Into the Woods

For a certain subset of New York artists and intellectuals, whose interests and wardrobes slant toward the obsidian, Brandon Stosuy is a sovereign figure. As a curator, he’s got a rare ability to create modish currency from the inaccessible; gloomy genres like harsh noise, power electronics, and black metal were not considered au courant until quite recently, and Stosuy invested early, booking shows in his native New Jersey before becoming the managing editor at Pitchfork. He’s programmed acts for MOMA’s “Warm Up” series, collaborated with Matthew Barney, and in 2011 was a co-founder of Basilica SoundScape, an expertly curated festival in Hudson, New York, wedging his esoteric tastes in among the farmers’ markets and meditation retreats of America’s Rhineland.