Robert C. Morgan (born 1943) is an American art critic, art historian, curator, poet, and artist.

Biography

Robert C. Morgan received his M.F.A. in

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

from the

University of Massachusetts, Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, i ...

in 1975 and his Ph.D. in art education from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 1978. Professor Morgan has had an extensive academic career. He has taught at

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

, the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

, the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. From 1981- 2001, he was Professor of the History and Theory of Art at the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private research university in the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional ...

. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Fine Arts in the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Pratt Institute in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. Morgan has worked extensively as an independent

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

. He has organized museum retrospectives of

Allan Kaprow Allan Kaprow (August 23, 1927 – April 5, 2006) was an American painter, assemblagist and a pioneer in establishing the concepts of performance art. He helped to develop the " Environment" and " Happening" in the late 1950s and 1960s, as well ...

(1979) and Komar and Melamid (1980), both at the Ulrich Museum of Art in Kansas. In 1990, he curated ''Concept -- Decoratif'' in conjunction with the Holly Solomon Gallery in New York. From 1989-90, he directed a gallery in SoHo (New York) where he curated a dozen exhibitions of both emerging and established artists, including Carolee Schneemann, Nancy Grossman, Hung Liu, Hong-Wen Lin, Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler,

Mel Bochner Mel Bochner (born 1940) is an American conceptual artist. Bochner received his BFA in 1962 and honorary Doctor of Fine Arts in 2005 from the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University. He lives in New York City. Life Bochner was born in Pittsbu ...

, Antoni Muntadas, and

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealis ...

. In 1994, he co-organized the exhibition ''Logo Non Logo'' with French critic Pierre Restany at the Thread Waxing Space in New York, which later traveled to the Art Museum of the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

in Tampa, Florida. Morgan has authored numerous books, catalogs and monographs on contemporary artists in various countries. His book on the American conceptualist Robert Barry was published by Karl Kerber Press in Bielefeld, Germany (1986).

Haim Steinbach Haim Steinbach (born Rehovot, Israel, 1944) is an Israeli-American artist, based in New York City. His work consists of arrangements of everyday objects, presented in “Displays” and shelves of his own making. Life and work Since the late 1970s ...

was published by the Musee d’Art Contemporain,

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

(1988). ''Duchamp, Androgyny, Etc.'', (on

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

) was published by Editions Antoine Candau in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

(1990). A Hans Bellmer ''Miscellany'' was published by Baum/Malmburg in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

, Sweden in 1993. His ''Turkish Bath'' installation at Artists Space in 1976 has been recognized an early example of

post-conceptual art Post-conceptual, postconceptual, post-conceptualism or postconceptualism is an art theory that builds upon the legacy of conceptual art in contemporary art, where the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work takes some precedence over traditiona ...

. Morgan frequently writes

art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is que ...

for the

Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is a publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics. The ''Rail'' is based out of Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, criti ...

. His books and collected critical essays published include commentaries on

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

and the

new media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

arts (Umbrella Associates, 1992). He has published the following books in the United States: ''After the Deluge: Essays on the Art of the Nineties'', (Red Bass Publications, 1993), ''Conceptual Art: An American Perspective'' (McFarland, 1994); ''Art into Ideas: Essays on Conceptual Art'' (Cambridge University Press, 1996), ''Between Modernism and Conceptual Art'' (McFarland, 1997): and ''The End of the Art World'' (Allworth Press, 1998). His critical anthologies on

Gary Hill Gary Hill (born April 4, 1951) is an American artist who lives and works in Seattle, Washington. Often viewed as one of the foundational artists in video art, based on the single-channel work and video- and sound-based installations of the 1970s ...

(2000) and

Bruce Nauman Bruce Nauman (born December 6, 1941) is an American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives near Galisteo, New Mexico. Life and work ...

(2002) were published by

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Press. An edited volume of the late writings by the critic

Clement Greenberg Clement Greenberg () (January 16, 1909 – May 7, 1994), occasionally writing under the pseudonym K. Hardesh, was an American essayist known mainly as an art critic closely associated with American modern art of the mid-20th century and a formali ...

was published by the

University of Minnesota Press The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota. It had annual revenues of just over $8 million in fiscal year 2018. Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its boo ...

in 2003. In 1995, he traveled to Korea on a Fulbright Fellowship.

Books

*Commentaries on the

New Media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

Arts Pasadena, CA: Umbrella Associates, 1992 *After the Deluge: Essays for Art in the Nineties. New York: Red Bass, 1993 *Conceptual Art: An American Perspective. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland, 1994. Introduction by Michael Kirby *Art Into Ideas: Essays on

Conceptual Art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

. London:Cambridge University Press, 1996 *Between

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

and

. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland, 1997 *The End of the Art World New York: Allworth Press (in collaboration with the

), 1998. Introduction by Bill Beckley *The enigmatic world of Dmitri Strizhov. Author. Global Curiosity, 1st edition. 1998 *

, editor. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000 *

, editor. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002 *

: Late Writings, editor. University of Minnesota Press. 2003 *Vasarely. New York: George Braziller, 2004 *Wild Dogs in Bali: The Art of Made Wianta. Singapore: SNP Editions, 2005 ;Anthologies and monographs *"Asparagus and Chrysanthemums = Sentimentality and Power," in Muntadas and D'Agostino, eds., The Un/Necessary Image, New York: Tanam Press and Cambridge, Committee on the Visual Arts, MIT, 1983 *"The Delta of Modernism" Re-Dact, Edited by Peter Frank. New York: Willis, Locker, and Owens, 1984. Revised and reprinted in Kostelanetz, ed., Esthetics Contemporary, 2nd Edition, (Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books, 1989 ( Spanish Translation appeared in Revista Esthetica (CAYC, Buenos Aires), Fall 1991. Revised in The End of the Art World, New York: Allworth Press, 1998. *"Systemic Books by Artists" in Joan Lyons, ed., Artists' Books: A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook, Peregrine Smith Books and Visual Studies Workshop Press, Rochester, N.Y., 1985. *Haim Steinbach: Monograph of an Exhibition, Bordeaux: capc Musee d'art contemporain, 1990 (French) *''

Joseph Nechvatal Joseph Nechvatal (born January 15, 1951) is an American post-conceptual digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom-created computer viruses. Life and work Joseph Ne ...

: Laminations of the Soul'' in

. Paris: Antoine Candau Editions, 1990 (English and French)
Online
*"La Situacion del Arte Conceptual Desde "January Show" Hasta Nuestros Dias" in

Juan Vicente Aliaga Juan Vicente Aliaga (born 1959) is a Spanish art critic who has written widely on contemporary conceptual art as well as on gender and queer theory. In his pioneer 1997 book ''Identidad y diferencia: sobre la cultura gay en España'', co-authore ...

and José Miguel G. Cortés, editors, Arte Conceptual Revisado, Universidad Poletechnica de Valencia, 1990 (Spanish and English *"Entretien avec Robert C. Morgan" en

Richard Serra Richard Serra (born November 2, 1938) is an American artist known for his large-scale sculptures made for site-specific landscape, Urban area, urban, and Architecture, architectural settings. Serra's sculptures are notable for their material q ...

: Ecrits et Entretiens, 1970-89 (Daniel Lelong Editeur, 1990). English Edition, Chicago University Press, 1993 *Colin Naylor, ed .Contemporary Masterworks (London: St. James Press, 1992) Entries include critical discussions of works by

Isamu Noguchi was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and severa ...

, Gordon Bunschaft, and Josep Renau. *Oscar de Mejo:The Naive Surrealist, Essay by Robert C. Morgan. New York: Abrams, 1992 *Marcel Delmotte. Essay by Robert C. Morgan. Nahan Galleries (in collaboration with Galerie Isy Brachot, Bruxelles), 1991 *"The Miralda Honeymoon Celebration in Las Vegas", Nevada State Council on the Arts, 1992 *" Hans Bellmer:The Infestation of Eros" in A Hans Bellmer Miscellany, Anders Malmburg, Malmö and Timothy Baum, New York, 1993 *"

Dorothea Tanning Dorothea Margaret Tanning (25 August 1910 – 31 January 2012) was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet. Her early work was influenced by Surrealism. Biography Dorothea Tanning was born and raised in Galesburg, Illin ...

's Sculptural Interlude" in Dorothea Tanning (New York: George Braziller, 1995) *" Philip Glass: The Photographer" (1984, revised 1996), Writings on Glass: Essays, Interviews, Criticism. Edited by

Richard Kostelanetz Richard Cory Kostelanetz (born May 14, 1940) is an American artist, author, and critic. Birth and Education Kostelanetz was born to Boris Kostelanetz and Ethel Cory and is the nephew of the conductor Andre Kostelanetz. He has a B.A. (1962) from ...

and Robert Flemming. (New York: Schirmer Books, 1997) *"The Language of Eros" in Noritoshi Hirakawa, Matters, 1988-1997. New York: Deitch Projects and Antwerp: Zeno X Gallery, 1998 *"A Sign of Beauty" in Bill Beckley and David Shapiro, Uncontrollable Beauty. New York: Allworth Press, 1998. *"Touch Sanitation: Mierle Laderman Ukeles" in Linda Frye Burnham and Steven Durland, editors. The Citizen Artist: 20 Years of Art in the Public Arena. Critical Press. The Gunk Foundation, 1998 *"The End of the Art World" (excerpt) in Patricia Hills, Modern Art in the USA: Issues and Controversies of the 20th Centuries" Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000

Film appearance

* Ciria, (Pronounced Thiria) (2013), directed by Artur Balder

Notes and references

External links

Official site for Robert C. Morgan Robert C. Morgan in Conversation with Phong Bui (July-August 2009)Gallery site for Proyectos Monclova
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Robert C. American art critics American art historians Living people American art curators Cultural historians Artists from New York (state) American conceptual artists Rochester Institute of Technology faculty American male poets 1943 births Post-conceptual artists Pratt Institute faculty

Biography

Books

Film appearance

See also

Notes and references

External links