Carol Szymanski’s language- based art spans many media, from sculpture and photography to video and performance, and often includes musical elements with poetic texts. She studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and the Whitney Museum Studio Program and her work has been exhibited internationally. She has become particularly known for a series of sculptures in the form of invented musical instruments, particularly brass horns, using an alphabetic font she designed. Recent exhibitions and performances including these instruments have been at e-flux Screening Room, Brooklyn, NY 2025 with Faye Victor, Sam Jones and Arda Cabaoglu; the Talea Ensemble 100th birthday celebration for Pierre Boulez at the Church of St Luke &St Matthew, Brooklyn, 2025; Torn Page, New York, 2025; Industry City as part of The Brooklyn Rail “Singing in Unison” exhibition series, 2022; Artist Studio Series curated by Jason Moran, with Jaime Branch, Veterans Hall, Park Avenue Armory, 2021; The Phonemophonic Alphabet Brass Band, Winter Garden, New York, New Sounds Live Series curated by John Schaefer, with Ben Neill and Pauline Oliveros, 2017; with Wadada Leo Smith and Betsy McClelland, The Drawing Center, New York, 1993; and with Dewey Redman at Pat Hearn Gallery, New York, 1993. She has been a recipient of numerous awards including the Rome Prize and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.
