Post Human, Phaidon

A renewed examination of Jeffrey Deitch’s pivotal exhibition

Originally exhibited in 1992, Jeffrey Deitch’s groundbreaking exhibition Post Human brought together the work of thirty-six young artists interested in new frontiers of body and identity transformation. The prescient exhibition, which traveled to five international venues, introduced the art world to posthumanism - how the human body continues to merge with and diverge from technology. Both the show and it catalogue, which featured a unique visual essay and innovative design, helped set the agenda for art discourse in the 1990s.

More than thirty years later, Deitch revitalized Post Human at his Los Angeles gallery, bringing the themes of the original back to the present. The show’s 2024 iteration presented several key figures who participated in the original exhibition in dialogue with emerging contemporary artists whose boundary-pushing work explores how these themes, particularly recent forms of technology such as AI, have evolved over the course of the twenty-first century.

This timely publication revisits artworks from both iterations of the show. Readers will discover color photography of the featured works, along with Deitch’s iconic visual essay from the original catalogue and text contributions from contemporary philosopher Rosi Braidotti and critic Philippa Snow. Together, they form a printed testament to the show’s indelible impact and Deitch’s everlasting influence on the art world.