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Julie Ault (b. 1957) is an artist and writer whose collaborative and discipline-crossing practice interrogates how histories are retold and how they can effect change in the present. She is known for innovating new models of artistic form that encompass exhibition-making, publication, archiving, and collective research, producing work across a range of formats that interrogates how cultural production is shaped by, and can intervene in, wider social and political systems.

Ault’s early work developed alongside her pivotal role as a co-founder of Group Material, an artist collective active in New York between 1979 and 1996 that experimented with political models of artistic practice by staging thematic and site-specific exhibitions addressing topical social issues. Forming amidst a dynamic ecosystem of alternative art groups, and politicized through histories of anti-war and civil rights activism, Group Material comprised a shifting membership that included artists Tim Rollins, Doug Ashford, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres alongside Ault. Their collaborations manifested in innovative and influential shows such as “The People’s Choice (Arroz con Mango)” (1981), featuring artworks alongside personal items donated by residents of the Lower East Side neighborhood where the group was based; “Democracy” (1988–89), catalyzing a public interrogation of the titular theme through a rotating exhibition and “town hall” events; and “AIDS Timeline” (1989), unpacking the cultural-political ramifications of the AIDS epidemic and failed public response through a multi-layered chronology.

After the dissolution of Group Material, Ault continued to develop innovative, research-driven approaches to art-making—both individually and collaboratively—favoring curating exhibitions, writing, and editing publications as her primary mediums. Significant exhibitions curated by Ault include “Afterlife: a constellation” (Whitney Museum, 2014), and Nancy Spero: Paper Mirror (PS1/MoMA, 2019). Ault’s writing chiefly reflects longstanding collaborations and dialogues with fellow artists, among them Roni Horn, Danh Vo, and Jim Hodges. Ault has edited numerous definitive publication such as “Alternative Art New York: 1965–1985” (University of Minnesota Press, 2002) “Show and tell: A Chronicle of Group Material” (Four Corners Books, 2010); “Felix Gonzalez-Torres”(Steidl, 2006); and “Come Alive: The Spirited Art of Sister Corita,” (Four Corners Books, 2006) among numerous other projects. In 2011 A.R.T. Press published “(FC) Two Cabins by JB,” a book that documents and analyzes a body of work by James Benning.

Ault continues to investigate, through diverse artistic strategies, the agency that personal and collective histories have in the present and our possibilities for social change.