Based in Brooklyn, New York, Tod Lippy is the creator of the nonprofit arts publication Esopus (2003–2018), which has been the subject of dedicated exhibitions at de Appel Art Center in Amsterdam (2016), the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas (2017) and the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine (2024).

Solo exhibitions include My Fellow Americans, 2025, a series of 50 paintings of Trump voters that were most recently exhibited at Independent with The Meeting, New York; Private, a series of photographs and videos of the interiors of commercial art galleries, which were the subject of a one-person exhibition at The Meeting, New York, in 2024; and Private, an installation at The Future Perfect, Los Angeles, in 2024. Lippy’s work for Esopus has been included in group exhibitions in venues including the Walker Art Center, Rome’s Contemporary Art Museum, and the Casino Luxembourg. In August 2018, Lippy was awarded a MacDowell Colony residency, during which he completed a series of drawings related to Esopus that were published that fall (the edition, Esopus Drawings, was named one of the best art books of the year by ARTnews).

Lippy, who received graduate degrees from Williams College (M.A., Art History) and New York University (M.A., Cinema Studies) has been an adjunct faculty member in the M.F.A. Design program at the School of Visual Arts. He has lectured at educational and cultural institutions including the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Nasher Sculpture Center, MTV Networks, Aesop, Bennington College, Yale University, Rice University, New York University, USC’s Roski School of Fine Arts, and the American Library Association.

From 2009 to 2012, Lippy served as curator and director of Esopus Space, an alternative exhibition and performance venue in New York City, where he curated 18 exhibitions and staged 30 events. He also curated the exhibitions Mark Hogancamp (2006) and Don Bachardy: One-Day Stands (2008; jointly organized with Matthew Higgs) at White Columns in New York City; Mark Hogancamp: Women of Marwencol (2014; co-curated with Janet Hicks) and Golden Years: Photographs by Ed Rosenbaum (2016) at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn; Nat Meade: Drawings, at One Mile Gallery in Kingston, NY (2022); and The Publicsfear Archive, at Printed Matter in New York City (2024).

Lippy’s books include Projections 11: New York Film-Makers on Film-Making (Faber and Faber, 2000), Modern Artifacts (Esopus Books/The Museum of Modern Art, 2020; with Michelle Elligott), The Esopus Reader (Esopus Books, 2022), and Private (Mirrorical, 2024). His critical writing has been published in Artforum, Print, Scenario, and a number of other publications. He was the cofounder, editor, and designer of the art zine publicsfear (1992–94) and the cofounder and editor Scenario: The Magazine of Screenwriting Art (1994–96). He has worked as a book designer for clients including Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Radius Books; Derek Eller Gallery; and Harper’s.

Lippy also makes music under his own name. His albums include Here We Are (2019) and Yearbook (2021), produced by Kramer (Galaxie 500, Low); an LP of covers, Closer Than They Appear (2022); and The Present (2024), which was recorded, mixed, and produced by Bryce Goggin (Pavement, Phish).

In 2025, Lippy begin working with Manchester, UK–based composer/musician/sound artist Owain Kelly on the collaborative multidisciplnary project GULFF. The two have never met in person, but they have engaged in a year-long intensive creative relationship via WhatsApp, emails, and file-sharing applications which has yielded a 10-song LP. The album, which explores the political, commercial, and technological ruptures splintering contemporary culture, will be out in 2026. Its release will be accompanied by a series of performances, installations, artworks, and interventions.