Natalia Ivanova (Mount) is a distinguished curator/artist hybrid, writer, and art director whose practice lies at the intersection of art, law, and economics. With a career spanning over two decades, she has become a thought leader in exploring relational aesthetics within the commons, seeking to illuminate shared spaces beyond the confines of division and difference. In recent years, Natalia’s intellectual and artistic focus has deepened, examining the dynamics of participation within capital and the mechanisms of repression, with a particular emphasis on the transgressive nature of social media and its interventions in the commons.
As the founder of Art Agency Reframed, Natalia has spearheaded the development of a peer-to-peer, decentralized model of commons-based labor and resource networks. Eschewing traditional access points and reward systems, her approach advocates for the negotiation of value through the agency of labor itself—underpinned by a critical engagement with the economic structures of art and culture. Her curatorial practice, at once subversive and reflective, reframes the institutionalized agency of women, working both through and against the framework of capital, using her own image as a conceptual tool to navigate these complex systems.
Central to her body of work is Performing Pro Arts COMMONS, a transdisciplinary, conceptual Dadaist project that serves as a foundational piece in Natalia’s long-standing collaboration with the Dadais Americanus collective, of which she is also a co-founder. The project, a script and transmedia co-authored work, interrogates the nature of art-making, labor, and the commons while pushing the boundaries of traditional curatorial practice. Performing Pro Arts COMMONS embodies Natalia’s commitment to reimagining the function of art within the context of radical engagement and open capital networks.
Natalia’s curatorial leadership has had a profound impact on the art landscape. As the founder of Pro Arts Commons in Oakland, she has created a space for the critical rethinking of art, labor, and community. In collaboration with artists and local communities, she has curated exhibitions and programs that interrogate the value of mutual and co-operative networks—networks that strive for more equitable labor rights, improved access to resources, and the preservation of marginalized histories within the art world. This work continues to reshape the discourse on art’s potential to function as a tool for social change.
An accomplished author, Natalia has written “Reframing the Value of Art and Art Labor in the Context of a Sharing Economy” and co-authored “The Commons: Of Friends and Lovers” with Marc Herbst. Her writing explores the intersections of art, labor, and socio-economic structures, positioning her as a leading intellectual voice in contemporary discourse. Natalia’s work has been featured in museums and alternative spaces around the world, and she has contributed extensively to the global conversation on the future of art through her speaking engagements, panel discussions, and writings for academic institutions and magazines.
From 2013 to 2023, Natalia served as the Director and Chief Curator of Pro Arts Gallery, one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s oldest avant-garde institutions. Between 2023 and 2024, she held a curatorial and writing residency in Berlin, where she presented her work at Scope Art Gallery Berlin. As a sought-after consultant, writer, and speaker, Natalia continues to presnt at intenrational conferences and panels, and currently consults artist Kristin Leslie, PS1 founder Alanna Hass, and Royal Family Productions.
Natalia Ivanova, Portrait by Menno van der Meulen
Performing THE COMMONS
A central focus of my work is the exploration of intellectual property (IP) and its far-reaching implications for artistic production and distribution. In 2020, I co-authored and registered with the U.S. Copyright Office the text and script for a transmedia performance piece, Performing Pro Arts COMMONS (PPAC), under the pseudonym Dadais Americanus. This work serves as a shared intellectual space, offering artists and collectives the ability to occupy and collaborate within a common IP framework. By doing so, it disrupts traditional capitalist models and the dominant power structures that often suppress marginalized voices and hinder creative collaboration.
Through alternative licensing frameworks like the PPAC Art License, I strive to challenge conventional ownership models, fostering creativity and solidarity in the process. Initiatives such as the Teaching Institute for Art & Law reflect my commitment to equitable access to IP rights, pushing the boundaries of how we can reimagine the intersection of creativity, law, and community economics.
Looking to the future, I advocate for innovative approaches to IP management, including the
introduction of moral clauses and redistribution mechanisms within commercial agreements to essentially disrupt and occupy the intellectual property legal system. By pooling artistic works under collective ownership structures like the PPAC Art License, I envision a more inclusive and equitable creative landscape—one where artistic labor is celebrated, valued, and shared for the common good.
