Scott Watson (curator)

Canadian curator and professor based in Vancouver, BC (born 1950)

Scott Watson (born 1950)^[1] is a Canadian curator, writer, and researcher based in Vancouver, British Columbia.^[2] Watson was the Director/Curator of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia from 1995 to 2021.^[3][4] As faculty in the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory at the University of British Columbia, he helped initiate the Critical Curatorial Studies program at UBC in September 2002.^[5] Through his research and publications, he has acted as a champion of contemporary Vancouver artists.

Career

Watson was trained in art history and received his BA and MA at UBC.^[2] He was initially a fiction writer and published two books, "Stories" (1974) and "Platonic Love" (1981). In 1980, he was hired by the Vancouver Art Gallery.^[6] In 1985, he curated the Young Romantics painting exhibition and in 1990, published a monograph on Jack Shadbolt.^[7] In 1989, he was hired by the University of British Columbia (UBC) gallery.^[6] In 1995, he became the first director/curator of the gallery. He retired in 2021.^[8]

Curatorial projects and research

Watson's research and curation focuses primarily around topics related to contemporary art, art theory and criticism, twentieth-century art history, and curatorial studies. His curatorial projects have appeared across Canada including at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, and Artspeak in Vancouver and internationally in Berlin, Antwerp, and London.^[9]

Notable curatorial projects

• Queer Landscapes (1991) at Artspeak^[10]
• Thrown: Influences and Intentions (2004) of West Coast Ceramics^[11][12]
• Rebecca Belmore: Fountain (2005) for the Venice Biennale Canadian Pavilion^[13][14]
• Intertidal: Vancouver art & artists (2005-2006) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp^[15]
• Stan Douglas: Inconsolable Memories (2005-2006) at the Tate Modern^[16][17]
• Exponential Future (2008) at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery^[18][19]
• Jack Shadbolt: Underpinnings (2009) at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery^[20][21]
• Mark Boulos (2010), a solo exhibition at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery^[22][23][24]
• Letters: Michael Morris and Concrete Poetry (2012) at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery^[25][26]
• Image Bank (2019) at the KW Institute for Contemporary Arts^[27]

Selected publications

• Polaroids : photographs by Attila Richard Lukacs. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press. 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2022.</ref>
• Mark Boulos. Vancouver: Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
• Tom Burrows. Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing. 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
• Maria Eichhorn : Film Lexicon of Sexual Practices : Prohibited Imports. Köln and Vancouver: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König and Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2022.

Awards and honours

• an invitation to the UBC Chancellor's Circle (2005).^[2]
• UBC Dorothy Somerset Award for Performance Development in the Visual and Performing Arts (2005)^[2]
• Alvin Balkind Award for Creative Curatorship in British Columbia Arts (2008)^[28]
• Hnatyshyn Foundation Award for Curatorial Excellence in Contemporary Art (2010)^[29]

References

1. "The Art of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution". Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.
2. "persons AHVA - The Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory". ahva.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
3. "Scott Watson | The Social Justice Institute". grsj.arts.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
4. Gallery, Belkin. "Scott Watson". vancouverartinthesixties.com. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
5. "Scott Watson | Artspeak". Retrieved 2021-04-20.
6. Turner, Michael. "Renowned Curator Scott Watson Retires". Preview, 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
7. "Scott Watson". Figure 1 Publishing. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
8. "Scott Watson Steps Down at the Belkin". Galleries West. 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
9. Godley, Elizabeth (March 19, 1987). "Watson resigns from post with art gallery". The Vancouver Sun. pp. C5.
10. Madill, Kevin John; Watson, Scott; Rimmer, Cate (1991). Queer Landscape. Kevin John Madill, Kevin John Madill, Scott Watson, Cate Rimmer, Cate Rimmer. Vancouver, BC: Artspeak Gallery. ISBN 978-0-921394-11-2.
11. "Thrown: Influences and Intentions of West Coast Ceramics". Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
12. "A licence to kiln". Retrieved 2021-04-20.
13. "From the Archives: Rebecca Belmore - Canadian Art". canadianart.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
14. "The Poetics of History: An Interview with Rebecca Belmore". bordercrossingsmag.com. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
15. "INTERTIDAL: VANCOUVER ART & ARTISTS". www.e-flux.com. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
16. Tate. "'Inconsolable Memories', Stan Douglas, 2005". Tate. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
17. "Pictures at an exhibition ..." www.yorku.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
18. "Exponential Future". Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
19. "Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery presents Exponential Future - Announcements - Art & Education". www.artandeducation.net. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
20. "Jack Shadbolt: Underpinnings". Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
21. "Jack Shadbolt Art Show!". Vancouver Is Awesome. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
22. "Mark Boulos". Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
23. "Mark Boulos | AHVA - The Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory". ahva.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
24. "Vancouver – Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery | esse arts + opinions". esse.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
25. "Letters: Michael Morris and Concrete Poetry". Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
26. ""Letters: Michael Morris and Concrete Poetry" at Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery". www.artforum.com. January 2012. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
27. "Image Bank". KW Institute for Contemporary Art. 2019-03-26. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
28. "Balkind Prize Recipients in the Visual Arts | Vancouver BC". The Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
29. "UBC Morris and Helen Belkin curator Scott Watson nabs Hnatyshyn prize". The Georgia Straight. 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2021-04-20.