J.R. Uretsky (she|they) is a Rhode Island-based artist and musician who collaborates with others to create collective emotional experiences, multimedia artworks, and music performances.
Uretsky has over fifteen years of experience organizing, designing, and installing exhibitions. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art at Biola University, her Master’s Degree in Fine Arts in Sculpture at the University of Connecticut, and a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies at Harvard University. Uretsky worked as the curator at the New Bedford Art Museum where she exhibited Pete Souza (Chief Official White House Photographer for President Barack Obama) and Academy Award-winning (Black Panther, 2019) costume designer Ruth E. Carter.
As an artist, Uretsky has performed and exhibited at Art Basel in Miami, Florida, the ICA Boston, the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, The DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, as well as the Museum of Art and Design in New York. Uretsky’s work has been published in print, online, and video journals such as Headmaster Magazine, Gaga Stigmata, Big Red & Shiny, and ASPECT: The Chronicle of New Media Art.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS | PERFORMANCES | VIDEO SCREENINGS
Good Grief, RISD MUSEUM OF ART, Providence, RI, Performance
Good Grief, PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY, Providence, RI, Performance
Stag, THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART Boston, MA
Dog Girl, SATELLITE ART SHOW ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH, FL, Curated by Quinn Dukes
What I Found Out There, BOSTON UNIVERSITY Boston, MA
Party Foul, BOSTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS Boston, MA
Learning is Difficult, Dreaming is Even Harder, Curated by Kate Gilbert LAWN ON D Boston, MA
Encouragements With Dave MUSEUM OF ART AND DESIGN New York, NY
Come As You Are, 186 CARPENTER Providence, RI
Hymn PROVIDENCE FRINGE FESTIVAL AT AROURA Providence, RI
Bromance, Locally Made’s One Room, Curated by Deborah Clemons & Hollis Mickey, THE RISD MUSEUM Providence, RI
Bling! Bling! Selected Works 2009-2012, THE DIRT PALACE Providence, RI
Savoir-Faire Performance Art Series, SOHO20 CHELSEA New York, NY
UConn Puppet Slam, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT Storrs, CT
Waiting for the Joulupukki, ARTELES CREATIVE CENTER Finland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Feeling Feeling a collaborative exhibition by Emmy Bright & J.R. Uretsky, DISTILLERY GALLERY, Boston, MA
BRINK v2, Curated by John Pyper BOSTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS,MILLS GALLERY Boston, MA
Forced Collaboration II, Curated by Jacob Rhodes, ARTSPACE NEW HAVEN New Haven, CT
Living As Form, CARPENTER CENTER HARVARD UNIVERSITY Boston, MA
Transform, THE EARL & VIRGINIA GREEN ART GALLERY Los Angeles, CA
deCordova Biennial, curated by Lexi Lee Sullivan, deCORDOVA MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE PARK Lincoln, MA
Locally Made: Video, curated by Dina Deitsch MUSEUM OF ART RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN Providence, RI
The Secret Rooms of the Dirt Palace, SOHO20 CHELSEA New York, NY
CURATORIAL
Duty-Free Paradise by Lani Asunción, Mills Gallery, BOSTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Boston, MA, 2024
Uncommon Threads: The Work of Ruth E. Carter, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2020
OBAMA: An Intimate Portrait, Photographs by Pete Souza, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2019
Ruffles, Repair & Ritual: the Fine Art of Fixing, co-curated with Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez, WEDDING CAKE HOUSE, Providence, RI, 2019
Who Saved Who? featuring William Wegman, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2019
Unusual Growth Patterns, Mixed-media works by Alison Wells, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2018
SCAPES: Placemaking in the 21st Century, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2017
Behind Open Doors, fiber-installation by Brooke Goldstein, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2017
Just Not Break, drawings and paintings by Pat Falco, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2017
PLUNGE: Explorations From Above & Below, co-curated with browngrotta arts, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2017
ANNUNCIATION: From the Series, The Body Remembered, photography by Judith Thorpe, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2017
BECOMING A DAD, paintings by Jon Petro, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2017
re-volt-ing, DISTILLERY GALLERY Boston, MA with Robert Moeller, 2017
Tell Us A Story, an interactive installation by The Page Collective, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2017
3 SISTERS SERIES, video and sculpture by Lani Asuncion, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2016
MORE THAN SCENERY: YELLOWSTONE, AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY, photography by Janet Pritchard, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2016
TONE OF SIGNIFICANCE, paintings by Cara Gonier, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2016
LAYERED, collage and painting by Megan Abajian, NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS! New Bedford, MA, 2016
Pop Up, GALLERY KAYAFAS Boston, MA with Robert Moeller, 2016
hello, world! , ARTSPACE NEW HAVEN New Haven, CT, 2015
Magic! Terror! Gay! Horray!, AS220’S EMPIRE BLACK BOX THEATRE Providence, RI, 2015
Inside/Out, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT Storrs, CT, 2011
FIBER OPTIC CENTER NEW MEDIA GALLERY AT NEW BEDFORD ART MUSEUM/ARTWORKS!
DON BURTON, 2018
MIMI CHRZANOWSKI, 2018
HAYLEY MORRIS, 2018
NABIL VEGA, 2017
JEEP WHEAT, 2017
EXHIBITION DESIGN
BIRDS OF THE FIRST LIGHT & LONGHOUSES: Audubon Original Prints Featuring works from the New Bedford Free Public Library Collection, Curated by Louie Doherty, 2018
EXCELLENCE IN FIBERS Presented by Fiber Art Now, Curated by Marcia Young, 2017
IN TOUCH: The Expressive Magic of Judith James, Curated by Michael James, 2017
Global Voices For Social Justice: Art As Activism, with New Bedford Historical Society, 2016
BIERSTADT Nature & National Identity, Curated by Janice Hodson, 2016
J.R. Uretsky 