Art Historian.
Writer.
Critic.
ABOUT
I am currently a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in History of Art at the University of York, working on a book on art and HIV/AIDS in the UK.
I have a BA in English from University College London, and an MA and PhD in History of Art from The Courtauld Institute of Art.
I have held teaching positions and postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Sussex, The Courtauld, Birkbeck College, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. I have published widely in scholarly journals and the art press.
My research as an art historian centres on intimacy, on the moment of encounter between viewer and art object, and how the minutiae of this intimate encounter open onto and produce a whole range of different social, historical and political forces. I write about a broad array of contemporary art practices, including sculpture, installation, participatory art, painting and photography.
My areas of interest at present include, art since 1960 as informed by feminist, postcolonial and queer politics; art and HIV/AIDS in a global context; ‘the 1980s’ in Britain, ‘black’ arts and gay and lesbian visual culture; psychoanalytic theory and historiography.
Cette menace qui flotte a créé de nouvelles complicités, de nouvelles tendresses, de nouvelles solidarités - Hervé Guibert
PHOTOGRAPHY -
A QUEER HISTORY
AVAILABLE 29 FEBRUARY 2024
Photography - A Queer History examines how photography has been used by artists to capture, create and expand the category 'Queer'. It bookmarks different thematic concerns central to queer photography, forging unexpected connections to showcase the diverse ways the medium has been used to fashion queer identities and communities.
How has photography advanced fights against LGBTQ+ discrimination? How have artists used photography to develop a queer aesthetic? How has the production and circulation of photography served to satisfy the queer desire for images, and created transnational solidarities?
Photography - A Queer History includes the work of 84 artists. It spans different historical and national contexts, and through a mix of thematic essays and artist-centred texts brings young photographers into conversation with canonical images.
LAUNCH EVENTS
YORK, 6.30pm on Thursday 2 May 2024, at the University of York, including author in-conversation with James Boaden (Derwent College, D/N/056, followed by drinks in Vanbrugh College)
LONDON, Saturday 25 May 2024, at Reference Point, including author in-conversation with Amelia Abraham, talks with selected photographers from the book, and a DJ set from Fiona Anderson.
LONDON, Thursday 28 November 2024, at the Courtauld Institute of Art, including author in-conversation with Catherine Grant tickets available here
MANCHESTER, Thursday 30 January 2025, at the Whitworth Art Gallery, including author in-conversation with Dominic Bilton
PUBLICATIONS
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original print available here
Rebecca Wade’s introduction available here