographic tableaux recall concerns visible in the work of Walker Evans, August Sander, Diane Arbus, and Edward Hopper. Lockhart examines labor and training through relationships with organizations including UNESCO, European Cultural Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and regional arts councils like Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

Major works and series

Notable projects include multichannel works and single-take films such as films documenting choreography and vocational activity, echoing traditions seen in works by Yvonne Rainer, Pina Bausch, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, and Trisha Brown. Her series of portraits and tableaux reference historical projects by Claude Cahun, August Sander, and Beatrice Wood, while her moving-image pieces dialog with the structural film lineage of Hollis Frampton and Michael Snow. Lockhart's collaborations with educational institutions produced works that parallel documentary engagements by Jean Rouch, Robert Flaherty, and Frederick Wiseman. She has made projects in cities and regions including Nagasaki, Calexico, Łódź, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brussels, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, Kraków, Lviv, Milan, Turin, Naples, Bologna, Florence, Venice, Zurich, Geneva, Lima, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Cairo, Istanbul, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Mumbai, Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, and Hiroshima.

Exhibitions and retrospectives

Her work has been shown at international biennials and survey exhibitions including the Venice Biennale, Documenta, Berlin Biennale, Sao Paulo Biennial, Whitney Biennial, Asia Pacific Triennial, and major museums such as the Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Centre Pompidou, Kunstmuseum Basel, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Hammer Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, High Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and Jewish Museum New York. Solo retrospectives and career surveys have appeared at institutions like K21 Düsseldorf, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Palacio de Velázquez, MACBA Barcelona, and national art museums in Poland and Japan.

Awards and recognitions

Lockhart has received fellowships and awards from organizations including the Guggenheim Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Council on Foreign Relations fellowships, and prizes administered by institutions such as Prix Marcel Duchamp, Hasselblad Foundation, Wolf Prize, Praemium Imperiale, and various state arts councils. She has been honored with artist residencies at Getty Research Institute, Bellagio Center, Civitella Ranieri, Copeland Fellowship, and European programs like DAAD and Fondation Royaumont.

Teaching and collaborations

Lockhart has held teaching positions and visiting professorships at universities and schools including California Institute of the Arts, Yale University School of Art, Columbia University School of the Arts, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Los Angeles, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Cooper Union, Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, Royal Danish Academy, Akademie der bildenden Künste München, and conservatories such as Juilliard School and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her collaborative projects have involved choreographers, composers, and educators from institutions including Batsheva Dance Company, Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and filmmakers associated with Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, and Tribeca Film Festival.

Collections and legacy

Works by Lockhart are in public collections at the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, National Gallery of Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, J. Paul Getty Museum, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Philadelphia Museum of Art, High Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and numerous university and municipal collections across Europe, North America, Asia, and South America. Her influence is discussed alongside contemporaries such as Ragnar Kjartansson, Taryn Simon, Thomas Struth, Candida Höfer, and Tacita Dean in texts produced by curators from MoMA, Tate Modern, Pinault Collection, Dia Art Foundation, and academic presses.

Category:American contemporary artists Category:Film artists