Mechtild Widrich is an Austrian art historian, curator, and professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Educated at University of Vienna (M.Phil Art History) and the MIT School of Architecture (PhD History, Theory, and Criticism) Widrich taught art and architectural history at the University of Vienna, the ETH Zürich, the University of Zürich and the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Since 2014 she has been full-time faculty in the Art History, Theory, and Criticism department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Widrich is a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Jewish Museum Vienna, board member of th
American Friends of the Vienna Museums
and member of the Grant Park Advisory Council on Art, Monuments, Markers, Chicago. Widrich is member of the scientific committee o
Cadernos de Arte PúblicaVesper. Journal for Architecture, Arts and Theory
an
Život umjetnosti
and served as reviews editor and board member of Art Journal from 2019 to 2022. Widrich is a 2022-23 faculty fellow at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study

Research

Widrich works on monuments, architecture, and performance in public space. In her book ''Performative Monuments'', Widrich coins the title phrase, 'performative monument', to explain why live body art influenced interactive memorials since the 1980s, building on the definition of anti-authoritarian countermonuments proposed by German artist Jochen Gerz, and the speech-act theory of British philosopher J. L. Austin. The concept has been taken up in recent literature on commemoration and public art, and by artists, notably Doris Salcedo. In the field of performance studies, Widrich is known for her Work on Viennese Actionism, VALIE EXPORT and

Marina Abramovic A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ship ...

, with particular focus on the documentation and mediation of events, repetition, and the layering of diverse audiences over time. Widrich also works on aesthetic theory, in particular ugliness. She is the co-editor and co-translator of the first book-length philosophical treatment of the topic, Karl Rosenkranz's 1853 ''Aesthetics of Ugliness''.

Books

*
Monumental Cares
Sites of History and Contemporary Art''. Manchester University Press 2023. * ''Participation in Art and Architecture''. London: Tauris, 2016 / Bloomsbury, 2022. * ''Presence: A Conversation at Cabaret Voltaire''. Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2016. * Translation and ed. of Karl Rosenkranz, Aesthetics of Ugliness (1853), London: Bloomsbury, 2015. * ''Performative Monuments: The Rematerialisation of Public Art''. Manchester University Press 2014. * ''Ugliness: The Non-Beautiful in Art and Theory''. London: Tauris, 2013 / Bloomsbury, 2016. * Krzysztof Wodiczko, ''City of Refuge: A 9-11 Memorial''. London: Black Dog, 2009. * ''Leopoldstadt: die Andere Heimatkunde''. Vienna: Brandstätter, 1999.

Curating

''There is Nothing to See Here'', 2010, Modern Lab, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. ''Sounding the Subject'', 2007, List Visual Arts Center, MIT, co-curated with

Daniel Birnbaum Daniel Birnbaum is a Swedish art curator and an art critic. Since 2019, he has been director and curator of Acute Art in London, UK. Education Birnbaum studied at Stockholm University, Freie Universität Berlin in Germany and Columbia Unive ...

. ''Remembrance/Renewal'' ("Installation der Erinnerung"), 1995, permanent installation by Nancy Spero at the Jewish Museum Vienna.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Widrich, Mechtild Living people School of the Art Institute of Chicago faculty Art Institute of Chicago University of Vienna alumni Year of birth missing (living people) MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni Austrian art historians