Fall 2019 (5.2)
Articles
Of Masks, Mockery, and Modernism: Alexander Z. Kruse’s Self-Portrait of an Art Critic
This essay explores Kruse’s use of humor in his art criticism and self-representation, considers how and why both aspects of his work relate to America's enthusiasm for caricature during the interwar years, and examines how an artist adept with mass media and speaking to broad audiences engaged caricature and publicity to combat his fraught status in the art world.
Mikva Dreams: Judaism, Feminism, and Maintenance in the Art of Mierle Laderman Ukeles
Although Ukeles is known for her public and environmental “maintenance art” from the 1970s and 1980s, her focus on religion during this same period is not well known. By focusing on Mikva Dreams and her other mikvah projects, this article contextualizes and makes better visible Ukeles’s contribution to contemporary American art and its feminist discourses.
In the Round
Teaching with Primary Sources
Several years ago, inspired by the Brooklyn Historical Society’s award-winning project devoted to teaching effectively with primary sources, I began to consider a radical idea—that the Archives of American Art be included, in some way, in every single undergraduate course and graduate seminar in the history of American art.
Bully Pulpit
Isn’t It Time for Art History to Go Public?
Public scholarship is a way to counter challenges to the relevance of art history. It is a way to connect academic knowledge and community knowledge. It is a way to honor social knowledge. It is a way to share expertise, so that more people have access to reliable information. It is a way to support the democratic potential of museums and higher education.
Responses
Sarah Beetham
Renée Ater
Theresa Leininger-Miller
Amy Werbel
La Tanya Autry and Mike Murawski
