Cory Arcangel

Biography

Cory Arcangel was born in 1978 in Buffalo, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Technology of Music from Oberlin Conservatory in 2000. He works across music, video, modified videogames, performance and the internet, and examines how technology and pop culture intersect. He often reworks outdated games, videos, software and the web, using appropriation and drawing on sources from best-selling albums to Photoshop gradients. Curator Petra Heck describes him as someone who hacks, manipulates and reuses technological applications. His early works include Super Mario Clouds (2002), a hacked Super Mario Bros. cartridge, and Composition #7 (2010), a software mod of the open source game Frets on Fire. In 2011 he had the solo exhibition Pro Tools at the Whitney Museum of American Art, which made him the youngest artist to receive a one-person show there. He was included in the 2004 Whitney Biennial. His solo exhibitions include Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin (2010 to 2011), Lisson Gallery in London (2011), the Carnegie Museum of Art (2012 to 2013), the New Museum (2013), The Kitchen (2017), CC Foundation in Shanghai (2019), Times Square Arts (2022) and the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (2023). His group exhibitions include the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the 2022 MUNCH Triennale. He has received grants from Turbulence, Harvestworks and Creative Capital. He lives and works in Stavanger, Norway.