Claire Bishop is a British art historian, critic, and Professor of Art History at

The Graduate Center, CUNY The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the ...

, New York where she has taught since September 2008. Bishop is known as one of the central theorists of participation in visual art and performance. Her 2004 essay titled “Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics,” which was published in ''

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...

'', remains an influential critique of relational aesthetics. Bishop's books have been translated into over eighteen languages and she is a frequent contributor to art journals including ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notabl ...

'' and ''

.''

Early life and education

Bishop grew up on the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

border and attended

Welshpool High School Welshpool High School is located in Welshpool, Powys. It is a combined secondary school and sixth form, catering for pupils aged 11 to 19. In 2022, a new headteacher was appointed. Motto and the school The school's motto is ''Raising Achievement ...

. She received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in art history from

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

in 1994 and completed her MA and Ph.D in art history and theory at

Essex University The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

in 1996 and 2002 respectively. Bishop was a tutor in critical theory in the Curating Contemporary Art department at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, London from 2001 to 2006, before becoming an associate professor in the department of Art History at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

, Coventry from 2006 to 2008.

Career

Bishop's book ''Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship'' (2012) is the first historical and theoretical overview of socially engaged participatory art, best known in the U.S. as "social practice." In it, Bishop follows the trajectory of twentieth-century art and examines key moments in the development of a participatory aesthetic. This Itinerary takes in

Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

and

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

; the

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

;

Happenings A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...

in Eastern Europe, Argentina, and Paris; the 1970 Community Arts Movement; and the Artists Placement Group. It concludes with a discussion of long-term educational projects by contemporary artists such as

Thomas Hirschhorn Thomas Hirschhorn (born 16 May 1957) is a Swiss artist. He lives and works in Paris.Randy Kennedy (June 27, 2013)Bringing Art and Change to Bronx''New York Times''. Life and works In the 1980s, Thomas Hirschhorn came to Paris with the will to ...

Tania Bruguera Tania Bruguera (born 1968 in Havana, Cuba) is an artist and activist who focuses on installation and performance art. She lives and works between New York City and Havana, and has participated in numerous international exhibitions. Her work is in ...

Pawel Althamer Pavel (Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Macedonian: Павел, Czech, Slovene, Romanian: Pavel, Polish: Paweł, Ukrainian: Павло, Pavlo) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pavel ...

, and Paul Chan. ''Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship'' was reviewed in a wide range of publications including Art in America, Art Journal, CAA Reviews, Art Review, Art Monthly, and TDR: The Drama Review. In 2013, Artificial Hells won the Frank Jewett Mather Prize for art criticism and the ASAP book prize. Bishop is also the author of the short book ''Radical Museology, or,'' ''What's Contemporary in Museums of Contemporary Art?'' (2013), with drawings by Dan Perjovschi, which has been translated into Romanian, Russian, Korean, Spanish, and Italian. Her current research looks at contemporary art and performance as a way to understand the changing impact of digital technology upon attention. Part of this research was published as 'Black Box, White Cube, Gray Zone: Dance Exhibitions and Audience Attention' ''TDR'', Summer 2018. In 2020 she published a book of conversations with the Cuban artist

Selected publications

Books

*''Installation Art: A Critical History''. London: Tate, 2005. () *''Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship''. London: Verso, 2012. () *''Radical Museology, or, What's Contemporary in Museums of Contemporary Art?'' London: Koenig Books, 2013 () *''Claire Bishop in conversation with/en conversación con Tania Bruguera,' NY: Cisneros 2020

Edited Volumes

*''Participation''. London: Whitechapel/MIT Press, 2006. () *''1968-1989: Political Upheaval and Artistic Change.'' Co-edited with Marta Dziewanska. Warsaw: Museum of Modern Art, 2010. () *''Double Agent''. London: ICA, 2009.()

Papers

* 'History Depletes Itself' Claire Bishop on Danh Vo at The Danish Pavilion and Punta Della Dogana at the Venice Biennale 2015, ''Artforum'', September 201

* 'The Perils and Possibilities of Dance in the Museum: Tate, MoMA, and Whitney', ''Dance Research Journal'', Vol. 46, No. 3, December 201

* 'Reconstruction Era: The Anachronic Time(s) of Installation Art', ''When Attitudes Become Form: Bern 1969/Venice 2013'', Progetto Prada Arte, Milan 2013. * 'The Digital Divide: Contemporary Art and New Media', ''Artforum'', September 201

* 'Delegated Performance: Outsourcing Authenticity', ''October'', no. 140, Spring 201

* 'The Social Turn: Collaboration and Its Discontents', ''Artforum'', February 200

* 'Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics', ''October'', No.110, Fall 200

References

External links

*
List of publicationsAcademia.edu profileCUNY Academic Commons profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Claire British art historians Women art historians Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge City University of New York faculty Graduate Center, CUNY faculty Alumni of the University of Essex Living people 1971 births