Kirsty Ogg
Staff details
Kirsty is interested in the intersection of emerging art practice, arts education and access.
Kirsty Ogg is an independent curator, consultant and educator. She was Director of New Contemporaries (2013-’23), an organisation offering support and exposure to emerging artists. As Director, Kirsty significantly expanded the offer to artists, from the annual exhibition to encompass a range of other development opportunities.
Kirsty was Curator at Whitechapel Gallery, London (’09-’13) curating projects such as Claire Barclay’s Bloomberg Commission, Gerard Byrne’s mid-career survey and a historical exhibition of Karl Blossfeldt’s photography. She also re-launched Whitechapel’s open submission show as The London Open and worked with the Contemporary Art Society on a year-long series of collection displays. As former Director of The Showroom, London (1998-’08) Kirsty worked with artists including Barby Asante, Diann Bauer, Subodh Gupta and Eva Rothschild.
Prior to this, Kirsty was part of Transmission Gallery, Glasgow (’93-’96) before joining Norwich Gallery, Norwich (’96-’98).
Research interests
Kirsty is interested in the intersection of emerging art practice, arts education and access. These interests are framed by her background in grassroots DIY artist-led organisations and cultures. Understanding and overcoming the socio-economic, cultural and other systemic barriers, which currently exist that prevent the emergence of such activity or the progression of artists is a central concern.
In addition to Kirsty's work providing strategic and development support to artist-led organisations, she is currently exploring the parallels between artist-led cultures and pre-18th century egalitarian pirate communities. A central question is, what might the arts ecology learn from the ideas of radical democracy that were utilised in the Golden Age of Piracy, and how could these be applied to contemporary curatorial and institutional practices?
Publications and research outputs
Book
Ogg, Kirsty and McCormack, Séamus. 2019. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2019. London: New Contemporaries. ISBN 9780956613394
Gupta, Sunil; Singh, Radikal; Nasar, Hammad; Alam, Shahidul; Pinney, Christopher; Gadihoke, Sabeena and Kapur, Geeta. 2010. Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. London, UK: Whitechapel Gallery, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Steidl. ISBN 978-0-85488-179-6
Book Section
Reckitt, Helena. 2013. Gerard Byrne: Like a Man. In: Kirsty Ogg, ed. Gerard Byrne: A State of Neutral Pleasure. London and Stockholm: The Whitechapel Gallery, pp. 36-51. ISBN 978-0-85488-212-0
Martinon, Jean-Paul and Ogg, Kirsty. 2004. To Change an Opinion. In: , ed. The Showroom Annual 2003/4. The Showroom, pp. 25-29. ISBN 0952104040
Article
Ogg, Kirsty. 2009. Kola.
Ogg, Kirsty. 2000. Interview text, Jonathan Monk. Bildung exhibition catalogue,
Project
Ogg, Kirsty. 20 March - 30 May 2010 The Nature of the Beast: Meetings Archive;.
Exhibition Catalogue
Ogg, Kirsty. 2018. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2018.
Ogg, Kirsty. 2017. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2017.
Ogg, Kirsty. 2015. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2015 exhibition publication.
Show/Exhibition
Ogg, Kirsty. 2022. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022. In: "Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022", Humber Street Gallery, United Kingdom, 23 September - 27 November 2022 and 9 December 2022 - 12 March 2023.
Ogg, Kirsty. 2021. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2021. In: "Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2021", Firstsite, Colchester, United Kingdom, 25 September - 28 November 2021 and 10 December 2021 - 20 February 2022.
Ogg, Kirsty; da Cunha, Alexandre; Hamilton, Anthea and Sterling, Linder. 2021. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2020. In: "Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2020", South London Gallery, United Kingdom, 19 May - 6 June 2021.
Conference or Workshop Item
Ogg, Kirsty. 2024. 'What Can Contemporary Curatorial and Institutional Practices Learn From Pre-18th Century Egalitarian Pirate Communities?'. In: Vice-Chancellor's Lecture Series. Norwich University of the Arts, United Kingdom 9 May 2024.
Ogg, Kirsty; Watts, Jonathan P; Clayton, Kaavous; Devonshire, Julia; Exton, Maddie; Gardener, Phil and Leaman, Lawrence. 2024. 'Artist-Centred Methodologies (Or A Recent History of Artist-Led Activity In Norwich'. In: EASTinternational: Unpacking the Archive. Norwich University of the Arts, United Kingdom 13 January 2024.
Ogg, Kirsty; Jones, Rachel; Martin, Russell and Pennick, Ellie. 2022. 'Springboard (The Opportunities and Challenges on the Other Side of Graduation)'. In: Springboard (The Opportunities and Challenges on the Other Side of Graduation). Freelands Foundation, United Kingdom 19 November 2022.
Digital
Ogg, Kirsty; McCormack, Séamus; Richards, James; Ryan, Veronica and Xa, Zadie. 2022. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2022 Digital Platform.
Ogg, Kirsty; McCormack, Séamus; Locke, Hew; Shani, Tai and Williams Gamaker, Michelle. 2021. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2021 Digital Platform.
Ogg, Kirsty; McCormack, Séamus; da Cunha, Alexandre; Hamilton, Anthea; Sterling, Linder and Quaintance, Morgan. 2020. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2020 Digital Platform.
Edited Book
Ogg, Kirsty, ed. 2017. Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2017. London: New Contemporaries. ISBN 978-0-9566133-7-0
Ogg, Kirsty, ed. 2014. New Contemporaries Moving Image 1968 - 2010. London: New Contemporaries/LUX.
Ogg, Kirsty, ed. 2011. Shadow Spans; Claire Barclay. London: Whitechapel Gallery. ISBN 978-0-85488-191-8
Performance
Ogg, Kirsty; Browning, Jude; Cunningham, Lucy Rose; Dooley, Freya; Harvey, Malachy; Hermitt, Leo; Lewis, Ruby and Thurston, Nick. 2019. New Writing with New Contemporaries. In: "New Writing with New Contemporaries", Leeds Art Gallery, United Kingdom, 9 November 2019 and 25 January 2020.
Professional Activity
Ogg, Kirsty. 2024. Strategic and Development Support.
Ogg, Kirsty. 2021. External Examiner, MLitt Curatorial Practice Contemporary Art, Glasgow School of Art 2022-'25.
Ogg, Kirsty. 2018. External Examiner, Curating Contemporary Art MA, Royal College of Art 2018-'20.