Curator, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Thomas (T.) Jean Lax is curator of media and performance at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where last year they co-organised ‘Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces’ – a close look at the influential gallery, founded by Linda Goode Bryant in 1974 as what she called a ‘laboratory’ for identifying and promoting Black artists. Lax’s own curating and writing likewise focuses on Black art, as well as queer art and performance; they have organised or co-organised exhibitions on the Judson Dance Theater, the legacy of the cultural theorist Stuart Hall and the art of the American South. In 2019, they played an important role in the rehang of MoMA’s permanent collection. Prior to joining the museum, they worked for seven years at the Studio Museum in Harlem. A native New Yorker, Lax holds degrees in Africana studies and art history from Brown and Columbia universities and is currently a PhD candidate in performance studies at New York University, where they are working on a project about mothers.