Critic, curator, and editor Nora N. Khan has been tapped to lead the Project X Foundation for Art & Criticism, publisher of X-TRA Contemporary Art Journal, LA’s longest-running arts criticism journal. Khan, who specializes in supporting and shaping long-form criticism, has historically focused experimental practices and is particularly interested in digital visual culture, the politics of software, and the philosophy of emerging technology. She replaces outgoing executive director Shana Lutker, who departed in 2021 after seventeen years with the organization.
“We look forward to working with Nora at this momentous juncture in the history of X-TRA, as we approach our twenty-fifth anniversary,” said Jeff Beall, founding chair of Project X Foundation. “With her deep experience in art criticism, publishing, and curatorial project management, Khan is perfectly poised to guide the organization into the next chapters of our history. We are confident that Nora will help us think boldly about how X-TRA can position itself as a model for criticism, artists’ writing, and mentorship of young critics.”
Khan from 2018 to 2021 was a professor at Rhode Island School of Design, where she was nominated for the John R. Frazier Award for Excellence in Teaching in recognition of her original courses on technological criticism, artists’ writing, and critical theory. With Andrea Bellini, she is cocurating the 2023 Biennale de L’Image en Mouvement, hosted by Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève. She curated the 2020 exhibition “Manual Override” at The Shed, in New York, which included significant new commissions by Sondra Perry and Morehshin Allahyari and works by Simon Fujiwara and Martine Syms. Khan has contributed to publications including Artforum and Art in America and has held various editorial roles at Topical Cream, HOLO, and Rhizome.
“X-TRA has a singular history that has made it synonymous with serious criticism in Los Angeles and on the West Coast,” she said in a statement. “Established by artists for artists, it has grown to be a cultural institution with an exceptional focus on artists determining the terms of criticism as much as established critics. The editors and staff are fiercely committed to publishing the highest level of writing in a field of rapidly dwindling spaces for critical thinking in print. The last years have brought us into a tumultuous publishing field. This only affirms how vital it is to maintain the health and reach of journals like X-TRA, which have tirelessly worked to make criticism an active, lived, collective activity. I’m greatly looking forward to collaborating with X-TRA’s brilliant editorial board, our committed staff, and the Project X Foundation board to create a sustainable future for the vital work of writers and artists.”
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