The Counterpublic Triennial’s New Kind of Public Space
The third Counterpublic Triennial, titled Coyote Time, opens Thursday, September 10, in St. Louis and expands across five main sites while emphasizing public space as a platform for accountability, access, climate, infrastructure, agency, and Native sovereignty. Artistic director and co-founder James McAnally told Hyperallergic the event aims to support artistic practices rooted in real change, using a curatorial “ensemble” model rather than a single curatorial team. Ensemble members were selected from 80 peer-recommended candidates and include Stefanie Hessler and Wanda Nanibush (focused on the Mississippi River and regional watersheds), Jordan Carter (projects in The Ville and an operational high school), Raphael Fonseca (collaborations with students and a refugee resettlement center), and Nora N. Khan (speculative infrastructures and technology in Sauget, described as a former Monsanto town). Counterpublic runs on a three-year cycle and remains on view for three months, drawing on Vito Acconci’s idea that something is “public” when it connects at least three people. McAnally cited influences including Richard Serra’s permanent St. Louis work “Twain” (1982), as well as artists Chloe Bass and Felix Gonzalez-Torres.
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This story was covered in Prize Glory, Museum Turmoil, and Royalty Revolts