Rirkrit Tiravanija (Thai, b.1961) studied at the Whitney Independent Studies Program in New York, the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, the Banff Center School of Fine Arts in Banff, Canada, and the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Canada. Represented by Gavin Brown’s enterprise, the artist centers his work on living spaces, placing special emphasis on kitchens and food preparation.

His early exhibitions in the 1990s included serving meals to observers. Instead of a photograph, painting, or sculpture, Tiravanija made visitors a part of his work. In stages set up as kitchens during Untitled (1992), they sat and ate while Tiravanija served his now famous Thai curry dishes. Later, at the 50th Vienna Biennale, Utopia Station (2003), created with Liam Gillick, was a meeting house for artist and observer alike. Fit with furniture, art supplies, music and video players, living spaces, and lounging spaces, Utopia Station, which was openly accessible to everyone, became art in motion.

While his collaborations are legendary, Tiravanija made his mark through solo exhibits. His first major show was held in 1997 at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. 10 years later, he had dozens of exhibitions under his belt at some of the top art galleries in the world. These include the Center for Contemporary Art in Kitakyushu, Japan, in 2000; the Portikus in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2001; the Secession in Vienna, Austria, in 2002; and the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in France in 2005. In 2004, the artist won the Hugo Boss Prize presented by the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Tiravanija resides in New York, where he now teaches at the School of the Arts at Columbia University.