Simon Baier

Simon Baier is an Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo. Previously, he held the Laurenz Professorship for Contemporary Art at the University of Basel (2017–2023). His research focuses on modernism and contemporary art, exploring intersections between aesthetics, politics, technology, and subjectivity. Key areas include the historical avant-gardes, postmodern dance, and the relationship between art and ecology.

• Teaches courses on contemporary art globalization, curating, and museology
• Co-edited Aesthetics of Equivalence. Art in Capitalism (2024)
• Contributor to Texte zur Kunst and Artforum International

Current research investigates how discourses on digital technology, ecology, and neuroscience reshape aesthetic experience and artistic practice. This includes studies of non-conscious agency in art and the reconstitution of sculpture in environmental crises. His work analyzes artists like Marc Chagall, Donald Judd, and Pamela Rosenkranz across the 20th and 21st centuries.

Publications emphasize critical analyses of contemporary art exhibitions, capitalistic frameworks in art, and materiality in sculpture. Recent articles engage with Dan Flavin’s light installations and Sylvie Fleury’s portraiture.

Research affiliations include the University Board’s Environmental Art groups. Advising and grants focus on interdisciplinary projects linking art theory with ecological and technological studies.