David Hartt (b. 1967 in Montréal; based in Philadelphia) is a multidisciplinary artist who explores how historic ideas and ideals persist or transform over time. His research often transcends fields of art history, anthropology, and botany. Recent works have examined biodiversity and the migration of landscapes as it relates to the social and cultural histories of human diasporas. Hartt is an Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.
Hartt's solo exhibition, Peripheries, is now on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through February 7, 2027. Other recent solo exhibitions include The Art Institute of Chicago; Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin; The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut; the Graham Foundation, Chicago; and the Olana State Historic Site, Hudson, New York, among others.
His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Jewish Museum, New York; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, among others.
Exhibitions
Metabolic Rift
14 Jun – 28 Sep 2025
Georg Kolbe Museum
Natural World
30 Sep 2022 – 15 Jan 2023
Cincinnati Art Museum
The Histories (Old Black Joe)
21 Aug 2021 – 2 Jan 2022
Hammer Museum
in the forest
14 Sep 2017 – 6 Jan 2018
Graham Foundation
Interval
4 Jun – 11 Oct 2015
Art Institute of Chicago