Nelson Santos is an artist, curator, academic and arts professional. He is a maker of queer things, and has over 20 years of experience in arts, education, and non-profit organizations.

ARTIST & CURATOR

Santos is drawn to queer treasures – the magic of disco balls, rainbows, fake flowers, and gay balloons... His art practice uses play and politics to tell stories and challenge expectations. He is a multi-disciplinary artist, using sculpture, photography, video, installation, performance and lots of glitter. Santos has exhibited in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Spain, and Japan. He received his MFA from The Art Institute of Chicago, is an AIM Fellow; Queer|Art Mentor; and knighted by The Imperial Court of New York for his art activism.

His curatorial projects intertwine queer histories, AIDS activism, and personal narratives, including Y’all Better Quiet Down, Leslie-Lohman Museum; Scott Hunt: Truth Goes Up In Vapors, SpringBreak, NY; Robert Blanchon + Stephen Andrews, Miami Dade Art Gallery, FL; Between Ten, Spin Gallery, Toronto; and Video Positive, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY.

ACADEMIC & ARTS PROFESSIONAL

Santos is an Adjunct Professor at Pratt Institute and the School of Visual Arts, where he is also the Academic Advisor in the MFA Fine Arts Department. He has taught at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College, DePaul University and Indiana University Northwest.

For over a decade, Santos has guided the vision of non-profit art organizations with an LGBTQ+ and social justice mission - including as Visual AIDS, Executive Director; Leslie-Lohman Museum, Interim Director of Curatorial Programs; Fire Island Artist Residency, Board Member; and Queer|Art, Board President. 

Over his career, he has worked with hundreds of artists, activists, curators, galleries, museums, and community organizations to produce and present exhibitions, public programs, visual art projects, and publications that embrace the rich and diverse cultural histories that are often under-recognized and underrepresented.

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Santos was born a Pisces under a Cancer moon in California, and lives and works in Brooklyn, Land of the Lenape, with his partner Richard and their rescue dog Timmy.