Nathan Segura

Nathan Segura
Graduate Student

Specialization

Areas of Concentration: Modern/Contemporary Art
Faculty Advisor: Laurie Monahan
Committee Members: Jenni Sorkin, Cristina Venegas (Film and Media Studies, UCSB)
M.A. Thesis: "Censored Ambiguity: María Izquierdo’s Tribute to Mexico," completed 2022

Bio

My area of specialization is modern and contemporary art history and theory, specifically the fields of museum studies and institutional critique. From 2015 to 2018, I worked at The Broad Museum and the Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles. My role in both museums was to conduct research on their contemporary collection and provide VIP tours to art professionals. Because of my fluency in French (I was born and raised in Lyon, France), I served as a liaison between these two museums and art institutions in France, the Pompidou Center notably. At UCSB, my graduate work explores how certain contemporary art practitioners—notably Native American/First Nations artists—adapt the work of those who have previously engaged with institutional critique to further contextualize their practices within their unique history and current political aspirations. My scholarship pays special attention to the public and private interests museums serve through their missions, curatorial strategies, programs, and targeted audiences.