Bryan Zanisnik

Bryan Zanisnik works in performance, video, photography, and installation, addressing issues of masculinity, Americana and American culture, familial relationships, suburbia, and aging. In 2012, Zanisnik was served a cease and desist letter from Philip Roth’s attorneys as the artist silently read the bestselling author’s book The Great American Novel while sitting inside a plexiglass case as part of a performance. While the legal battle was eventually dropped, Zanisnik continues to use Philip Roth as a subject of his work, which now along with exploring issues of copyright and legal culture, is in response to Zanisnik’s connection with Roth’s work.

Zanisnik has exhibited extensively, both nationally and internationally, including at MoMA PS1 in New York, Sculpture Center in New York, Brooklyn Museum, LA>< ART in Los Angeles, Philadelphia’s Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. Zanisnik studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and received his MFA from Hunter College in 2009. He and his work have been featured on ART21, and Philip Roth Presidential Library at Locust Projects will form part of an upcoming episode of the program.