Nell Tenhaaf

Nell Tenhaaf is an electronic media artist and writer living in Trent Hills, Ontario. Born in Oshawa, she has also lived in Montreal, Pittsburgh and Toronto. Tenhaaf’s artworks integrate elements from the biosciences and Artificial Life in the form of lightbox displays and interactive sculptures. A survey exhibition of fifteen years of her work entitled Fit/Unfit was shown in several Canadian venues between 2003 and 2008, and she has also shown in Spain, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, and the USA.

Tenhaaf has been working with computer-based media since the early 1980s. She first made pioneering artworks using the Telidon videotex protocol for interactive graphics and text, including public access to her databases via experimental telecommunication networks in Montreal. In the late 1980s she became known for lightbox displays that presented a critique and appropriation of scientific representations. The focus of these works is feminist commentary on biotechnology and genetics, presenting these as practices that only complicate how human nature is hybridized and imperfect. Since the mid-1990s Tenhaaf’s work has been allied with Artificial Life, taking the form of sculptures that bring human and electronic components into close contact. These works represent some of the complex dynamics of life and involve the viewer as one element in a continuous flux, from WinWin (2012) back to the touch-activated video installation UCBM (You could be me) (1999). Tenhaaf collaborates with sound artist John Kamevaar, computer science researcher Melanie Baljko and electronics artist Nick Stedman.

Tenhaaf's published articles in journals, anthologies and conference proceedings address cultural and asesthetic issues related to the biosciences and artificial life. She co-wrote and published several notable articles and conference presentations with Dr. Baljko throughout the 2000s. Her texts on feminist art date back to the early 1980s when she was a director at Montreal’s Powerhouse Gallery (later renamed La Centrale).

Permanent collections include the National Gallery of Canada, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, ON, The Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (Pret d’oeuvres d’art), the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal and the Canada Council Art Bank.

Tenhaaf has published numerous reviews and articles, and was jury chair for the VIDA art and artificial life competition in Madrid from 1999 to 2014. She is Professor Emerita at York University in Toronto and is represented by Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto.



Nell Tenhaaf's Website

Solo Exhibitions
2022
2018
  • Push/Pull: an excitable sculpture, live demo with EEG sonification at LIVELab, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON
2012
  • Life Forms, Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, Bowmanville, ON
2013
  • WinWin, Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto
2008
  • Homeostatic, Tom Thomson Art Gallery/Owen Sound, ON
2007
  • Fit/Unfit: A Survey Exhibition, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, ON
2005
2004
  • Fit/Unfit, A Survey Exhibition, The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, Ontario
  • Fit/Unfit, A Survey Exhibition, Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montreal
2003
  • Fit/Unfit, A Survey Exhibition, The Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery, Oshawa, ON (catalogue)
2002
2001
  • Quick Fix, Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto
2000
  • The Empathy Sessions, Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto
  • Western Front, Zero Degree Monstrosities, UCBM (You could be me), Vancouver
1999
  • public video projection developed on-site, MediaArts, St. Louis
  • UCBM (You could be me), Paul Petro Contemporary Art, a co-presentation with the Images Festival of Independent Film and Video, Toronto
  • Neonudism, Technoboro, Montreal
1997
  • Neonudism, InterAccess electronic media arts centre, Toronto
1995
  • Galerie Samuel Lallouz, Montreal
1993
  • Galerie Lallouz + Watterson, Montreal
1992
  • Galerie Samuel Lallouz, In Vitro, Montreal
  • Axe Neo-7, installation videodisque Horror autotoxicus, Hull
1990
  • Horror autotoxicus, videodisc installation, Western Front Gallery, Vancouver
1988
  • installation Gramatica, Galerie Oboro, Montreal
1987
  • A.R.C. Gallery, videotex installation and drawings, Toronto
  • Believable if not always true..., installation videotex, Galerie J. Yahouda-Meir, Montreal
1985
  • Silence is a Monument, Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal
1982
  • She was a perfect recluse, Eye Level Gallery, Halifax
1980
  • Galerie Powerhouse, dessins, Montreal
1979,77
  • Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal
Two Person Exhibitions & Collaborations
2013
  • NSF (nous sommes fragiles), Tenhaaf with John Kamevaar audio/video performance in The Box Salon at the Rivoli, Toronto, ON
2001
  • Quick Fix, with Derrick Hodgson, Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto
1996
  • Myths From Cyberspace, with Sylvie Blanger, The Koffler Gallery, curated by Carolyn Bell Farrell, Toronto
1995
  • 50 ml. of Pittsburgh Air, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, CMU Art faculty exhibit, collaboration with Steven Kurtz, Pittsburgh
1994
  • Nell Tenhaaf/Blair Robins, Glendon Gallery, Toronto
1990
  • There's a mirror/ear at the end of my bed , SAW Contemporary Artists' Centre,Touch That Dial collaboration with Kim Sawchuk, Ottawa
1985
  • Filiations , Galerie Powerhouse, collaboration with my mother, Kay Tenhaaf, Montreal
1983
  • Heros/Heroes, Galerie Articule, Montreal
Group Exhibitions
2013
  • exhibition of WinWin for launch of Sensorium York University School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design Organized Research Unit, Toronto, ON
2010
  • thelivingeffect, Ottawa Art Gallery: Push/Pull /Ottawa, ON
2007
  • Bios 4, CAAC (Centro Andaluz de Arte Contempor neo) /Sevilla, ES
2005
  • This Must Be The Place, Interaccess Gallery with Vera Frenkel, David Rokeby, Nell Tenhaaf, Norman White /Toronto, ON
2003
  • Complexity, Samuel Dorsky Museum, SUNY /New Paltz, NY and Federal Reserve Board /Washington, DC
  • The Bigger Picture, Ottawa Art Gallery /Ottawa, ON
2002
  • Digitized Bodies, Mestna Galerija /Ljubljana, SI
2001
  • 25 Artists, 25 Years: Celebrating the Faculty of Fine Arts, Leonard &Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia, Montreal
  • Digitized Bodies, Ludwig Museum /Budapest, HU
2000
  • Intimate Perceptions, Interaccess: photos; and Zsa Zsa Gallery: dDNA (d is for dancing), Toronto
  • Odd Bodies, Oakville Galleries, Oakville
  • Odd Bodies, Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary
  • Dream Ecology, The Koffler Gallery, Toronto
  • Dream Ecology, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa
1999
  • Contemporary galleries, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
  • Choice, three Canadian artists at Enkehuset Gallery and Gallery Astly, Skinnskatteberg: UCBM, Stockholm
  • The Body In Question, Salina Art Center, Salina, KS
1998
  • Digital Documentary: The Need to Know and the Urge to Show, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
  • Art & Science: Selected Works, Foster Gallery Baton Rouge, LA
  • Interface: Encounters with New Technology, Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa
  • Works on Paper, Winters Gallery, York University, Toronto
1997
  • Like Life, Brighton Media Centre, Brighton, UK
  • Promises of Monsters, Rockville Arts Place, Rockville, MD
1996
  • Techno-seduction, The Cooper Union, New York
  • Odd Bodies/Corps etrangers, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
  • Dessins et maquettes de sculpteurs/Drawings and maquettes by sculptors, Galerie Samuel Lallouz, Montreal
1995
  • Que sont les pionnieres devenues?: Centre Copie-Art -Galerie Arts Technologiques, in conjunction with ISEA95, Montreal
  • Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Gallery artists, Toronto
1994
  • Le corps: Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld
  • Le corps: Haus am Waldsee, Berlin
  • Le benefice du doute: Le Sous-sol, Paris
  • Frankenstein: Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph
  • Arte Virtual: 12 Protuestas de Arte Reactivo, Horror autotoxicus, Madrid
1993
  • Le benefice du doute: Optica, Montreal
  • Body-guard: London Regional Art Gallery, London
  • Angles of Incidence: video reflections of multimedia artworks, document of Horror autotoxicus, Banff
1992
  • Les Cent jours d'art contemporain, Vues d'ensemble Horror autotoxicus, Montreal
1991-92
  • Other Frontiers: Species Life, Third Eye Centre, Glasgow
  • Other Frontiers: Species Life, Canada House, London
  • Other Frontiers: Species Life, Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris
1991
  • Liveware: 00 Gallery, Halifax
  • Species Life: Evelyn Aimis Gallery, Toronto
1990
  • Regeneration: Inside/Outside, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston
  • Species Life, YYZ Artists' Outlet, Toronto
  • The 3-D Image: installation Gramatica, The New Gallery, Calgary
1989-91
  • Legitimation: Species Life, Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal
  • Legitimation: Species Life, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver
  • Legitimation: Species Life, Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary
  • Legitimation: Species Life, London Regional Art Gallery, London
  • Legitimation: Species Life, Vu, Quebec
1989-90
  • Machinations: Memory Room, Galerie Christiane Chassay, Montreal
  • Machinations: Memory Room, Expression St-Hyacinthe
  • Machinations: Memory Room, Espace Virtuel, Chicoutimi
  • Machinations: Memory Room, Galerie UQAM, Montreal
1989
  • Beyond Electronics: installation Gramatica, Gallery 1.1.1., Winnipeg
1988
  • Le Dessin Errant, The Ninth Dalhousie Drawing Exhibition: Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax
  • Le Dessin Errant, The Ninth Dalhousie Drawing Exhibition:Concordia Art Gallery, Montreal
  • Le Dessin Errant, The Ninth Dalhousie Drawing Exhibition: Musee du Quebec, Quebec
  • Canadian Contemporary Works on Paper from the Collection : Concordia Art Gallery, Montreal
1987
  • Siting Technology: The Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff
  • Siting Technology: Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina
1986
  • Women in Adverticity (Eye Revue): Union Station, Toronto
1985
  • Art is Communications: A Space, Toronto
  • Art is Communications: Centre for Art Tapes, Halifax
  • Pictures of Democracy: Video Cabaret (videotex), Toronto
  • Digicon 85 : Arts, Sciences and Technology Centre, Toronto
  • Collection Pret d'Oeuvres d'art : Musee du Quebec, Quebec
1984
  • TVOntario broadcast : BETA videotex magazine, Toronto
  • Collection Pret d'Oeuvres d'art : Musee du Bas St-Laurent Riviere-du-Loup
  • Anti-Nuke Show : Galerie Powerhouse (itinerante), Montreal
  • The Artist as a Young Machine: Ontario Science Centre, Toronto
  • Artists Talk About Technology : ANNPAC Conference, Halifax
  • Feministe toi-meme, feministe quand meme : La Chambre Blanche, Quebec
1983
  • Actuelles 1 : Place Ville Marie (itinerante), Montreal
1982
  • A l'invitation de Francoise Sullivan : Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal
1981
  • Five Women Artists : Forest City Gallery, London
  • She was a perfect recluse : Galerie Motivation V, Montreal
1980
  • Powerhouse a la Salle Tremble, Alma
Projects
1996
  • Machines for Evolving, New Formations, Winter; Jody Berland, guest editor
1995
  • Interpenetrations in Cultronix on-line journal Issue Two
1990
  • Dispersal of a Black Cloud, with K. Gramsci, Canadian Woman Studies/les cahiers de la femme, Spring; Janice Andreae and Marilyn Burgess, guest editors
1990
  • Project, C Magazine 24, Winter; Jeanne Randolph, guest editor
Publications
2014
  • "‘Trust Regions’ for Art/Sci" (commissioned), “As Art Is Lifelike: Evolution, Art, and the Readymade” (reprint) and "Art Embodies A-Life: The VIDA Competition" (reprint) in A. Bureaud, R.F. Malina, L. Whiteley (eds), Meta-Life: Biotechnologies, Synthetic Biology, ALife and the Arts (Leonardo/Olats/ISAST and the MIT Press, e-book).
2012
  • We Want our Art to (Mis)Behave in VIDA1999-2012: Art and Artificial Life (Madrid: Fundación Telefónica) pp. 78-87.
  • With Melanie Baljko, “Sensory, sonic and symbolic features of a collaborative media art practice,” Canadian Journal of Communication, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 109-119.
2009
  • "Outside the Comfort Zone" for Janet Jones: Dada Delirium, touring exhibition organized by the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound.
2008
  • With Melanie Baljko, “The Aesthetics of Emergence: Co-constructed Interactions” in ACM Transactions on Human–Computer Interaction (TOCHI - Special Double Issue on the Aesthetics of Interaction), Vol. 15, Issue 3, November, pp. 11:1-27.
  • “Art Embodies A-Life: The VIDA Competition” in Leonardo, Vol. 41:1, pp. 6-15.
2003
  • “Freda Guttman: Notes from the 20th” exhibition pamphlet essay, Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto.
  • "Production and Reproduction" in Judy Malloy (ed), Women, Art and Technology (Cambridge: MIT Press/Leonardo), pp. 362-375.
  • “Cybernetic Social Space” in M. Fernandez, F. Wilding, M.M. Wright (eds), Domain Errors!: Cyberfeminist Practices (New York: Autonomedia), pp. 251-256.
2002
  • "Perceptions of Self in Art and Intelligent Agents" in K. Dautenhahn, A. Bond, L. Cañamero, B. Edmonds eds., Socially Intelligent Agents: Creating relationships with computers and robots (Norwell, Mass: Kluwer Academic Publishers), pp. 235-242.
2001
  • "Of Monitors and Men and Other Unsolved Feminist Mysteries: Video Technology and the Feminine" (reprint), in Hilary Robinson, ed., Feminism-art-theory: an anthology, 1968-2000 (Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers, Inc., 2001), pp. 377-387.
  • "Where Surfaces Meet: Interviews with Stuart Kauffman, Claus Emmeche and Arantza Etxeberria" in Leonardo, Vol. 34, No. 2.
2000
  • "Gary Evans, Field Work" catalogue essay, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga. (reprint of 1998 pamphlet for Art Gallery of Woodstock exhibit).
1999
  • Nurturing the Artificial in So, to Speak (Montreal: Artextes Editions, 1999).
1998
  • Mary Scott: in me more than me, essay (reprint) in Ingrid Bachmann and Ruth Scheuing, eds., Material Matters (Toronto: YYZ).
  • As Art is Lifelike: Evolution, Art, and The Readymade in Leonardo, Vol. 31,No. 5 [refereed journal] and on Leonardo Electronic Almanac.
  • Gary Evans, Field Work catalogue essay, McDonald Stuart Art Centre, Guelph.
  • Interviews with Stuart Kauffman, Claus Emmeche and Arantza Etxeberria: "Semiosis, Evolution, Energy: Interviews with Three Scientists" in Nettime archives (go to January 1998).
1997
  • Studiolo: The Collaborative Work of Martha Fleming and Lyne Lapointe, review with Camilla Griggers in Fuse Vol. 20 No. 4, 1997.
  • Neonudism in Parachute 85, Jan/Feb/Mar
1996
  • Mysteries of the Bioapparatus in Immersed in Technology: Art, Culture and Virtual Environments (Banff and Boston: The Banff Centre and MIT Press).
  • Of Monitors and Men and Other Unsolved Feminist Mysteries: Video Technology and the Feminine in Peggy Gale and Lisa Steele, eds., Video re/View (Toronto: Art Metropole and V Tape).
1995
  • Of Monitors and Men and Other Unsolved Feminist Mysteries: Video Technology and the Feminine in Simon Penny, ed., Critical Issues in Electronic Media (Buffalo: SUNY Press).
1993
  • Mary Scott, catalogue essay, The Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton.
  • Simorg Culture, in La Bestiaire/Endangered Species, Parachute 72.
  • Juan Geuer: Investigating Chaos, catalogue essay, The Ottawa Art Gallery.
1992
  • Mutational Cravings, C Magazine 36, Winter, guest editor Renee Baert.
  • Of Monitors and Men and Other Unsolved Feminist Mysteries: Video Technology and the Feminine, Parallelogramme vol. 18, no. 3, part of inter-magazine project The Video Issue/Propos Video edited by Renee Baert and sponsored by Satellite Video Exchange Society, Vancouver.
  • Nameless, Named: Paintings and Works on Paper by Sheila Butler, catalogue essay, Hart House, University of Toronto.
1991
  • Virtual Seminar on the Bioapparatus, co-produced with Catherine Richards, Banff Centre for the Arts.
  • Paulette Phillips, performance review, Parachute 63.
1990
  • A History, or a Way of Knowing in Instabili: la question du sujet, Montreal: Galerie Powerhouse and Artexte.
  • Interpretation/Interpenetration in Texts 3, Calgary.
  • Cultural Space as Sacred Space in Harbour vol. 1, no. 1.
  • Martha Fleming and Lyne Lapointe, exhibition review, Parachute 58.
  • Book review, Parachute 57.
1988
  • Future-think, exhibition review of Images du Futur, Vanguard, Nov/Dec.
  • Virus, exhibition review of Genevieve Cadieux, C Magazine 18.
  • Sylvia Safdie, exhibition review, Vanguard, Dec/Jan. 1987/88.
1987
  • Le creux de la vague - Sexisme et feminisme in L'epoque, la mode, la morale, la passion, Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou (translation of 1984 Vanguard article).
  • International Artists' Books Contest of Canada, exhibition review, Vanguard, Feb/Mar. Freda Guttman, Guatemala, exhibition review, C Magazine 14.
  • Pandora Re-visited: Art and New Technologies in Journal of Architectural Education, Washington, D.C., Summer.
1985
  • Defying the Death Machine, interview with Nancy Spero in collaboration with Nicole Jolicoeur, Parachute 39.
  • Defining the Issues in Artists Talk About Technology/Interface: Artistes/Technique, ANNPAC/RACA.
  • Re-telling Pandora: Technology and Myth in Art is Communications, A Space, Toronto.
  • Le reseau parallele au Canada, Cahiers, septembre.
1984
  • The Trough of the Wave: Sexism and Feminism in Vanguard, Sept. 1984 National Artists' Books Contest, exhibition review, Vanguard, March.
1980
  • First International Festival of Women Artists, Copenhagen, report, Fuse, Nov.
Lectures and Panels
2018
  • The Basement Tapes: Media Arts Reunion, at InterAccess. Curators, artists, and artworks active between 1980-1989, representing Toronto's early electronic arts scene. Talk on my Telidon work, Toronto, ON
  • A-B-Z-TXT interdisciplinary typography school, presentation on Telidon artists in Toronto in the 1980s, Toronto, ON
  • Ideas Digital Forum organized by Ontario Association of Art Galleries and the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. State of the Field: panel moderator, Oshawa, ON
  • Artificial Imagination symposium on artistic practice, machine learning and artificial intelligence organized by ArtEngine: panel moderator, Ottawa, ON
2014
  • lecture “Stretching the Envelope of New Media Art”: invited speaker in Killam Lecture Series co-sponsored by the Dalhousie Art Gallery and the Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
2013
  • Hexagram-Concordia Distinguished Speaker Series, in collaboration with Hexagram | CIAM and Phi Centre, Montréal, QC: lecture “When Materialities Multiply: Chaos and Promise between the Computational and Biological Arts”; and round-table “When Forms of Life Collide” in HEXA_OUT series.
  • OCAD University Digital Futures Initiative TalkxTalk speaker series, with Melanie Baljko, Toronto, ONo
2011
  • artist’s talk and panel discussion on the state of new media art at Ottawa Art Gallery, thelivingeffect, Ottawa, ON
2009
  • Art Meets Science plenary lecture, York University 50th Anniversary event, Toronto, ON
2008
  • artist's talk at Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, ON
2007
  • artist’s talk at Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, ON
  • guest lecture in Women, Art, Technology series, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
2005
  • panel on low-res signal in Images Festival, with John Kamevaar and Gebhard Sengmüller, Toronto, ON
2004
  • artist’s talk at Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, ON
2003
  • artist’s talk at St. Norbert Arts Centre, Winnipeg, MB
2002
  • Artificial Stupidity, paper on relationality in a-life art, Banff, AB
  • Shifting Practices, RCA Visual artist-run centre, panel, St. John's, NL
  • ARCCO conference: Convergence, artist-run centres meeting, Ottawa, ON
2001
  • artist's talk at Ryerson Polytechnic University Toronto
2000
  • American Association for Artificial Intelligence Fall Symposia, paper/video presenting my work, Falmouth, Mass.
  • artist's talk at SUNY Visual Art Dept. Buffalo, NY
  • Growing Things: The Cultures of Nano Tech, Bio Tech & Eco Tech Meat Art, paper/video presenting my workBanff
  • Zero Degree Monstrosities, Clinical Trial symposium Vancouver
  • College Art Association Annual Meeting, panel, Negotiating the Tensions Between Two Divergent World Views -- Art and Science chaired by Margot Lovejoy, New York
1999
  • artist's talk at Washington University St. Louis, MO
  • Brown Bag Seminar Series, speaker, Atkinson College Art and Technology program, York University, Toronto
  • Invencao: Thinking the Next Millenium, paper and two panels at combined ISEA/Caiia/Leonardo conference [invited guest at Leonardo editorial board meeting, Rio de Janeiro], Sao Paulo
  • Art ex Machina: Art and the New Media, colloquiam at Carleton University (Carleton Gallery), Ottawa
  • Des souris et des oeuvres, colloque on new media and Internet in university art programs, UQAM, Montreal
  • workshop on Net cams, Technoboro Kool-aid series, Montreal
1998
  • artist's talk in "Art and Science" course, OCAD Toronto
  • panel, "Scope as Trope" in ISEA98Terror Manchester, UK
  • artist talk at InterAccess, Tactile Video series, Toronto
  • Okanagan University College (talk and crits) and Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC
  • talks at McGill University (graduate students) and Universite de Montreal, Montreal
1997
  • Imaging the Future, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
  • Femmes-branchees at Studio XX, talk on Neonudism, Montreal
  • Wildest Dreams: Conversations about Art and Technology, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ont.
  • Fourth European Conference on Artificial Life, poster Brighton, UK
  • Technology Cheated my Image symposium, University of Windsor School of Visual Arts, Windsor
  • panel in conjunction with Promises of Monsters Rockville, MD
  • College Art Association Annual Meeting, panel The Artificial Life Class chaired by Roy Ascott, New York
1996
  • artist's talk in conjunction with Myths from Cyberspace, Koffler Gallery, Toronto
  • Digital Dreams, conference on art, science and technology Newcastle-on-Tyne
  • Interpenetrations: Art, Science, Cultural Theory, panel organizer and presenter, ISEA96, Rotterdam
1995
  • Que sont les pionnieres devenues?, panel organized by CRITIQ in conjunction with ISEA95, Montreal
  • The subject under surveillance, panel, Floating Gallery photo-festival and symposium, Winnipeg
  • University of Western Ontario, Art Department, artist's talk and student critiques, London
1994
  • Carnegie Mellon University Art Department, lecture Pittsburgh
  • Art and Virtual Environments Symposium, Centre for the Arts, Banff
  • Deuxieme rencontres internationales art cinema, art s video, art ordinateur, Videotheque de Paris, table ronde, Paris
1993
  • University of Reading, artist's talk and student crits Reading, England
  • Sheffield Hallam University, artist's talk and student crits Sheffield, England
  • Ecole des Beaux Arts, conference et critiques Dijon, France
  • Intervenante, performance d'Orlan transmise de New York au Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
  • Jan van Eyck Akademie, artist's talk, Maastricht, Holland
  • Utrecht Universtiy, gender and technology program Utrecht, (Prof. Rosi Braidotti), artist's talk, Holland
  • Artist's talks, Vilnius, Lithuania
  • Images de la Nature, table ronde, Societe de l'esthetique Montreal
  • Universite Concordia, guest in MFA Video class, Montreal
  • Universite Concordia, guest in Feminism inhabits Technology, Communications Dept., Montreal
  • The Ordering of Bio-space, paper, College Art Assoc. Seattle
  • Cyberspace, Virtual Reality and the Artist, videoconferencing panel, Toronto and Montreal
1992
  • The Ordering of Bio-space in Transcending Cyberspace, symposium organised by Inter/Access, Toronto
  • Artist testimonial dans Points de forces: les centres d'artistes, colloque organisee par R.C.A.A.Q. et La Centrale, Montreal
  • Simulation and Immersion in Virtual Space, National Gallery of Canada (for Land, Spirit, Power exhibition), Ottawa
  • Respondent for panel Gendered Space, in Architecture + Culture symposium, Carleton University, Ottawa
  • Les Cent jours d'art contemporain, artist's talk, Montreal
  • Galerie Samuel Lallouz, artist's talk, Montreal
  • Mount Allison University, artist's talk and student crits, Sackville
  • NSCAD, artist's talk and student crits, Halifax
1991
  • Banff Centre for the Arts, artist's talk Banff
  • Simon Fraser University, artist's talk and student crits, Vancouver
  • Invited panelist with Madelon Hooykaas and Elsa Stansfield, La Centrale, Montreal
  • UniversiteConcordia, guest in Women and the Fine Arts Montreal
1990
  • Artspeak, artist's talk with Johanne Lamoureux Vancouver
  • Women, Aesthetics, Theory, Practice, panel in Canadian-German symposium on feminist aesthetics, Goethe Institute, Toronto
  • Theory Invasion, panel, Concordia Fine Arts, Montreal
  • The Banff Centre, Art Studio, invited artist, Banff
1989
  • Invited panelist with Nancy Spero and Margaret Harrison, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York
  • Woman as Television, reading for The Postmodern Commotion, CKUT Radio McGill, Montreal
  • Gallery 1.1.1., artist's talk, Winnipeg
1988
  • Mackenzie Art Gallery, artists' panel Regina
  • Dalhousie University Art Gallery, artist's talk Halifax
1987
  • Walter Phillips Gallery, artist's talk, Banff
  • The Ethics of Being an Artist, CARFAC panel, Ottawa
  • Inter/Access, videotex workshop, artist's talk, Toronto
1985
  • Video Inn, videotex workshop Vancouver
1984
  • Plug-In Gallery/MAWA, talk on art and feminism Winnipeg
  • Premiere Biennale de l'Est du Quebec, panel L'art, lieu Riviere-du-du pouvoir Loup
  • Artists Talk About Technology/Interface: artistes/technique, ANNPAC/RACA panel, Halifax
1983
  • Institut Simone de Beauvoir, talk Montreal
  • La Chambre Blanche, artiste invitee Quebec
  • Art and Feminism, ANNPAC/RACA, panel chair Kingston
1982
  • Art et feminisme, Musee d'art contemporain, panel Montreal
1980
  • First International Festival of Women Artists, talk Copenhagen
Grants & Awards
2006
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Research/Creation grant, 3-year project on “Conversing with abstract artificial agents” with Dr. Melanie Baljko, Dr. Kim Sawchuk, John Kamevaar
2005
  • Canada Council for the Arts/Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council New Media Initiative, 3-year project in collaboration with co-PI Dr. Melanie Baljko (Computer Science)
  • Ontario Arts Council, Integrated Arts – Research and Development, with John Kamevaar
2002
  • Canada Council, Media Arts - Production Grant
2000
  • Canada Council, Travel Grant
  • York University Merit Award
1998
  • Canada Council, Media Arts - Integrated Media
  • York Universtiy Junior Research Fund Award
1997
  • SSHRC Small Research Grant, for Web site
1995
  • Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec, arts mediatiques
1994
  • Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec, Aide aux artistes professionnels
1993
  • Canada Council, Paris studio
  • Canada Council, Media Arts - Integrated Media
1992
  • Corel Systems Award, for Bioapparatus project, with Catherine Richards and The Banff Centre for the Arts1992
  • Ministere des Affaires culturelles, Soutien a la pratique artistique, longue duree
1991
  • Ministere des Affaires culturelles, Soutien a la pratique artistique, courte duree
  • Canada Council, Visual Arts, B Grant
1990
  • Ministere des Affaires culturelles, Soutien a la pratique artistique, courte duree
1989
  • Canada Council, Multidisciplinary, B Grant
  • Ministere des Affaires culturelles, Soutien a la pratique artistique, courte duree
  • Canada Council, Multidisciplinary, Project Grant
1988
  • Ministere des Affaires culturelles, Accessibilite, Bourse de projet
  • Bourse d'etudes superieures, Fonds F.C.A.R., Quebec
1987
  • Canada Council, Multidisciplinary, Travel Grant
  • Bourse d'etudes superieures, Fonds F.C.A.R., Quebec
1985
  • Canada Council, Project Grant
1984
  • Ministere des Affaires culturelles, Ressources techniques (research in 3-D
  • computer imaging, Universite de Montreal)
  • Canada Council, Media Arts - Integrated Media
1983
  • Canada Council, Media Arts - Integrated Media
1982
  • Canada Council, Project Cost Grant
1979
  • Ministere des Affaires culturelles, Aide aux artistes
Collections
  • The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, ON
  • Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown PEI
  • The Glenbow Museum, Callgary, AB
  • The Surrey Art Gallery, B.C.
  • The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
  • Canada Council Art Bank
  • Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montréal
  • Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (Collection Prêt d’œuvres d’art)
  • Private Collections
Administration
1999-2014
  • Jury Chair for Vida/Life 2.0 to 16.0, international Artificial Life art competition, sponsored by Fundación Arte y Tecnología de Telefónica, Spain
1999
  • Mentor in Residence, Mentoring Artists for Womens' Art, Winnipeg, one-month stay advising four local women artists and additional studio visits
  • Artistic director and jury head of Life 2.0, art and a-life international competition, Madrid
1998-
  • Advisory Board, New Media, Ryerson Polytechnic University
1997-
  • Board of Directors (Editorial Board), Fuse Magazine, Toronto
1996-97
  • Contributing Editor, Fuse Magazine, Toronto
1995-97
  • Cultronix collective, production of cultural studies e-journal, Carnegie Mellon
1994
  • Conseil d'administration/Board of Directors, PRIM, Montreal
1990-91
  • Co-organizer with Catherine Richards of Bioapparatus residency, seminar and publication at The Banff Centre for the Arts
1988-94
  • Conseil d'administration/Board of Directors, Artexte Centre d'information
1987-88
  • Co-directrice/co-director, Artexte, Montreal
1986-87
  • Documentaliste/database development, Artexte, Montreal
1987-93
  • Co-director with Catherine Richards of Project 0.1.0., research on the interrelation of culture and new technologies
1985-86
  • Conseil d'administration/Board of Directors, Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal
1983-84
  • Membre du comite organisateur, Anti-nuke Show, Galerie Powerhouse
1983-85
  • Reseau informatique/Data Network committee, ANNPAC/RACA
1981-83
  • Representante regionale pour le Quebec, ANNPAC/RACA
1980-83
  • Coordinatrice/coordinator, Galerie Powerhouse
1977-80
  • Coordinatrice assistante/assistant coordinator, Galerie Powerhouse
Teaching
2018-
  • Professor Emerita, York University, Toronto
2011-2018
  • Professor, York University, Toronto
2000-2011
  • Associate Professor, York University, Toronto
1997-00
  • Assistant Professor, York University, Toronto
1994-97
  • Visiting Assistant Professor of Art, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
1990-92
  • Professeur remplacant/Replacement Professor, University of Ottawa
1989-90, 92-94
  • Chargee de cours/part-time teacher, University of Ottawa
1985-90
  • Chargee de cours/part-time teacher, Concordia University, Montreal
Solo catalogues, Feature articles, Solo exhibition reviews
  • Janice Andreae, Legitimation review, Parachute 61, 1991.
  • Stephane Aquin, "Science et Realite", critique d'exposition, Voir mai 1993.
  • Stephane Aquin, "Le facteur realite", critique de In Vitro, Voir 21 mai 1992.
  • Stephane Aquin, critique d'exposition, Voir juillet 1995.
  • Daina Augaitis, exhibition catalogue for Siting Technology, Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre, 1988.
  • Rose Marie Arbour, Francine Couture, "Table ronde: questions a trois artistes sur la creation", Possibles vol. 9, no. 2 (hiver 1985).
  • Nancy Baele, "Rare white-gloves exhibition emphasizes one-on-one contact with art", review of De Causis et Tractatibus, Axe Neo 7 Art Contemporain, Hull, The Ottawa Citizen, April, 1994.
  • Nancy Baele, "National Gallery prints, drawings live up to exhibit's Odd Bodies title", The Ottawa Citizen, Dec. 1, 1996.
  • Renee Baert, exhibition review, C Magazine, Winter 1996.
  • Renee Baert, exhibition catalogue for Legitimation, Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal, 1989.
  • Renee Baert, radio interviews for Legitimation, CKUT Radio McGill (The Postmodern Commotion), Nov. 1989, and Radio Canada (Pr�sence de l'art), Dec. 1989.
  • Bruce Barber, "Technophiles, Technophobes and Technocrats" in Fuse Fall 1984.
  • Catherine Bedard, "Une heraldique du malasie/A heraldry of malaise", catalogue essay for Le Benefice du Doute, Optica, Montreal et Centre d'Art Contemporain d'Herblay, France (Les Cahiers des Regards), 1994.
  • Judith Belanger, "Traits d'esprits", critique de Le Dessin Errant, Voir 19 mai 1988.
  • Serge Berard, critique d'exposition, Parachute Ete 1987.
  • Georges Bogardi, exhibition review, The Montreal Star March 21 1979.
  • Nancy Campbell, exhibition catalogue for Frankenstein: Explorations in Manipulation and Surrationality, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario, 1994.
  • Christine Conley, exhibition catalogue for Regeneration, Agnes Etherington Art Centre,Kingston, 1990.
  • Alan Conter, Montreal, interview for CBC Radio Ideas, "Click here for culture", the impact of technological change, Oct. 1999.
  • Alan Conter, Montr al, interview for CBC Radio Ideas, "Click here for culture", the impact of technological change, 1999.
  • Holland Cotter, review of Techno-seduction, The New York Times, Feb. 7, 1997.
  • Marie-Michele Cron, "Pouvoir Intime", critique d'exposition, Voir novembre 1989.
  • Nina Czegledy, "Mediated Realities in Biomedicine: (for) Consciousness Reframed," Newport UK, a collaborative CD-ROM on ethics in Biomedicine
  • Gilles Daigneault, critique de Actuelles I, Le Devoir 29 octobre 1983.
  • Gilles Daigneault, critique d'exposition, Le Devoir 7 fevrier 1987.
  • Gary Michael Dault, Gallery Going, The Globe and Mail April 17, 1999.
  • Jean Dumont, critique d'exposition, Le Devoir 23 mai 1992.
  • Anita Euteneier, "The Art of Science and the Science of Art", Ottawa Express, Feb, 2004.
  • Scott Ellis, Beyond Electronics review, Border Crossings Spring 1989.
  • Cliff Eyland, ANNPAC Conference exhibition review, Vanguard Fall 1984.
  • Nathalie-Roze Fischer, "Duo dreaming of bodies in a high-tech bind", exhibition review, Now Nov. 28, 1996.
  • Donald Goodes, "Taking up space", exhibition review, Hour May 13 1993.
  • Reesa Greenberg, "Nell Tenhaaf/Nicole Jolicoeur", exhibition review, Vanguard vol. 14, no. 7,Sept. 1985.
  • Reesa Greenberg, "Sacred Cows", exhibition review, C Magazine Summer 1987.
  • Mona Hakim, "Le redoutable monde des apparences", critique de l'exposition Le benefice du doute, Le Devoir 7 novembre 1993.
  • Deirdre Hanna, "Celebrity tools and toys" in Now, Dec. 4, 1997.
  • Hans-Michael Herzog, exhibition catalogue for The Body/Le Corps, Kunsthalle Bielefeld/Edition Stemmle, 1994.
  • Andre Jodoin, Art is Communications exhibition review, Vanguard Feb/Mar. 1986.
  • Johanne Lamoureux, exhibition catalogue for horror autotoxicus, Western Front Gallery, Vancouver, 1991.
  • Bernard Lamarche, "La science suivie a la trace", Le Devoir, July 17, 2004.
  • Johanne Lamoureux, "French Kiss from a No Man's Land", in Arts Magazine Feb. 1991.
  • Caroline Langill, exhibition review of Fit/Unfit, Canadian Art, Winter, 2003.
  • Caroline Langill, "Shifting Polarities: Interview with Nell Tenhaaf", video interview, 2006. www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=1931
  • Henry Lehmann, "Futility of Life", The Gazette, July 24, 2004.
  • Jocelyne Lepage, "Que sont les "Cent jours" devenus?", La Presse 15 ao�t 1992.
  • David Liss, exhibition review, "Photocopy Art: Who Were the Pioneers?", ArtFocus Magazine, Jan. 1996 and at http://www.artfocus.com/copyart.htm
  • David Liss, exhibition review, Montreal Gazette, August 19, 1995.
  • Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, "Perverting Technological Correctness" in Leonardo Vol. 29, No. 1, 1996.
  • Donna Lypchuk, "Talkin' 'bout de-generation", exhibition review, Metropolis Toronto, March 8, 1990.
  • John Bentley Mays, "Powerhouse supplies juice to women in art", The Globe and Mail Sept. 14 1981.
  • Earl Miller, exhibition review of Fit/Unfit, para-para (Parachute) 013, I-II-III, 2003.
  • Earl Miller, "Myths from Cyberspace", exhibition review, Parachute 87, 1997.
  • Earl Miller, radio review of A.C.T. exhibition for Art on Air, CKLN FM Toronto, Sept. 10, 1987.
  • Claude Mongrain, catalogue d'exposition, Le Dessin Errant, Dalhousie University Art Gallery, Halifax, Feb. 1988.
  • Helga Pakasaar, "Technology Cheated my Image Symposium," Windsor Review, Vol. 31 No. 1, Spring 1998.
  • Sylvie Parent, review of Neonudism web documentation at http://www.ciac.ca/, click Le Magazine electronique du CIAC, Archives, No. 7, June 1999.
  • Mireille Perron, exhibition review of Legitimation in C Magazine Spring 1991.
  • Louise Poissant, catalogue d'exposition, Machinations, Galerie Christiane Chassay, publie par la Societe d'esthetique du Quebec, Montreal, 1989.
  • Christine Redfern, "Call the Doctor", Montreal Mirror, July 1-7, 2004.
  • Melanie Reinblatt, exhibition review, Montreal Mirror Feb. 5 1987.
  • Suzanne Richard, "Gerer l'ingerable", Voir, 25 au 31 mars, 2004.
  • Robert Rindler, Techno-seduction, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science & Art, Jan/Feb 1997, catalogue on-line at http://www.cooper.edu/art/techno/artists/tenhaaf.html
  • Hilary Robinson, "Politicised pleasure, pleasurable politics: Other Frontiers", exhibition review in alba (Edinburgh, Scotland), vol. 1, no. 5, Oct/Nov. 1991.
  • Christine Ross, "Au-dela et par la diversite", catalogue d'exposition, Actuelles 1, parranee par Air Canada, Montreal, 1983.
  • Harry Rudolfs, "Dust bunnies and In Vitro show at Glendon Gallery," exhibition review, Excalibur, Jan. 26, 1994.
  • Therese Saint-Gelais, "Remarques sur l'art feminin et l'art feministe", catalogue d'exposition Art et feminisme, Mus�e d'art contemporain, Montreal, 1982.
  • Gaston St-Pierre, catalogue d'exposition, Vues d'ensemble, Centre International d'art contemporain de Montreal, 1992.
  • Carlos Soldevila, "L'ecran humain: entrevue avec Nell Tenhaaf" in Voir, 14-20 janvier 1999.
  • Kim Sawchuk, reprint of 1994 Parachute article, and Dot Tuer, artist interview, for Fit/Unfit, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, 2003
  • Kim Sawchuk, "Artificial Life and Lo-Fi Embodiment: A Conversation with Nell Tenhaaf and Melanie Baljko", Atlantis 32.2, 2008, pp. 6-17.
  • Kim Sawchuk, "Biological Not Determinist: Nell Tenhaaf's Technological Mutations", essay in Parachute 75, July, August, September 1994.
  • Susan Schwartz, "Women artists celebrate room of their own", The Gazette April 15 1983.
  • Kitty Scott, exhibition catalogue for Other Frontiers, curated by Katherine Wood, Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, 1991.
  • Johanne Sloan, In Vitro exhibition review, Parachute Fall 1992.
  • Johanne Sloan, catalogue essay for Blair Robins/Nell Tenhaaf, Glendon Gallery, Toronto, 1994.
  • Carlos Soldevila, feature in Voir, Montr al, January, 1999.
  • Kate Taylor, review of Species Life, The Globe and Mail Mar. 22 1991.
  • Nancy Ungar, "Monsters of the Intellect at Rockville Arts Place," Promises of Monsters exhibition review, Montgomery Gazette, Feb. 14, 1997.
  • R.M. Vaughan, review of Flo'nGlo in Images Festival, the Big Picture, National Post, April 23, 2005.
  • Jane Young, "Picturing Language", Gramatica exhibition review, Vanguard Sept. 1988.
Book Chapters, Articles, Symposium Reports
  • Rose Marie Arbour, Dossier | Féminin pluriel et féminismes en arts visuels au Québec on esse arts + opinions (http://esse.ca), 2013.
  • Cadence Kinsey, “Matrices of Embodiment: Rethinking Binary and the Politics of Digital Representation” in Signs, Vol. 39, No. 4, Summer (The University of Chicago Press), pp. 897-925, 2014.
  • Tanja Nusser, Wie Sonst Das Zeugen Mode War: Reproduktionstechnologien in Literatur und Film (Frieburg i.Br./Berlin/Wien: Rombach Verlag KG), pp. 149-151, 2011.
  • Ingeborg Reichle, Art in the Age of Technoscience: Genetic Engineering, Robotics, and Artificial Life in Contemporary Art (Wien/New York: Springer), 2009, various pages.
  • Caroline Seck Langill, "Negotiating the hybrid: art, theory and genetic technologies" in AI & Society, Vol. 20, No. 1, January 2006 (Springer London), pp. 49-62.
  • Edward Shanken, ed., Art and Electronic Media (London and New York: Phaidon Press), in section “Charged Environments,” pp. 96-119, 2009.
  • Johanne Sloan, “Relations, 1988: Photographie, postmodern, feminist” in Journal of Canadian Art History, Vol. XXXVI:1, 2015.
  • Ingeborg Reichle, Kunst aus dem Labor: Zum Verh ltnis von Kunst un Wissenschaft im Zeitalter (Vienna: Springer-Verlag, 2005).
  • Ingeborge Reichle, "Where Art and Science Meet: Genetic Engineering in Contemporary Art" in Kunst Texte, 2/2003; abridged and translated for Media Art Net.
  • Jools Gilson-Ellis, "Loa and behold: voice ghosts in the new technoculture" in Digital Creativity (UK: Routledge), Vol. 12, Issue 2, June 2001, pp. 77-88.
  • Helga Pakasaar, "Technology Cheated my Image Symposium," Windsor Review, Vol. 31 No. 1, Spring 1998.