Art criticism is spurned by universities, but widely produced and read. It is seldom theorized and its history has hardly been investigated. The State of Art Criticism presents an international conversation among art historians and critics that considers the relation between criticism and art history and poses the question of whether criticism may become a university subject.
Contributors include Dave Hickey, James Panero, Stephen Melville, Lynne Cook, Michael Newman, Whitney Davis, Irit Rogoff, Guy Brett and Boris Groys.
Series Preface, James Elkins Section 1. Introdcutory Essay The Recovery of Criticism, Michael Schreyach Section 2. Starting Points, 1. The Specificity of Criticism and Its Need for Philosophy, Michael Newman 2. Critical Reflections, Boris Groys 3. On the Absence of Judgment in Art Criticism, James Elkins 4. What is a Theorist?, Irit Rogoff 5. Is This Anything? Or, Criticism in the University, Stephen Melville Section 3: The Art Seminars First seminar participants: Guy Brett, Whitney Davis, James Elkins, Jean Fisher, Boris Groys, Timothy Emlyn Jones, Irit Rogoff, Abigail Solomon-Godeau, Gemma Tipton. Second seminar participants: Dave Hickey, Lynne Cooke, James Panero, Ariella Budick, James Elkins, Gaylen Gerber, Stephen Melville, Michael Newman. Section 4: Assessments András Szanto, Katy Deepwell, Daniel A. Siedell, Sheila Farr, Pier Dominguez, Lane Relyea, Peter Plagens, Blake Gopnik, Saul Ostrow, Darby English, Olu Oguibe, Matthew Bowman, Margaret Hawkins, Elaine O’Brien, Victoria Musvik, Mark Bauerlein, Robert Enright, Felipe Chaimovich, Sue Spaid, Kim Levin, Róisín Kennedy, Matthew Jesse Jackson, Alexander Alberro, Julian Stallabrass, Jeffrey Skoller, Jan Verwoert, Joseph Masheck. Section 5: Afterwords The States of Art Criticism, James Elkins and Michael Newman. [ ], Maja Naef. Notes on Contributors
Biography
James Elkins is E.C. Chadbourne Chair in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His many books include Pictures and Tears, How to Use Your Eyes, and What Painting Is, all published by Routledge.
Michael Newman teaches in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is Professor of Art Writing at Goldsmiths College in the University of London. His publications include the books Richard Prince: Untitled (couple) and Jeff Wall, and he is co-editor with Jon Bird of Rewriting Conceptual Art.
