Constantina Zavitsanos Explained

Constantina Zavitsano
Nationality:	American
Education:	Millersville University, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Awards:	Wynn Newhouse Award (2015)

Constantina Zavitsanos is a conceptual artist.^[1] Their works are organized around themes of planning, contingency, debt, dependency and care.^[2] Zavitsanos is a part of disability community as a care provider and recipient. They live in New York City and teach at The New School.

Education

Zavitsanos is a graduate of Millersville University, where they received a B.F.A., and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where they received an M.F.A.^[3]

Career

Zavitsanos has had many exhibitions^[4] including:

• Coop Fund, Amalle Dublon & Constantina Zavitsanos, Devin Kenny, John Neff. Artists Space. New York, 2018.^[5]
• Challenge 3. The Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial. Philadelphia, PA, 2009.

Zavitsanos has participated in several artist residencies. In March–September 2015, Zavitsanos held a residency at The New Museum, where they curated a series of collaborative events with artists Reina Gossett, Park McArthur, Caroline Key, and Soyoung Yoon, and academics Stefano Harney, Fred Moten, and Denise Ferreira da Silva.^[6] In 2017, they and collaborator Amalle Dubon participated in the Engaged Social Justice Residency Program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.^[7]

They are a recipient of the 2015 Wynn Newhouse Award presented to disabled artists.^[8] They received the 2021 Roy Lichtenstein Award.^[9] Zavitsanos was also the 2021-22 Keith Haring Fellow.^{[10] [11]}

Notable works

• It was what I wanted now was nearly invisible (2013) is a stack of papers next to a wall. Four- and five-digit-long numbers are printed on the paper tracking Zavitsanos’ projected student loan debt over the next 25 years and the minimum income necessary to make monthly loan payments. Corinna Kirsch of ArtFCity has described the work as a strong statement with limited means. As Kirsch put it, "if a loan officer handed me thousands of pages showing my future indebtedness, I might’ve rethought signing away my future."^[12]
• Sweepstakes (2015) Zavitsanos was a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit brought against the New York Police Department for wrongful arrest during the 2004 GOP convention in New York. New York City settled the case in 2015. Zavitsanos incorporated her settlement into the art work "Sweepstakes" at the New Museum where viewers were given a portion of the settlement on a daily basis.^[13]

Partial Bibliography

• “Other Forms of Conviviality” with Park McArthur for Women and Performance: a journal of feminist theory (2013)^{[14] [15]}
• “The Guild of the Brave Poor Things” with Park McArthur in Trap Door: Trans Cultural Production and the Politics of Visibility (MIT Press, 2018)^[16]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Frank . Priscilla . 4 September 2015 . 'Body Utopia' Explores The Explosive Beauty Of Nonconforming Bodies . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230201234837/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/body-utopia_n_55e883b3e4b0aec9f3568080 . 1 February 2023 . 13 March 2024 . . en.
2. Web site: 26 March 2015 . Announcements - Spring 2015 R&D Season: SPECULATION - New Museum . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230614212417/https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/29787/spring-2015-r-d-season-speculation/ . 14 June 2023 . 13 March 2024 . . en.
3. Web site: 6 May 2009 . Fleisher Art Memorial Features Artists Johanna Inman, Yvonne Lung and Constantina Zavitsanos . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240314011431/https://artdaily.cc/news/30677/Fleisher-Art-Memorial-Features-Artists-Johanna-Inman--Yvonne-Lung-and-Constantina-Zavitsanos . 14 March 2024 . 16 March 2019 . Artdaily.
4. Web site: Constantina Zavitsanos . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230603003905/https://www.centerforthehumanities.org/programming/participants/constantina-zavitsanos . 3 June 2023 . 13 March 2024 . The Center for the Humanities . en-US.
5. Web site: Iadarola . Alexander . 21 March 2018 . Coop Fund, Amalle Dublon & Constantina Zavitsanos, Devin Kenny, John Neff, Artists Space, New York . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231204022229/https://www.moussemagazine.it/magazine/coop-fund-amalle-dublon-constantina-zavitsanos-devin-kenny-john-neff-artists-space-new-york/ . 4 December 2023 . 16 March 2019 . Mousse Magazine . en.
6. Web site: 2015 . Spring 2015 R&D Season: SPECULATION . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231205230051/https://www.newmuseum.org/pages/view/speculation . 5 December 2023 . 13 March 2024 . . en.
7. Web site: In-Residence @ UBC - Engaged Social Justice Residency Program . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190719201458/https://grsj.arts.ubc.ca/in-residence-ubc/ . 19 July 2019 . 16 March 2019 . The Social Justice Institute . . Previous Residents: Amalle Dubon & Constantina Zavitsanos (Winter 2017).
8. Web site: Constantina Zavitsanos . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190104085751/http://www.wnewhouseawards.com/constantinazavitsanos.html . 4 January 2019 . 13 March 2024 . Wynn Newhouse Award.
9. Web site: 2021 . Constantina Zavitsanos FCA Grant Recipient . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231205184431/https://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/recipients/constantina-zavitsanos/ . 5 December 2023 . 13 March 2024 . Foundation for Contemporary Arts.
10. Web site: 2022 . The Keith Haring Lecture in Art and Activism: Constantina Zavitsanos . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220302213919/https://ccs.bard.edu/events/508-constantina-zavitsanos . 2 March 2022 . 2024-03-14 . . . en.
11. Web site: 27 September 2021 . Artist Constantina Zavitsanos Appointed as 2021–22 Keith Haring Fellow in Art and Activism at Bard College . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240205211142/https://www.bard.edu/news/artist-constantina-zavitsanos-appointed-as-2021-22-keith-haring-fellow-in-art-and-activism-at-bard-college-2021-09-27 . 5 February 2024 . 13 March 2024 . . en.
12. Web site: Kirsch . Corinna . 14 June 2013 . Looking at Our Financial Future: The 2013 Whitney ISP Studio Exhibition . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230321015209/http://artfcity.com/2013/06/14/looking-at-our-financial-future-the-2013-whitney-isp-studio-exhibition/ . 21 March 2023 . 13 March 2024 . ArtFCity . en-US.
13. Web site: 4 July 2015 . Constantina Zavitsanos, Sweepstakes, 2015 . registration . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20151019184335/http://newmuseum.tumblr.com/post/123200412337/constantina-zavitsanos-sweepstakes-2015-visa . 19 October 2015 . 13 March 2024 . . Tumblr.
14. Web site: Cassell . Dessane Lopez . 13 April 2020 . Meet the NYC Art Community: Constantina Zavitsanos Wants Us to 'Care for One Another and IDGAF How Silly That Sounds' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240105215559/https://hyperallergic.com/554310/meet-the-nyc-art-community-constantina-zavitsanos-wants-us-to-care-for-one-another-and-idgaf-how-silly-that-sounds/ . 5 January 2024 . 13 March 2024 . . en-US.
15. McArthur . Park . Park McArthur . Zavitsanos . Constantina . March 2013 . Other forms of conviviality: The best and least of which is our daily care and the host of which is our collaborative work . Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory . en . 23 . 1 . 126–132 . 10.1080/0740770X.2013.827376 . 0740-770X . 5149560918.
16. Book: McArthur . Park . Park McArthur . Trap Door: Trans Cultural Production and the Politics of Visibility . Zavitsanos . Constantina . . 2018 . 9780262036603 . Tourmaline . Tourmaline (activist) . Cambridge, MA . 235–254 . en . The Guild of the Brave Poor Things . 1408114984 . Stanley . Eric A. . Burton . Johanna.