Georgia Gerson is a final-year PhD candidate in the History of Art department at the University of York. Her research is an interdisciplinary art-historical and sociological study that reconsiders the way value is constructed in the contemporary art market. In order to investigate this in a new, unique way, it takes as its case study the recent intervention into the market of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). One of the key questions of this research is whether the art market is functioning in the same way with this new category of goods. Prior to her PhD, from 2015-2019 she worked at a leading international commercial contemporary art gallery, gaining a rare insider’s working knowledge of the art market by creating and promoting exhibitions, attending international art fairs and working alongside leading artists and institutions worldwide. As such, her research combines her interest in contemporary art, her academic training in art history and professional experience in the art market. Alongside her PhD, Georgia works as a Freelance Marketing and Communications Manager for a number of publicly-funded, female-led dance companies that challenge the structures and hierarchical archetypes currently in place in the contemporary dance sector.
Education:
(2022-2025, to be submitted in autumn 2025) Doctor of Philosophy in History of Art, University of York. Thesis: The Hall of Mirrors: NFTs in the Art Market. Supervised by Prof Michael White and Dr Marta Herrero.
(2014-2015) Master of Arts in History of Art (Grade: 2.1), University of East Anglia. Dissertation: “Art in the Present Tense”: A Critical Analysis of Art Historical Legacies and the Conditions of Contemporaneity. Supervised by Dr Simon Dell.
(2011-2014) Batchelor of Arts in History of Art and Literature (First Class Hons.), University of East Anglia. Dissertation: Montage and Mosaic: August Sander, Alfred Döblin and the tensions of modernisation in Weimar Germany. Supervised by Dr Simon Dell and Dr Petra Rau.
Teaching Experience:
(Aug 2025-Jun 2026) Teaching Fellow, Courtauld Institute of Art: MA Art and Business & BA3 Module Material Worlds, Global Cultures of Collecting
(November 2023) AI & Artists Workshop for Trailmix Games.
(July 2023) AI and Visual Artists, Next Step York & YorWay Residential Academic Project.
(Jan-May 2023) Graduate Teaching Assistant, History of Art Department, University of York.
(2022-2023) Various seminars for Rosetta Arts Cultural Producers Programme including: Working with Galleries, Professionalising the Art Market, Marketing and Events for Visual Artists.
Grants & Awards:
(April 2024) Department conference award, History of Art Department, University of York. Awarded full amount requested to support attendance at the Association for Art History Annual Conference, 2025.
(May 2024) University of York Humanities Research Centre Doctoral Fellowship (£500). Awarded for intellectual achievement and potential, and the capacity to communicate high-quality research clearly and engagingly to a non-specialist audience.
(July 2014) 50% Scholarship for Master of Arts programme awarded for academic achievement from University of East Anglia.
Publications:
Peer Reviewed Articles
(Forthcoming 2025) 4 articles for Grove Art Online: Hauser & Wirth, Iwan Wirth, Lehmann Maupin and Luhring Augustine.
(2023) Georgia Gerson, “Selling the Unsellable: Conceptual Art and Non-fungible-tokens (NFTs),” Aspectus, no. 5 (Fall 2023): 1–14. DOI: 10.15124/yao-za12-x736
Books & Chapters
(2024): Marta Herrero and Georgia Gerson, “NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and the emergence of a new category in Sotheby’s and Christie’s global auction market,” in Global Art Markets: history and current trends, ed. Iain Robertson, Derrick Chong and Luís U. Afonso (Oxford: Routledge, 2024).
(2015) Frank Bowling: The Poured Paintings (London: Hales Gallery, 2015).
Reviews
(2022) “Exhibition Review: Hew Locke’s Procession,” Aspectus, no. 4 (Fall 2022): 43–46. DOI: 10.15124/yao-tz1s-ed40.
(2013) “Invisible Art: Conceptual Goldmine or A Case of the Emperor’s New Clothes?” This is WAS, University of East Anglia World Art Studies Blog.
Research Support
(2017) Okwui Enwezor, Frank Bowling: Mappa Mundi (Munich: Prestel, 2017).
Conferences:
Conference Organization:
(April 2025) Co-convenor, Disruption and Progress: Reflecting on Digital Art Practice, full day session at the Association for Art History Annual Conference, University of York.
(April 2024) History of Art PhD Work in Progress Conference, Humanities Research Centre, University of York.
(May 2023) Personal Assistant to conference conveners, Art and the Markets: Examining the Intersections between Museums, Philanthropy, Commerce and the Law, organised by Dr Richard McClary and Dr Marta Herrero. Funded by The British Academy and University of York. The Guildhall, York.
Conference Papers:
(October 2024) Assessing the Importance of Live Events in a Digital Art Market, Tools for the Future – Researching Art Market Practices from Past to Present International Workshop #9, University of Glasgow.
(June 2023) The Hall of Mirrors: Selling NFTs in the London Art Market, The International Association for Art Market Studies conference, Université Libre de Bruxelles.
(March 2023) NFT as Fault: Value Creation in the Contemporary Art Market, PhD Conference, Humanities Research Centre, University of York.