
Founder and Publisher of Colossal, curator.
Fascinated by contemporary art and visual culture, Christopher launched Colossal as a personal blog in the fall of 2010 to catalog the work of both established and emerging artists. The project grew exponentially and is now a thriving publication with multiple contributors who have written more than 10,000 articles exploring art, modern craft, design, photography, and illustration from all reaches of the globe. Colossal is the recipient of the Utne Media Award for arts coverage, a Webby Award nomination, and has received accolades from the National Endowment for the Arts and PBS Art21.
Christopher has curated exhibitions in galleries and museums nationally and internationally, including collaborations with Banksy, the Design Museum of Chicago, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and the Elmhurst Art Museum. He has also contributed to Wired Magazine, Beautiful/Decay, Mental Floss, Slate, Designboom, and Quartz.
Christopher lives in Chicago. You can reach him at chris@colossal.art — but first consider reading this FAQ.
Curatorial
At the Precipice: Responses to Climate Change —Co-curator, Design Museum of Chicago, July 2023
Drip! Drop! Slice! —Curator, You Are Beautiful Gallery, April 2023
Division of Birds —Curator, Paradigm Gallery, August 2022
The Other Art Fair Chicago: New Futures —Selection Committee, 2021
Par Excellence Redux —Curator, The Elmhurst Art Museum, 2021
Create! Magazine, Issue #24 —Curator, January 2021
Salvage —Curator, Paradigm Gallery, January 2021
SCOPE New York —Curator, Exterior entrace featuring Brendan Monroe, March, 2020
Material Properties —Curator, Paradigm Gallery, September 2019
Mother & Child vol. II, —Co-curator, with Sugarlift in New York, July 2019
Chain Reaction: An International Print and Poster Show —Curator, Design Museum of Chicago, November 2018
The Other Art Fair Chicago [Saatchi Art] —Selection Committee, 2018
Inflatable: Expanding Works of Art —Curator, Exploratorium Museum San Francisco, 2018
Track Shorts with Lost Arts —Film curator, 2017
Banksy’s Dismaland —Outdoor Cinema curator, 2014
A Landmark & A Mission: Mobile Library Tour —Curator, The Sketchbook Project, 2012
Conversations
Liz Toonkel On Creating the Adorable Universe Behind the New ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’, August 2022
Chicago’s Manual Cinema On How Its Shadow Puppets Became a Defining Feature of the New ‘Candyman’, September 2021
Rob Woodcox On His Boldly Energetic Conceptual Photography of the Human Form, January 2020
Ai Weiwei On the Humanitarian Crisis Captured in His Documentary ‘Human Flow’, November 2019
Books
Creative Business Handbook —Interviewed, Chronicle Books, 2023
Banksy: Completed —Contributor, MIT Press, 2021
The Sketchbook Project World Tour —Foreward, Princeton Architectural Press, 2015
Affiliations
Designing a Better Chicago —Advisor, 2023
The Arts Club of Chicago —Member, 2019-2021
Young Evanston Artists —Board Member, 2018-19
Awesome Foundation —Trustee, 2017
Was Once Literally Quoted by Beyonce
How To Make Lemonade Box Set Book —Beyonce, 2017
I’m Visiting Chicago Where Should I ...
Museums & Institutions
MCA Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Design Museum of Chicago, Chicago Cultural Center, Stony Island Arts Bank, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Hyde Park Art Center, The International Museum of Surgical Science, Elmhurst Art Museum, INTUIT, Millennium Park, Chicago Botanic Garden, Garfield Park Conservatory.
Galleries
Vertical Gallery, Rhona Hoffman, Catherine Edelman, Carrie Seacrist, Carl Hammer, Zg Gallery, Echt Gallery, Kavi Gupta, Galerie F.
Interviews, podcasts & in the news
Art Grind Podcast, Spring, 2023
Success as a Burden —The Brooklyn Art Library Podcast, August 3, 2021
Saturate Yourself in Art with Colossal's Christopher Jobson —The Artist Business Plan Podcast by Superfine Art Fair, March, 2021
The Art of Golf —Clef Notes Chicagoland Journal of the Arts (print), Spring, 2020
Mini Golf at the Museum —Chicago Magazine (print), May, 2020
The Future of Art Media with Christopher Jobson —Art & Cocktails Podcast, February, 2020
In Chicago, an iconic artist-designed mini golf course gets a second life —Fast Company, February, 2020
Interview in Create! Magazine —Create! Magazine Issue 18 (print), Winter, 2019
Design 50: Who Shapes Chicago 2019 —New City, February 28, 2019
An Exhibition Devoted to Urban Cycling —Fubiz, November 29, 2018
SF's Exploratorium Hosts "Inflatable: Expanding Works of Art" Exhibition —Juxtapoz Magazine, July 18, 2018
Exploratorium ‘Inflatable’ exhibit puts cool air into art and science —San Francisco Chronicle, July 18, 2018
Giant Inflatable Sculptures Merge Technology and Art at San Francisco’s Exploratorium —My Modern Met, June 11, 2018
Inflatable and Colossal Works of Art Are Popping Up at the Exploratorium —SF Station, May 21, 2018
Influential Voices: An Interview with Christopher Jobson of Colossal —Booooooom, December 8, 2017
Design 50: Who Shapes Chicago 2017 —New City, March 2, 2017
Banksy’s New Apocalyptic Theme Park Is Designed to Disappoint —Hyperallergic, August 20, 2015
Artist Spotlight : Colossal's Christopher Jobson —Art Institute of Chicago, May 15, 2014
A Colossal Success —Demo Magazine, May 2014
The Eye-Popping Images On Colossal Will Make Art Lovers Of Us All —Fast Company, November 18, 2013
Art Talk with Christopher Jobson of Colossal —National Endowment for the Arts, September 18, 2018
On the Red Couch with Colossal’s Christopher Jobson —Flipboard, August 28, 2012
Virtual Curators: Maria Popova and Christopher Jobson use their voracious appetites for social media to educate the masses on art, design, and culture. — Dwell Magazine, May 2012
Becoming Colossal with Blogger Christopher Jobson —Art21/PBS, March 8, 2012
An Interview with the Creator of Colossal —Hyperallergic, November 25, 2011
Newsletter
Sometimes I make things or say things. Sometimes it’s even worth telling you about.
Instagram
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