CAA News Today
caa.reviews Seeks Editor-in-Chief and Four Field Editors
posted by CAA — Jan 15, 2019
caa.reviews Seeks Editor-in-Chief
The caa.reviews Editorial Board invites nominations and self-nominations for the position of Editor-in-Chief for a three-year term, July 1, 2020–June 30, 2023. This term is preceded by one year of service on the editorial board as editor designate, July 1, 2019–June 30, 2020, and followed immediately by one year of service as past editor. Candidates should have published substantially in the field and may be academic, museum-based, or independent scholars; institutional affiliation is not required. An online journal, caa.reviews is devoted to the peer review of new books, museum exhibitions, and projects relevant to the fields of art history, visual studies, and the arts.
Working with the editorial board, the editor-in-chief is responsible for the content and character of the journal. The editor-in-chief supervises the caa.reviews Council of Field Editors, assisting them in identifying and soliciting reviewers, articles, and other content for the journal; develops projects; and makes final decisions regarding content.
The editor-in-chief attends the caa.reviews Editorial Board’s three meetings each year—held in New York in May and October and once at the Annual Conference in February—and submits an annual report to CAA’s Board of Directors. CAA reimburses the editor-in-chief for travel and lodging expenses for the two New York meetings in accordance with its travel policy, but the person in this position pays these expenses to attend the conference. The editor-in-chief also works closely with the CAA staff in New York and receives an annual honorarium paid quarterly.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on the editorial board of a competitive journal or on another CAA editorial board or committee. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a letter describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, at least one letter of recommendation, and your contact information to: caa.reviews Editor-in-Chief Search, CAA, 50 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY, 10004; or email the documents to Publications and Programs Editor Joan Strasbaugh, jstrasbaugh@collegeart.org. Deadline: April 1, 2019; finalists will be interviewed in early May.
caa.reviews Seeks Four Field Editors
In addition, CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for FOUR individuals to join the caa.reviews Council of Field Editors for a three-year term July 1, 2019–June 30, 2022. An online journal, caa.reviews is devoted to the peer review of new books, museum exhibitions, and projects relevant to art history, visual studies, and the arts.
The journal seeks four field editors in the following areas:
- Design History
- Eighteenth-Century Art
- Architecture and Urbanism
- Theory and Historiography
Working with the caa.reviews editor-in-chief, the caa.reviews Editorial Board, and CAA’s staff editor, each field editor selects content to be reviewed, commissions reviewers, and considers manuscripts for publication. Field editors for books are expected to keep abreast of newly published and important books and related media in their fields of expertise, and those for exhibitions should be aware of current and upcoming exhibitions (and other related projects) in their geographic regions.
The Council of Field Editors meets yearly at the CAA Annual Conference. Field editors must pay travel and lodging expenses to attend the conference. Members of all CAA committees and editorial boards volunteer their services without compensation.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on the editorial board of a competitive journal or on another CAA editorial board or committee. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a cover letter describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and your contact information to: caa.reviews Editorial Board, CAA, 50 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10004; or email the documents to staff editor Joan Strasbaugh, jstrasbaugh@collegeart.org. Deadline: April 15, 2019.
CWA Picks for January 2019
posted by CAA — Jan 14, 2019
A work by Skylar Smith on view in Feminist Expressions at Kaviar Gallery through January 19, 2019.
CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts selects the best in feminist art and scholarship to share with CAA members on a monthly basis. See the picks for January below.
FEMINIST EXPRESSIONS: INVITATIONAL SHOW FEATURING KENTUCKY FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN ARTIST ENRICHMENT GRANTEES
November 30, 2018 – January 19, 2019
Kaviar Gallery, Louisville, KY
Kentucky isn’t exactly thought of as the feminist mecca. But seventeen invited artists from around this Southern state present poignant artwork around highly charged social topics such as immigration, femicide, media and materiality, food and animal abuse, astrology, pollution and more. Whitney Withington’s intimately hand-crafted journals feature vintage vernacular photography from Appalachia, reversing the trend of invisibility of African American women in Appalachian imagery and literature. Dijana Muminovic, an artist who survived the Bosnian War, exhibits a keen and affecting photograph reflecting Bosnian women and their search for separated loved ones. Diane Kahlo pays homage to the disappeared/murdered young women of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico’s via her small, richly hued portraits with an altar adorned with sequined skulls and ceramic roses. Through her sensual quilted works, Jennifer Hart combines the warmth of fabric with the brashness of pornography to re-humanize the dehumanized nude female body. The 17 artists exude a stellar combination of aesthetic and the boldness and excellence necessary to make real change, significantly in a lesser recognized area.
Anni Albers
October 11, 2018 – January 27, 2019
Tate Modern
Bringing together more than 350 objects, this retrospective exhibition of the Bauhaus-trained weaver, whose 1965 text On Weaving has been a standard-bearer in the realm of fiber arts. In Open Letter, a wall-hanging from 1958, Albers produced a cacophony of patterns using only black, white, and a minimal amount of copper-colored thread. Mathematically precise the tapestry scintillates with a seemingly improvisatory energy. Each of the works on display merit close and persistent looking—their gifts both readily available and hidden in the warp and weft of Albers’ keen compositional intelligence. Of particular interest is the fact that the curators have gathered together source material that informed Alber’s On Weaving, and thus one also gets the picture of Albers as inveterate magpie, collector, and cultural connector.
In 1939 Albers wrote about material, and the benefits of artistic perseverance: “But most important to one’s own growth is to see oneself leave the safe ground of accepted conventions and to find oneself alone and self-dependent. It is an adventure which can permeate one’s whole being. Self-confidence can grow. And a longing for excitement can be satisfied without external means, within oneself; for creating is the most intense excitement one can come to know.” The sagacity that comes with self-sufficiency is on full display here, even if Albers is still only mentioned in surveys of Western Art History as a footnote to her husband’s artistic and teaching career. Hopefully this exhibition and its accompanying catalog go a ways toward changing that.
Let’s Try Listening Again, 13th A.I.R. Biennial
January 9 – February 3, 2019
A.I.R. Gallery
In an attempt to locate empathy as an enactment the curators of the 13th A.I.R. Biennial, Sarah Demeuse and Prem Krishnamurthy, have gathered twenty-nine works that work to reengage the radical activity of listening. A part of feminist and critical race conversations for decades, listening has been a central focus of cultural forms such as consciousness-raising and witnessing. Placing a premium on this important component of political awakening and action, the curators seek to orient viewers towards “novel forms of communing,” incorporating rest, pause, and reflection. Participating artists include: Angeli, Angie Keefer, Anna Riley, Catalina Viejo López de Roda, Dulce Gómez, Fotini Vurgaropulou, Hagen Verleger, Irene Mohedano, Jane Long, Johanna Unzueta, Julie Nagle, Karen Donnellan, Katie Hector, Katja Mater, Katy Mixon, Keren Benbenisty, Kyoung eun Kang, Library Stack, Lukas Eigler-Harding, Malin Abrahamsson, Maren Henson, Matthew Schrader, Olivia Baldwin, Romily Alice Walden, Sari Carel, Scaleno Collective, Shuyi Cao, Suzanne Mooney, Tselote Holley, and Zhenya Plechkina. Opening events included a performance by Angeli (with Jayoung Yoon); closing events will incorporate a performance by Irene Mohedano and the launch of Romily Alice Walden’s A Primer on Working with Disabled Group Members for Feminist / Activist Groups.
CLAIRE PARTINGTON: TAKING TEA
December 7, 2018 – December 6, 2020
Seattle Art Museum
British ceramicist artist Claire Partinginton’s work flips the typical script of the Seattle Art Museum’s Porcelain Room for a whole two years, demonstrating a strong sense of acknowledgement of institutional limitations. Taking Tea is the first ever installation in the visitor favorite Porcelain Room since its debut in 2007. The Porcelain Room includes more than 1,000 European and Asian porcelain pieces from SAM’s collection grouped to evoke porcelain as a treasured commodity between the East and the West. This is precisely where the artist’s inspiration lies, within the European tradition of appropriation and reinterpretation or misinterpretation of “exotic” styles. She writes, “I like the idea of getting it slightly wrong and the bluffing and ‘cobbling together’ of styles that has resulted in some fantastic historical objects.” The results are familiarly finely crafted ceramics of pristine, richly adorned figures with contemporary details and jolting couplings, an installation referencing Baroque painting and European porcelain factories, as well as a panel mounted with fragments from 17th- and 18th-century shipwrecks. A group of four in fancy attire pose as if “taking tea” while a single figure lay, stomach down, in the middle of their fine affair, reflecting the troubling aspects of the era they depict, yet resonating with the still continued issues with international trade and economy. It’s sure to be a trip!
Barbara Bergstrom and Darden Bradshaw
posted by CAA — Jan 14, 2019
The weekly CAA Conversations Podcast continues the vibrant discussions initiated at our Annual Conference. Listen in each week as educators explore arts and pedagogy, tackling everything from the day-to-day grind to the big, universal questions of the field.
CAA podcasts are now on iTunes. Click here to subscribe.
This week, Barbara Bergstrom and Darden Bradshaw discuss what makes an art education program successful.
Dr. Barbara Bergstrom is an assistant professor of art education at Bowling Green State University. Dr. Darden Bradshaw is an assistant professor of art education at the University of Dayton.
New in caa.reviews
posted by CAA — Jan 11, 2019
Jordan Bear reviews Inadvertent Images: A History of Photographic Apparitions by Peter Geimer. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer writes about Exiled in Modernity: Delacroix, Civilization, and Barbarism by David O’Brien. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
News from the Art and Academic Worlds
posted by CAA — Jan 09, 2019
Want articles like these in your inbox? Sign up: collegeart.org/newsletter
Art historian and BBC star Sister Wendy Beckett passed away in December at the age of 88. Photo: Associated Press, via Smithsonian Magazine
The Smithsonian Museums Have Fallen Victim to the Government Shutdown, Closing Until Further Notice
As the lapse in funding continues, all 19 Smithsonian museums in New York and Washington, DC, have been forced to close their doors. (artnet News)
Remembering Sister Wendy Beckett, Beloved Nun Who Made Art Accessible
The famed art historian and BBC star passed away in December at the age of 88. (Smithsonian Magazine)
MLA Awarded Million-Dollar Mellon Grant to Support Teaching at Community Colleges
The grant will allow 144 doctoral students and instructors at community colleges to conduct pedagogical research. (MLA)
Six Big Ideas That Gripped the Art World in 2018, From ‘Platform Capitalism’ to ‘Chthulucene’
Looking back on new terms, concepts, and trends that resonated. (artnet News)
The Invisible Faculty
By not standing up for adjuncts, have tenure-track professors undermined their own power? (Chronicle of Higher Ed)
See Inside the All-Female Conservation Studio Dedicated to Saving Renaissance Treasures From the Ravages of Time
For nearly 30 years, Italian conservators Valeria Merlini and Daniela Storti have worked to restore some of art history’s greatest treasures. (artnet News)
Kirk Maynard and Alexandra Thomas
posted by CAA — Jan 07, 2019
The weekly CAA Conversations Podcast continues the vibrant discussions initiated at our Annual Conference. Listen in each week as educators explore arts and pedagogy, tackling everything from the day-to-day grind to the big, universal questions of the field.
CAA podcasts are now on iTunes. Click here to subscribe.
This week, Kirk Maynard and Alexandra Thomas discuss addressing institutionalized discrimination through artistic practice.
Kirk Maynard is a mixed media artist born in Brooklyn, New York in 1993. He received his BS in Visual Arts Education from Andrews University in 2014 and is currently an MFA student at New Jersey City University. A second generation Guyanese-American, Maynard’s work focuses on the political undercurrents of culture and identity in America.
Alexandra M. Thomas is a PhD student at Yale for History of Art and African American Studies with a certificate in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies. Her current research interests include global modern and contemporary art, Black atlantic visual culture, African art, queer theory, performance studies, and Black feminist thought.
New in caa.reviews
posted by CAA — Jan 04, 2019
Anna Russakoff reviews In the Skin of a Beast: Sovereignty and Animality in Medieval France by Peggy McCracken. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Emma McClendon writes about Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination by Andrew Bolton. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
New in caa.reviews
posted by CAA — Dec 21, 2018
Kathryn Brown reviews Degas Danse Dessin: Hommage à Degas avec Paul Valéry, edited by Leïla Jarbouai and Marine Kisiel, and Degas: A Passion for Perfection, edited by Jane Munro. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Clare Kunny writes about Slow Looking: The Art and Practice of Learning Through Observation by Shari Tishman. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
News from the Art and Academic Worlds
posted by CAA — Dec 19, 2018
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Hundreds gather in the atrium of the British Museum for an unofficial “Stolen Goods Tour.” Photo by and courtesy of Diana More, via Hyperallergic
National Gallery of Art Chooses First Female Director
Kaywin Feldman, of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, will be the first woman to hold the job in the museum’s 77-year history. (New York Times)
Here Are the 10 Female Artists Over 40 Who Have Won 2018’s $250,000 Anonymous Was a Woman Awards
The awards’ founder, Susan Unterberg, only revealed her identity earlier this year. (artnet News)
Influencers in Higher Education in 2018
See Chronicle‘s list of the people who shaped higher ed (for better or worse) in 2018. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
How-To: Students of Islamic Art Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
Explore a thread by UT Austin professor Dr. Stephennie Mulder on how to use a Wikipedia edit-a-thon to teach art history. (Twitter)
How Artists Can Master Dealing with Rejection
Straightforward tips for artists—and everyone, really—to deal with an inevitable part of the creative process. (Artsy)
Hundreds Attend Guerrilla, Activist-Led Tour of Looted Artifacts at the British Museum
The tour featured talks by activists of Australian Aboriginal, Iraqi, Hawaiian, Māori, and Greek Cypriot heritage. (Hyperallergic)
Member Spotlight: Renata Holod
posted by CAA — Dec 18, 2018
Renata Holod is College of Women Class of 1963 Term Professor in the Humanities, at the History of Art Department, and Curator, Near East Section, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, at the University of Pennsylvania. She has carried out archaeological and architectural fieldwork in Syria, Iran, Morocco, Turkey, Central Asia, Tunisia, and Ukraine, and is the author of numerous books and essays.
CAA media and content manager Joelle Te Paske corresponded recently with Professor Holod to learn more about what she’s working on.
Joelle Te Paske: Thank you for taking the time, Professor. So to begin, where are you from originally?
Renata Holod: I was born in Ukraine, and grew up in Edmonton, Alberta and then Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
I have a BA in Islamic Studies from the University of Toronto; a MA from University of Michigan in the History of Art, and my PhD from Harvard in Fine Arts.
JTP: What led you to the work you do now?
RH: My work on projects varies in date and methodology, from archaeology (I worked in Syria, and Tunisia), to architectural and regional history of different periods and locations (including fourteenth- to fifteenth-century architecture, settings and cities in greater Iran, and contemporary architecture from Morocco to Indonesia), to work on objects and collections (ceramics, the late Ottoman painter Osman Hamdi Bey). I get bored quickly.
JTP: You’ve been a CAA member for over 40 years. How has the field changed?
RH: There are many more practitioners in my particular field. In fact, it is no longer one field, but could be divided into regional and temporal sub-fields. There is much more theorization, and also expanded archival work (e.g. Ottoman archives), and now digital humanities, etc.
JTP: What is the most exciting part of your work currently?
RH: Studying unpublished objects, and redoing the galleries and publishing the Middle East collection for the later periods (Parthian through the nineteenth century) at the Penn Museum.
JTP: A favorite exhibition or study you’ve worked on over the years?
RH: Whichever one is currently being submitted.
JTP: What is your top recommendation for our readers?
RH: Network Theory and its application; see the work of my former student, Yael Rice on Mughal workshops, as well as the work of Johannes Preiser-Kappeler (Vienna).
JTP: What is a favorite memory from a CAA conference?
RH: Seeing my former students give papers; and meeting my former classmates.
JTP: Thank you, Professor Holod.
Renata Holod is College of Women Class of 1963 Term Professor in the Humanities, at the History of Art Department, and Curator, Near East Section, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, at the University of Pennsylvania. She has carried out archaeological and architectural fieldwork in Syria, Iran, Morocco, Turkey, Central Asia, Tunisia, and Ukraine. She is co-author of City in the Desert: Qasr al- Hayr East (1978); Architecture and Community: Building in the Islamic World Today (1983); The Mosque and the Modern World (1997); The City in the Islamic World (2008) and An Island Through Time: Jerba Studies (2009). She was recently part of the team redoing the Middle East galleries at the Penn Museum, with a special issue of Expedition magazine and a new handbook as well. Her most recent articles are: “Approaching the Mosque: Birth and Evolution” in The World of the Mosque: Magnificent Designs (New York: Rizzoli, 2017) 14-21, and “Jerba in the 3rd/9th century CE: Under Aghlabi Control?” in The Aghlabids & their Neighbors: Art & Material Culture in Ninth-Century North Africa, Glaire D. Anderson, Corisande Fenwick, and Mariam Rosser-Owen, eds. (Leiden: Brill, HdO series, 2017), 451- 469. On several international advisory and editorial boards, she has also served as President, Board of Trustees at The Ukrainian Museum in NYC, 2013-2017.