esther [at] estherchoi [dot] net
Esther Choi is a multidisciplinary artist and writer. Her research-based practice––spanning photography, moving image installation, experimental pedagogy, and historical scholarship––explores the politics of worldmaking as they relate to social, economic, and climatory realities; the design and abstraction of nature and human nature; and the intersections between art, architecture, and the biological sciences.
In 2020, she conceived of Office Hours, a BIPOC-led experiment in radical pedagogy as artistic practice. Office Hours has hosted 38+ events centered on the sharing of liberatory worldmaking knowledge amongst BIPOC cultural practitioners; these sessions have been attended by 2000+ people of the global majority in over 20 nations and countries.
She has exhibited at Texas State Galleries; University of Tennessee, Knoxville; The Camera Club of New York; Angell Gallery, Toronto; Fonderie Darling , Montréal; Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery, Montréal; Galerie Thérèse Dion, Montréal; Venice Biennale 14th International Architecture; Lisbon Triennial; and other venues. Her work has been featured in 032C, Elephant, Artnet, PIN-UP, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Architectural Digest, and more. Choi is the creator of the artist's book Le Corbuffet (Prestel, 2019), which was nominated for a James Beard Award for photography.
Choi's writing has been published in periodicals such as Artforum, E-Flux Architecture, Art Papers, Journal of Architectural Education, Architectural Review, and SSENSE. She the coeditor of two anthologies: Architecture At the Edge of Everything Else (MIT Press, 2010) and Architecture Is All Over (Columbia U, 2017).
Choi has received awards, grants, and fellowships for her work from: the Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Council for the Arts, The Asian American Arts Alliance, Graham Foundation, Getty Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies, Society of Architectural Historians, and The Ford Foundation, among others. She was a 2019 Resident of the Richard Rogers Fellowship in London, UK.
From 2022-2023, Choi will be a Getty/ACLS Postdoctoral Fellow. Choi is an Adjunct Associate Professor at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. She holds a PhD from Princeton University and degrees from Harvard University (MDes), Concordia University (MFA), and Toronto Metropolitan University (BFA).
- Education
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2019
Ph.D., History and Theory of Architecture, Princeton University
• Dissertation was awarded the David S Brownlee Award from the Society of Architectural Historians -
2008
MDes (AP), History and Theory of Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design
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2007
MFA, Photography/ Studio Arts, Concordia University
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2001
BFA, Photography, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Recent & Forthcoming Exhibitions
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2021
Modern Societies I, Texas State Galleries, TX (Solo). Jan. 19–April 11, 2021
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2020
Prints from Der Mensch, University of Tennessee, TN (Solo. Jan. 27-Feb. 21, 2020.
- Recent Writing
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2022
"Keywords," PIN-UP Magazine (Summer 2022). Print.
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2022
"Life, In Theory: The Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies," in Radical Pedagogies, eds. Beatriz Colomina, Ignacio G. Galán, Evangelos Kotsioris, Anna-Maria Meister (Cambridge: MIT Press).
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2021
“New Forms of Articulation: Sumayya Vally in conversation with Esther Choi,” Deem Journal. (2021).
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2021
"The Interpretation", Solicited: proposals, E-flux Architecture and ArkDes, Print and Web.
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2019
“Sustainability’s Image Problem.” Library Stack for the Oslo Architecture Triennale.
- Publications
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2019
Artist Book –
Le Corbuffet: Edible Art and Design Classics (Prestel) -
2017
Edited Volume –
Architecture Is All Over, coeditor (Columbia U; with Marrikka Trotter) -
2010
Edited Volume –
Architecture At the Edge of Everything Else, co-editor (MIT Press; with Marrikka Trotter,)
- Selected Bibliography
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2021
Jess Myers, "Conversation: Esther Choi," Dwell Magazine (Sept./ Oct. 2021): 44–45. Print.
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2021
Leilah Stone, "Low Ego, High Impact," Metropolis Magazine (July/ August 2021). Print.
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2021
Wanda Lau, "Esther Choi: Courage Is a Muscle," Architect Magazine, June 21, 2021.
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2021
Jack Balderamma Morley, "The second season of Office Hours promises more opportunities for young BIPOC designers." The Architect's Newspaper. (March 4, 2021). Print and web.
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2020
“Office Hours is shifting the landscape for BIPOC creatives,” Architizer.
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2020
"Still Life With Fly Swatter, or Hourglass, or Lemons," T: The New York Times Style Magazine
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2020
"All you can read," Art Review
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2020
"Meet Esther Choi, Artist and Author of Subversive Cookbook 'Le Corbuffet'," PIN-UP
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2020
"Punishable: Esther Choi Eats Our Idols," 032c, Issue 37 (Winter 2019/20): 292–93. Print.
- Selected Awards, Fellowships & Grants
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2022
Ford Foundation Arts Futures Grant (for Office Hours)
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2022
Getty/ ACLS Postdoctoral Fellowship
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2021
David B. Brownlee Dissertation Award, Society of Architectural Historians
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2021
Canada Council for the Arts, Research-Creation Grant
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2020
James Beard Foundation Book Awards Nominee, Photography (for Le Corbuffet)
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2019
Richard Rogers Fellowship
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2015
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
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2015
Canadian Center for Architecture Research Grant