Art research

As one of the leading art departments in the world, we promote an experimental, intersectional, and interdisciplinary approach to art making, curation, criticism, and pedagogy in our research-intensive university. We are proud to exhibit wide-ranging contributions to contemporary art—from artistic and curatorial interventions to symposia, socially engaged practices, reading groups, public outreach, and publishing.

Creating lively exchanges and collaborations between students, tutors, workshop leaders, visiting tutors, early career researchers, curators, critics, and writers, we believe that theory and practice go hand in hand, and we care deeply about the effects and benefits of our research beyond academia.

The impact of our work

Our work is widely exhibited, performed, and screened—in national and international solo and group shows, at the Barbican, Tate Modern, Somerset House, The Serpentine, Gasworks, and major biennials and festivals such as Documenta, Venice Biennial, and the BFI London Film Festival. We have curated shows at The Drawing Room; British Art Show; Dunkirk Art & Industry Triennial; and elsewhere.

Staff, students, and alumni are regularly shortlisted for or have won The Turner Prize; and other significant prizes, such as the Frieze Artist Award, The Film London Jarman Award and Stanley Picker Arts Fellowship. Numerous staff members have received major grants and funding from the British Academy, Horizon Europe, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Canada Council for the Arts, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, and their works are represented in important collections, such as Arts Council Collection; British Council; Tate; MoMA; the Beinecke Library at Yale; Migros Collection; the Guggenheim; Frac des Pays De La Loire, FR; Aïshti Foundation, Beirut, LB.

Our research and creative work have been published by prestigious academic presses as well as highly regarded independent publishers and art magazines, such as Art Monthly, Stanford University Press, Bookworks; frieze; Bloomsbury, Sternberg Press, Hayward Publishing, Mousse Publishing, Art Review, Ma Bibliotheque, The White Review, Walter Koenig/Serpentine Gallery. Many staff members have an interest in experimental education and have worked with TOMA (The Other MA), Rupert’s Alternative Education Programme, and Open School East, Margate.

The department has its own internationally renowned gallery, Goldmiths CCA, and maintains strong links with local galleries (South London Gallery, Matt’s Gallery), and libraries such as the Women’s Art Library (for example, in the form of The Women of Colour Index Reading Group).

You can find out more about individual department members’ practices, exhibitions, publications, teaching and research interests on their staff profiles.

Research support

Research at Goldsmiths is dynamically supported by a Director of Research, two Deputy Directors of Research, a Research Committee, a Research and Knowledge Exchange Team, and Impact Officer, and exists within a larger ecosystem of research activity across College. The Art Department benefits from 10 Art Practice Areas (Constructed Textiles, Media Research, Metal, Fine Art Print, Photography, Print and Dye, Woodwork, Casting, Stitch and Fabric, 3D Printing) as a site for staff and student research.

We also have a Neurodiversity Working Group, which forms part of our commitment to improving the learning and research environment for all. We are an ambitious department and always welcome rigorous and inventive applications for doctoral and postdoctoral research and senior research collaborations through UKRI, the British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, Horizon Europe, and other funding bodies.

MPhil/PhD in Art

Our MPhil/PhD Art is a 3-4 year (full-time) or 6-8 year (part-time) research project, the pursuit of which may involve your already-established practice or may require the development of new modes of practice specific to the project.

Read about our MPhil/PhD Art.

See the work of our current MPhil and PhD students and our past research students.