Instagram series
Let’s Take a Look
Art, seen together. Find the series and follow along on Instagram.
Visit my Instagram ↗Personal website / Riyadh ↔ Los AngelesJustin
Justin
Gilanyi.
I work with art, people, and ideas. Sometimes that becomes an exhibition. Sometimes an essay, an artwork, or a conversation.
Curator · Writer · Researcher · ArtistLet’s Take a Look ↗
“At first I thought my work was about art. Over time I realized my work was really about people.”
01
Write.
Essays / criticism / observationsSILK / JUN 2026Read the essaySILK / FEB 2026Find in SILK MagazineSILK / MAR 2026Find in SILK MagazineSILK / APR 2026Find in SILK Magazine
Venice as Operating System ↗
The Biennale and the choreography of contemporary culture.
The Gulf Circuit ↗
Architecture, patronage, and the formation of an art ecosystem.
Emergence and Embodiment ↗
A reflection on Keke’s practice.
Zero10 at Art Basel ↗
From Miami Beach to Hong Kong. Written with Nina Knaack.
Forthcoming: an exhibition review for Canvas Magazine and research on the Abdul Raouf Khalil Museum for Lines of Sand.
02
Research.
An ongoing inquiryWhat makes cultural life possible, and what allows it to continue?
Enter Cultural Architecture ↗Cultural Architecture
My developing research looks at the people, places, resources, and relationships that sustain culture. What remains after an exhibition closes? How does a conversation become a lasting connection?
Cultural infrastructure. Archives and memory. Participation. Technology and patronage. Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, and exchange across regions.
Currently pursuing an MA in Arts Management at Riyadh University of Arts.
03
Watch & listen.
Come into the conversationPodcast conversations
The SILK Podcast
Conversations with artists about their work and the questions behind it. Including Work, Luck, Play with Jack Butcher.
Listen at SILK ↗Producing / programming / moderation
ART VOICES
Conversations with artists, curators, collectors, and technologists. I develop topics, bring speakers together, and moderate conversations.
Explore the series ↗04
Speak.
Panels / moderation / public programsArt history, digital culture, and a curiosity about people, brought into the room.
ABU DHABI ARTSpeaker & moderator
Digital art in public conversation
Authorship, technology, and institutional engagement.
MIAMI / 2022Moderator
The Paintbox
Digital tools and artistic practice.
HONG KONGModerator
Digital Art Awards
ISEA2026Accepted proposal
What Is an Object Now?
On Shadows, Systems, and Institutional Care.
05
Curate.
Selected exhibitions & collaborationsTOLEDO / 2025Exhibition releaseISTANBUL / 2026Explore at SILK
The Assembly Line ↗
Fifty years of artistic practice around labor, systems, and authorship. Co-curated with Raina Marie Valentine at the Okun Building.
UN/CONTAINED: Cabinet of Curiosities ↗
A solo presentation of FVCKRENDER with SILK Art House at Contemporary Istanbul.
BANGKOK / 2024Exhibition & program
TEN by RARI × Refraction
Exhibition and public programming around digital art, community, and the creator economy.
Earlier projects & collaborations
FOIL Gallery · Establishing a Montreal digital art gallery with artist FVCKRENDER.
Art On My Mind · Visual Artists Group, Los Angeles · 2020
ENTANGLED · Chris Trueman, Los Angeles and Brisbane · 2017
Market Value · Producer; work by Rebecka Jackson-Moeser, performed by B. Dunn Movement Dance and Theater Company · 2016
LAndscape · Curator, Fredric Snitzer Gallery · 2013
LOST (in LA) · Facilitation and communications, FLAX / Palais de Tokyo / Barnsdall Art Park · 2011–2012
06
Art practice.
Works & developing projectsParticipatory art / proposalGROUP
CHATJustin Gilanyi
CHATJustin Gilanyi
GROUP CHAT / OMAN
A proposed participatory digital and physical artwork exploring cultural memory, community, and contemporary forms of exchange.
Developed as a proposal for the Sayyid Tarik bin Taimur Cultural Complex. In development.
A related curatorial strand
GROUP CHAT is also an exhibition and public-program concept developed with SILK around participation, communication, and cultural networks. The curatorial proposal and personal artwork are related strands with distinct contexts.
Art practiceSOCIAL
MEDIA AS
MESSAGEJustin Gilanyi
MEDIA AS
MESSAGEJustin Gilanyi
SOCIAL MEDIA AS MESSAGE
A project within my personal art practice.
Ask me about the work ↗A little more
About Justin.
Curiosity is usually where it starts. Then comes a conversation, an introduction, a project.
I’m a Riyadh-based curator, writer, researcher, and artist. My work moves between contemporary art, digital culture, public programs, and the relationships that make them possible.
I founded WhereArt.Works and work with SILK Art House across curatorial projects and artist relations. Earlier, I founded Visual Artists Group and Giving Artists Agency in Los Angeles.
Alongside exhibitions and writing, mentorship and connecting people have remained a part of my practice.
Education
Riyadh University of Arts
MA, Arts Management · In progress
University of Southern California
MS, Integrated Design, Business & Technology · 2020
Duke University
BA, Art History & Public Policy · 2004
Community & mentorship
Artist development, introductions, and programming through Visual Artists Group. Alumni engagement through Duke’s Entertainment, Media and Arts Network, and service on the USC Lambda Alumni Association board, 2022–2025.
Three connected places
Justin Gilanyi: my work, voice, and ongoing questions.
WhereArt.Works ↗: exhibitions, advisory, publishing, and collaborations.
Cultural Architecture ↗: research into how cultural life is built and sustained.
Say hello.
For exhibitions, writing, research, panels, collaborations, or a conversation about something you’ve seen here.
justin@whereart.works ↗