Brian Curtin is an Irish-born art writer, editor, and educator based in Bangkok. He also works as a curator of contemporary art. His commentary, essays, interviews and reviews have been published in Art Journal, Artforum, Art Asia Pacific, Circa, Craft Research, Flash Art, Frieze, Journal of Curatorial Studies and Parachute, among others. Brian’s monograph Essential Desires: Contemporary Art in Thailand was published by Reaktion Books in 2021. Holding a Ph.D. in studio art from the University of Bristol, UK, he has taught art history, visual culture, research, and studio courses at Chulalongkorn University since 2006. 

Brian’s work is generally interested in applied Queer theories and critical studies in visual and material cultures. A central concern is classification as a problem and the function of art as a politicized economy. Published essays in this respect explore the art-historical marginalizing of ‘decoration’, problems of national identity as a frame for recent art and the challenges of interpretation for controversial subject-matter. His writing for magazines has addressed generational shifts in the production, distribution, and reception of art.

Brian has presented at conferences and symposia in Kuala Lumpur, Kyoto, London and Singapore. And has held writers’ residencies in Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.

Curated exhibitions include China, New York, Korea and the UK as well as regionally in Southeast Asia. He managed the experimental venue H Project Space in Bangkok from 2011 to 2018 which now functions under the mantle Brian Curtin Projects. Curatorial work has been been funded by the Arts Council England, Australia Council for the Arts, British Council Thailand, and Culture Ireland. Brian has been a nominator for the Prix Pictet award in photography, the Sovereign Art Prize, and collaborated with Saatchi Gallery London. In 2018 he led Uncommon Pursuits: A Temporary School for Emergent Curators in Southeast Asia at Sàn Art, a non-profit in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and was selected as one of the curatorial team for the 2024 edition of Bangkok Art Biennale. A regular consultant and peer reviewer, commissions include Alphawood Foundation Chicago, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and Third Text.

Drawing by Top Changtrakul. Cover photograph taken at the now defunct Bridge Art Space in Bangkok, circa 2015.