Michael DiRisio has served as the Artistic Director of Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre and the Curatorial Assistant and Collections Archivist at Blackwood Gallery at the University of Toronto Mississauga. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Windsor and is currently completing a Juris Doctor at Western University, where he is the Information Officer for the Labour and Employment Law Society and a Staff Editor for the Western Journal of Legal Studies.
In 2018 he co-founded and co-directed Art & Social Strata: Conference + Artist Projects with Teresa Carlesimo, which addressed the formal, political, and ethical dimensions of socially and politically-engaged art practices. His writing has appeared in Art Papers, Afterimage Journal, C Magazine, BlackFlash, and Public Journal, among others, with current feature essays in Espace and Esse Magazine.
He has been an artist-in-residence in Castellví de la Marca, Spain and Reykjavik, Iceland. His work has appeared in exhibitions at Museum London, Artcite, Eyelevel Gallery, Workers' Arts & Heritage Centre, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, and Rodman Hall Art Centre.
Contact: mike.dirisio (at) gmail (dot) com
ESSE Magazine, Issue 103, Fall 2021
— I am pleased to have a feature essay titled "The Social Constellation of the Stadium" in the current issue of Esse, where I reflect on ways in which the stadium is represented in contemporary art as a space that houses a fractured and fragmented crowd, a sort of social constellation that belies the myth of the ordered assembly.
SDUK 06: FORGING, September 2019
— For my article Demon Copper I explore the social and material history of copper extraction, and reflect on the tension inherent in its use as a source of renewable energy.
Workers Arts & Heritage Centre, May 10-August 16, 2019
— My solo exhibition and research project Archiving Unrest critically reflects on democratic forms of unrest and assembly, while considering the influence that records and archives of these collective actions have on the ways in which we understand and value these events.
You can listen to a conversation between Anthony Marco, Hitoko Okada, and myself for the Talking is Dead podcast.
Writing
(click on underlined text to access full texts)
Chemical Compounds: Acceleration and Hyper-Production in Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens' Visions of a Sleepless World, Espace Magazine, Issue 120, Fall 2018
Administrative Logics in the Work of Jo-Anne Balcaen and Anne-Marie Proulx, Esse Magazine, Issue 94: Labour, Fall 2018
Assembling the Post-Fordist Social Factory, Espace Magazine, Issue 116, Spring 2017
Review of Troubler la fête, rallumer notre joie/To Spoil the Party, To Set Our Joy Ablaze (2016) and Survey for Cultural Workers/Questionnaire pour travailleurs culturels (2015), Journal of Curatorial Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2018
Becoming Geologic, BlackFlash Magazine, Issue 34.3, Spring 2017 (with Teresa Carlesimo)
Collective Projections and the Politics of Place, ETC Media, Issue 106, 2016
Value and Obsolescence: Penelope Umbrico's Haunted Screens, BlackFlash Magazine, Issue 33.1, Winter 2016
Circulation and Contradiction in Adrian Blackwell's Furnishing Positions, esse, Issue 84, 2015
Silence, Solidarity, and the Spectacularization of Protest: Dylan Miner at Martha Street Studio, Breach Magazine, Issue 2, September 2015
Liberty Lost: On Economic Crisis and the Suppression of Dissent, esse, Issue 77, 2013
Mary Tremonte: Reconstructing the Commons, On Site review, Issue 30, 2013
Thomas Hirschhorn: On Hyperconsumption and Resistance, esse, Issue 75, 2012
Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens: Putting Life to Work, PUBLIC Journal, Issue 54, 2016
Play Precarity and Survival, PUBLIC Journal, Issue 52, 2015
Depth of Perception, Afterimage Journal, 42.6, 2015
Angelica Mesiti: Citizens Band and Prepared Piano for Movers (Haussman), The Senses & Society, 10.2
Editorial
Syphon, Issue 4.0, Fall 2017 (Co-Editor with Genevieve Flavelle)
Syphon, Issue 3.4, Spring 2017 (Editor)
Syphon, Issue 3.3, Fall 2016 (Co-Editor with Jon Lockyer)
Syphon, Issue 3.2, Spring 2016 (Editor)
Education
Juris Doctor, Western University (expected 2023)
Master of Fine Arts, University of Windsor, 2013
Bachelor of Arts, Visual Arts and Philosophy (Honours), Brock University, 2010
Published Writing (selected)
2018
"Administrative Logics in the Work of Jo-Anne Balcaen and Anne-Marie Proulx," esse arts + opinions, Issue 94 (Feature Essay)
"Chemical Compounds: Acceleration and Hyper-production in Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens' Visions of a Sleepless World," Espace, Issue 120 (Feature Essay)
"Review of Troubler la fête, rallumer notre joie/To Spoil the Party, To Set Our Joy Ablaze (2016) and Survey for Cultural Workers/Questionnaire pour travailleurs culturels (2015)," Journal of Curatorial Studies (Review)
2017
"Becoming Geologic: Representations of Stones in Contemporary Art," BlackFlash Magazine, 34.3 (co-authored with Teresa Carlesimo) (Feature Essay)
"Assembling the Post-Fordist Social Factory," Espace Magazine, 116 (Feature Essay)
2016
"Counterpoint: Hyang Cho," Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre (Exhibition Essay)
"Putting Life to Work: Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens," PUBLIC Journal, 54 (Review)
"Mobile Autonomy: Excercises in Artists' Self-Organization," Prefix Photo, 33 (Review)
2015
"Play, Precarity and Survival: Aceart Inc.," PUBLIC Journal, 52 (Review)
"Value & Obsolescence: Penelope Umbrico's Haunted Screens," BlackFlash Magazine, 33.1
“Abbas Akhavan: variations on a garden, Mercer Union,” Art Papers, November/December (Review)
“Collective Projections and the Politics of Place,” ETC Magazine, Fall 2016
“20/20: Vision/Hindsight,” Workers Arts & Heritage Centre (Exhibition Essay)
“Silence, Solidarity and the Spectacularization of Protest: Dylan Miner at Martha Street Studio,” Breach Magazine, 2
“On the Labour of Collaboration,” in Neighbourhood Spaces, Arts Council Windsor & Region (Book Chapter)
“Angela Mesiti: Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal,” The Senses & Society Journal,
Vol. 10, No. 1 (Review)
“The Unfinished Conversation: The Power Plant,” Art Papers, May/June (Review)
“Circulation and Contradiction in Adrian Blackwell's Furnishing Positions,” Esse Magazine, 84
“Depth of Perception: Oakville Galleries,” Afterimage Journal, Vol. 42, No. 6 (Review)
2014
“Kim Adams: One for the Road, Art Gallery of Hamilton,” Fuse Magazine (Online Review)
“Barriers and Burnout: Arts Labour and Collective Action,” Kapsula Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 3
“Living as Form: Socially Engaged Art from 1991-2011,” Public Journal, 48 (Review)
“It's the Political Economy, Stupid: The Global Financial Crisis in Art and Theory,” C Magazine, 121 (Review)
“Mayworks: Against the Erasure of Working Class Culture,” Kapsula Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 8
2013
C Study Guide for Issue 119, "Residencies," C Magazine (Online)
“Mary Tremonte: Reconstructing the Commons,” Onsite Review, 30
“Liberty Lost: On Economic Crisis and the Suppression of Dissent,” Esse Magazine, 77
“Space, Capital and Production in Social Art Practices,” 1W3KND: On Social Practice and Collaboration, Broken City Lab (Book Chapter)
“Kika Thorne: The WILDcraft, Art Gallery of Windsor,” C Magazine, 117 (Review)
2012
“Art & Multitude by Antonio Negri,” Public Journal, 46 (Review)
“Thomas Hirschhorn on Hyperconsumption and Resistance,” Esse Magazine, 75
Relevant Experience
Curatorial Assistant and Collections Archivist, Blackwood Gallery, 2018-present
Board of Directors, Factory Media Centre, 2019-present
Artistic Director, Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, 2015-2018
Board of Directors, ARCCO, 2018-2019
Co-Director, Art & Social Strata Conference + Artist Projects, 2017
Advertising Sales, C Magazine, 2014-18
Digital Projects Coordinator, C Magazine, 2013-14
Staff Writer, Brock Press, 2005-2010
Exhibitions (selected)
2019
more light than heat, Rodman Hall Art Centre, St. Catharines, ON (with Teresa Carlesimo)
Archiving Unrest, Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, Hamilton, ON
2018
contact landing(s), Thames Art Gallery, Chatham-Kent, ON
2017
the colder the air, Gallery SÍM, Reykjavik, Iceland
a form of formlessness, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, ON
Halifax Mayworks Festival, Halifax, NS
2016
The Daily Grind, Museum London, London, ON
20/20 Vision / Hindsight, Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, Hamilton, ON
2015
Are we there yet?, Propeller Gallery, Toronto, ON
Homegrown Park Crawl, David Suzuki Foundation, Toronto, ON
2013
Precariat, Artcite Inc., Windsor, ON
The Things We Own, SOVA Projects Gallery, Windsor, ON
Common Goods, Artspeak Gallery, Windsor, ON
2012
Building relationships with cinder blocks, Eyelevel Gallery, Halifax, NS
HERE / NOW, SOVA Projects Gallery, Windsor, ON
Small Feats, Niagara Artists Centre, St. Catharines, ON
Open, Mackenzie Hall, Windsor, ON
2010
Said the Attic, Rodman Hall Arts Centre, St. Catharines, ON
Grants, Awards and Residencies
Artist-in-Residence, _Hannacc, Barcelona, Spain, 2018
Artist-in-Residence, Sím (Samband íslenskra myndlistarmanna / Association of Icelandic Artists), Reykjavik, Iceland, 2017
Exhibition Assistance, Ontario Arts Council, 2012, 2015, 2017
Visual Arts Projects Grant, Ontario Arts Council, 2016 for Art & Social Strata: Conference + Artist Projects
1W3KND: Social Practice and Collaboration Residency, Broken City Lab, 2013
Conference Travel Grant, University of Windsor, 2013
Entrance Scholarship, University of Windsor, 2011
Entrepreneurial Grant, Ministry of Economic Development, Ontario, 2011
Studio Award, Rodman Hall Art Centre, 2010
Returning Scholars Award, Brock University, 2009