ELMNOP is a modular curatorial concept that turns art galleries into physical crossword puzzle environments to view works of art. The inaugural exhibition at SPRING BREAK 2020 presented In Excess, in collaboration with curator Elliott De Cesare and New York Times crossword constructor Jim Quinlan.

Inside of a crossword puzzle environment artworks are curated within a particular theme chosen at the discretion of the curator. This could be a single word, a phrase, a quote, a sentence, a idiom, etc. Once the artworks are composed into the crossword environment content is then interpreted into actual crossword puzzles by one or more cruciverbalists (crossword puzzle constructors). The crossword puzzles are then used in place of the typical curatorial statement, presenting the work in a series of clues and questions opposed to statements. The Crossword puzzles are made available through a QR code on the gallery wall, or through available print outs of the puzzle.

ELMNOP seeks to force all participants into a new means of perceiving contemporary artworks, seeking to warp the relationship between artist, curator, and viewer, challenging the way we see. Through this method the artist, curator relationship is obscured into a cyclical poetic collage of information. ELMNOP seeks to propose thoughts and questions rather than make statements.