Ethan Minsker's descriptors include writer, filmmaker, artist, publisher, and zine creator. His work chronicles the lifestyles and cultures of overlooked and underappreciated artists. He was a founding member of the Antagonist Art Movement, a New York City-based group of artists, writers, and musicians who promoted work by up-and-coming talent between 2000 and 2011. Ethan was the recipient of the Acker Award for Visual Arts in 2017. He was also the creator and editor-in-chief of Psycho Moto Zine, which has been in publication from 1988–2020. He received his B.F.A. in Film with honors from School of Visual Arts and his masters in Media from the New School. Ethan has written three novels, produced nine feature films, and continues his relationship with artists as a board member and president of Citizens for the Arts, a nonprofit group whose mission is to promote art for kids in underserved communities.
ETHAN H. MINSKER CV
Artist · Filmmaker · Writer · Publisher
New York, NY
Instagram: @ethanminsker
ARTIST STATEMENT / PRACTICE
Ethan H. Minsker is a New York–based multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, writer, and publisher whose practice transforms recycled and discarded materials into handmade papier-mâché sculptures, wall-based works, and installations.
Drawing from New York City, popular culture, film and television, animals, personal history, and everyday objects, Minsker’s work explores accessibility, humor, nostalgia, community, and the relationship between fine art and craft. His sculptures often combine handmade forms with vivid colors, found materials, and references to the visual language of the city.
Minsker’s practice is intentionally hands-on and accessible, using inexpensive and recycled materials and processes that can be shared with broad audiences. His studio practice is informed by decades of community organizing, independent publishing, filmmaking, and creating opportunities for artists outside traditional institutional structures.
EDUCATION
The New School, New York, NY
M.A., Media Studies, 1999
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
B.F.A., Film, with Honors, 1993
RESIDENCIES
Governors Island Residency, 4heads, New York, NY
2022
Governors Island Residency, 4heads, New York, NY
2020
AWARDS & GRANTS
LMCC Grant, Citizens for the Arts / Art Pawn Project, 2024
Best Experimental Documentary, Jim Thorpe Film Festival, 2024
Best Music Video, Jim Thorpe Film Festival, 2023
Acker Award, Fine Arts, 2017
Programmer’s Award, Hell’s Half Mile Film & Music Festival, 2020
Best Experimental, STIFF, 2020
D.I.Y. Award, RXSM Film Festival, 2014
Best of Fest, VTXIFF, 2011
Best in Show, Royal Flush Festival, 2008
Telly Award, General Documentary Series, Bronze, 2019
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & ART PROJECTS
Art Bodega: “Paparazzi”, CLLCTv Gallery, New York, NY, 2026
“Summer Solstice”, Coney Island USA, Brooklyn, NY, 2026
“Rooted”, Culture Lab LIC, Long Island City, NY, 2026
Wet Paint Exhibition & Auction Fundraiser, Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI, 2026
“City in Bloom”, FIT Art & Design Gallery, New York, NY, 2025
“HOPE/less”, The Heller Museum, New York, NY, 2022
“Ensuing Moments”, Ivy Brown Gallery, New York, NY, 2022
“Negative Space Portraits”, Spring/Break Art Show, New York, NY, 2022
“House of Helixx”, Governors Island, New York, NY, 2022
Fashion Institute of Technology Library Exhibition, New York, NY, 2022
Papier-mâché sculptures, Psycho Moto Zine archive, and publications exhibited during the spring semester. Issues of Psycho Moto Zine and Minsker’s books were entered into the FIT permanent archives.
Art-o-mat, 2022-Present
Artwork selected for Art-o-mat, a network of repurposed cigarette vending machines used to distribute original artwork.
Mytsry Mart 2024-Present
Artwork selected for Mytsry Mart, a network of vending machines used to distribute original artwork in New York City.
“I Love You New York But You’re Bringing Me Down”, Spring/Break Art Show, New York, NY, 2021
Installation of more than 50 handmade papier-mâché buildings, mailboxes, subway cars, taxi cabs, water towers, and other elements recreating a dreamlike New York City landscape.
Governors Island Art Fair, New York, NY, 2015
“The Ghost Guns”, 326 Gallery, New York, NY, 2016
SELECTED ART PROJECTS
ART PAWN (cutator)
A community-based art project exploring art, value, exchange, and accessibility. Art Pawn combines exhibition-making, education, and community participation while teaching artists how to curate and create exhibitions.
CITY IN BLOOM (cutator / artist)
A body of work examining the natural and constructed environments of New York City through handmade sculpture. The project explores the relationship between urban architecture, nature, memory, and the imagination through recycled materials and papier-mâché.
HOUSE OF HELIXX (artist)
An installation and video project developed during the 2022 Governors Island residency, incorporating handmade sculpture, recycled materials, and moving image.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT (artist)
A body of work examining the cruelty and beauty of the cycle of life. The project transforms imagery associated with dead birds, hunting, weapons, and fashion into sculptural works.
THE GHOST GUNS (artist)
An artistic response to mass shootings in the United States, examining violence, accessibility, and the cultural presence of firearms through sculpture and installation.
COMMUNITY & ART ORGANIZING
Citizens for the Arts, Inc., New York, NY
Co-Founder · Chairman of the Board · President
2012–Present
Citizens for the Arts is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization supporting emerging artists, writers, and musicians.
Antagonist Art Movement
Founding Member
2000–2011
As a founding member of the Antagonist Art Movement, Minsker helped create alternative exhibition opportunities for artists outside traditional gallery structures. The movement provided venues, exhibitions, artist assistance, and opportunities for artists to generate income through their work.
Minsker has also participated in projects that transformed vacant and underused spaces into temporary galleries and community exhibition spaces.
Community projects and collaborations include:
Blue Bus Project · Culture Lab · Museum of My Heart · Art Through Vintage ·
TEACHING
Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY
Adjunct Professor, Film & Media
2023–Present
James Madison University, New York, NY
Summer Faculty
2025–2026
Courses include documentary production, film editing, short film production, and filmmaking.
Minsker’s teaching emphasizes hands-on filmmaking, experimentation, collaboration, and learning through the creative process.
ART EDUCATION & WORKSHOPS
Northeast Magnet High School Classroom Grant Program, Wichita, KS
Art practices presentation and hands-on fanzine workshop, 2021
YAI Arts, New York, NY
Hands-on papier-mâché building workshop, 2021
Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY
Filmmaking Q&A, 2021
Howl High School, New York, NY
Filmmaking Practices, sponsored by Howl Arts, 2021
Additional workshops and presentations have included programs in Lisbon, Portugal; Ambato and Quito, Ecuador; and Redfern, Sydney.
FILM & VIDEO
Scooter LaForge: A Life of Art, 2024
Director · Producer · Writer · Videographer · Editor · Animator · Host
80-minute documentary. Selected by DOC NYC.
Man in Camo: The Art and Artist, 2020
Director
Programmer’s Award, Hell’s Half Mile Film & Music Festival; Best Experimental, STIFF.
The Great Record Hunt, 2019
Producer / Director
Telly Award, General Documentary Series, Bronze.
Self-Medicated: A Film About Art, 2014
Director
D.I.Y. Award, RXSM Film Festival.
The Dolls of Lisbon, 2011
Director
Best of Fest, VTXIFF.
This Is Berlin, Not New York, 2008
Director
Best in Show, Royal Flush Festival.
ART TALK VIDEOS
Art Talk Videos
Creator · Producer · Host · Director · Editor
A weekly series of art gallery reviews, artist interviews, and conversations about contemporary art produced until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
PUBLISHING
Psycho Moto Zine
Founder · Editor-in-Chief · Publisher
1988–2020
Independent art and literary fanzine featuring original artwork and writing by diverse artists and writers. Psycho Moto Zine was exhibited as part of the Alternative Youth Exhibit at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City.
The Antagonist
Artist Book
A book documenting the history, artists, exhibitions, and activities of the Antagonist Art Movement.
Barstool Prophets
Author / Publisher, 2011
A fictional memoir of true events following a wide spectrum of characters and narrated by a young writer working in a bar in New York’s East Village.
Rich Boy Cries for Momma
Author / Publisher, 2012
A coming-of-age novel told from the perspective of a good son who becomes a teenage punk rocker, set in Washington, DC during the turbulent 1970s and 1980s.
Film festivals and arts program juror
Art Juror — Scholastic National Art Awards, 2023
Ceramics and Glass
Film Juror — Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival, 2024
Film Juror — Santa Cruz Film Festival, 2024
Film Juror — Vidlings and Tapeheads Film Festival, 2021