David Horvitz (born 1975 in Los Angeles) is an American conceptual artist who lives and works in his hometown. He studied at the University of California (Santa Barbara) and spent a year at Waseda University in Tokyo. Horvitz is married to Zanna Gilbert, an art historian affiliated with the Getty Research Institute.
Horvitz works across a range of media, including photography, performance, art books, conceptual websites, online interventions, and mail art. His multidisciplinary practice explores systems of language, chance, and the everyday. He is often regarded as carrying forward the spirit of Fluxus, defining art through action and movement, while also drawing inspiration from the work of Bas Jan Ader, particularly Ader's focus on human vulnerability, loss, and the poetry of everyday situations.
"I've traveled since I graduated from high school, and somehow that's contributed to my suspicion that it's actually become my work," Horvitz has said. "When I was growing up this tendency to move around seemed to be related to a sense of restlessness or boredom. But now it is more about movements, routes, and channels of distribution."
Key works illustrate his approach:
"Somewhere in Between the Jurisdiction of Time" (2014): exhibited at Blum & Poe, this piece featured water collected from the Pacific Ocean between the Pacific and Alaska Time Zones, kept in handmade glass bottles and displayed in a straight North/South line. Critic Andrew Berardini described the work as creating "some weird uncrossable divide... The mere suggestion of a demarcation forces our moves."
"Frieze Projects" (2016): at the annual Frieze Art Fair, Horvitz hired a pickpocket to place sculptures in the pockets of attendees. Regarding this intervention, Horvitz stated: "Imagine how much money is concentrated there, among collectors and galleries—and then there's this person walking around who's basically a trained thief."
Recent highlights also include "The Icing on the Cake" (2024), the ongoing "Los Angeles Timing 2013-2025" series, and "7th Ave Garden" (2025). His work has been exhibited at institutions including MoMA and is represented by galleries such as ChertLüdde.
En 2022, il a créé plusieurs œuvres originales de mail art en les expédiant directement depuis son studio à Los Angeles vers votre galerie à Anvers.