Wilfried Laforge (b. 1982) is a French art advisor whose practice is closely tied to academic research in aesthetics and contemporary art. He holds a PhD in Art Sciences from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, where his work focused on philosophical aesthetics and modern and contemporary art. Rather than approaching advising from a purely market-oriented perspective, he works with art as a historical, conceptual, and institutional practice whose value unfolds over time.

‍His research engages with contemporary artistic practices, new media, and the philosophical questions that structure them. Exhibition histories, theoretical frameworks, and the conditions of visibility of works play a central role in his thinking. This background informs a way of advising that treats theory less as commentary than as a means of judgment—useful when choices are complex, works are demanding, or contexts remain unstable.

Alongside his advisory activity, Wilfried has developed a long-standing editorial practice. Since 2018, he has been Senior Acquisition Editor at Vrin Editions, where he co-founded the REC (Research in Contemporary Aesthetics) series, devoted to contemporary theory and new translations in philosophy of art. He is also active as a translator and is currently preparing a collection of essays by Lydia Goehr.In 2023, he founded Enceladus Press, distributed by The MIT Press, which he now directs. Based between Paris and New York, the press publishes books and audio projects that foreground artistic practice and artists’ own voices. Its forthcoming volume, Art-Oriented Philosophy, brings together extended conversations with contemporary artists on the place of philosophy in their work.

Wilfried  is the author of numerous essays in French and English and has organized international conferences in collaboration with academic and cultural institutions. His current book project proposes a renewed framework for thinking contemporary art through the philosophy of Theodor W. Adorno. His advisory work builds on this combined experience in research, publishing, and sustained contact with artists, galleries, and institutions. He works with private and corporate collectors who value historical depth, conceptual coherence, and long-term perspective. Since the early 2000s, he has built a wide international network within the contemporary art world, supporting a form of advising that is less about immediacy than about attention, context, and judgment.

— Publications (selection)
‍L’Écho du réel, w. C. Crignon & P. Nadrigny, Paris: Mimésis, 2020.
• À la frontière des arts, Paris: Mimésis, 2018 •  Art Oriented Philosophy, The Uses of Philosophy in Contemporary Art, EP, Paris; New York (2025)• Altérités des arts contemporains, Paris, Klincksieck, forthcoming (2025)
‍
— Recent talks
‍ "A good job makes a good work", Pantheon-Sorbonne University, January 2025.• "An Art-Oriented Philosophy”, Université Libre de Bruxelles, March 11, 2025 • "The Philosophical Library of the Artist”, École de Recherche Graphique, Bruxelles, March 12, 2025.  
‍
‍
— Recent Articles
‍ “It was in the Air, Bruce Nauman and Contemporary Philosophy“, New York University Press (forthcominge) • “Allan Kaprow’s Quest for the Real“, New York University Press (forthcoming) • "Adorno en terres réalistes", in Christophe David et Florent Perrier (dir.), Où en sommes-nous avec la Théorie esthétique d’Adorno ?, Rennes: Pontcerq, 2018, pp. 270 c• "L'effrangement, entre aporie et utopie, in " À la frontière des arts, Paris: Mimésis, 2018, pp. 7-13. 

— Organisation of conferences (selection):
‍ Scientific director,  international conference "L’écho du Réel/Echoes of the Real, Philhar-monie de Paris-Cité de la Musique, Paris, 2019 • Organiser, Artists Talks Series at SVANYC The Uses of Philosophy in Contemporary Art • Scientific director, international conference "À la frontière des arts", Philharmonie de Paris-Cité de la Musique, Paris, septembre 2016  • panel organiser, "Inquiéter le réel, le modernisme américain au prisme des pratiques artistiques contemporaines", Cinquième congrès de l’EAM (European Network for Avangarde and Modernism Studies 5th Conference), Université de Rennes 2, 1-3 juin 2016.

—Teaching (SVA, 2018-)
"The Situation of the Arts"; "Recording Art"; "New Media Theory"; "Exhibiting Your Art"; "New Media, NFTs, and all That"; "Philosophy for Creatives"; "Art & Perception", and more.