jargonist preserves and presents art as essential knowledge.We provide a critical digital archive that secures the histories of incarceration, race, and gender expression—narratives that risked being lost to global isolation. By positioning the online gallery as a convergence of the studio and the classroom, we empower artists who educate. Jargonist actively challenges conventional exhibition formats, meticulously shaping each presentation to safeguard the lived experiences, inquiry, and ideas central to the artwork.
jargonist supports artists as educators. Our online gallery is a space where the studio and the classroom meet. Each exhibition reimagines the format of the gallery itself, shaped to fit the needs of the artwork and the ideas behind it. We present art as a form of knowledge—something inseparable from lived experience, inquiry, and being.Founded in 2020 at Columbia University’s Teachers College, jargonist began as a diversity initiative by artist and curator Kristina Bivona during the years of global quarantine. Here she collaborated with artists internationally committed to preserving the histories of incarceration, race, and gender expression during a time when these conversations risked being lost in global isolation.
Contact: kristina@jargonist.org
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Mission
Today, jargonist Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization that supports artists’ teaching practices as a central part of their artistic vision. We champion artists whose work has an “undercurrent” or B-side—projects that may be lesser-known, experimental, or overshadowed by traditional exhibition histories. Our online space brings their classrooms to life as public projects.
Our mission is to help new subjects and new forms of knowledge emerge despite marginalization, stigma, or limited institutional access. We believe that art has inherent educational value—and this belief shapes the identity of our gallery and the work we present.
About Our Community
jargonist is hosted by Kristina Bivona and has exhibited work by:
Lex Brown, Ash Arder, Pieza (Daniel Almeida, Dulce Lamarca, & Maximilian Julia),
Eugene Ofori, Joann Quiñones, Rodrigo Lara, Paul Briggs, Isaac Scott, Habiba El-Sayad, Malene Barnett, Ciara Newton, Torey Akers, Bruxas Bruxas, and many others.
Our exhibition record includes curatorial collaborators such as Gerald Brown, Robyn A. Gibson, Emma Bergman, with special contributions from Liza Sokolovskaya, Tamara Santibanez, Mykki Blanko and Adinah Dancyger.
Support the Archive
jargonist is currently fundraising to bring a public archive to life within our online gallery.
If you are interested in donating, curating, or exhibiting, please contact:
kristina@jargonist.org