Feb 1, 2016 | Essay, From the Chair
As you may know, the Quadrennial Exhibition of Faculty Exhibition opened this last weekend. I noted in the catalog essay: Exhibitions of art serve a multitude of functions. They are aggregates of competing forces, sometimes market driven, sometimes in service of a...
Jan 25, 2016 | Essay, From the Chair
…we rely on the arts and humanities to broaden our views and remind us of the truths that connect us. Barack Obama I wish to personally congratulate the UW Art Department Faculty on the 2016 Quadrennial Exhibition at the Chazen Museum of Art and urge you all to see...
Jan 19, 2016 | Essay, From the Chair
Contemporary Art is that art made by our contemporaries. Arthur Danto The quote above is a definition of contemporary art. There are many definitions, but this one is almost perfect. It is ahistorical; not tied to a particular set of dates. It is open and flexible; ie...
Dec 15, 2015 | Essay, From the Chair
Why Make Art? In the last decade, Art, especially as a subject in higher education, has been re-purposed as a part of “creative commerce” or as an “economic engine”, capable of contributing and playing a part in what American economist,...
Dec 7, 2015 | Essay, From the Chair
Knife attack confused for performance art at Art Basel Miami Beach CNN, December 7, 2015 This troubling headline was sent to me by Barbara Hennessey, chair of our Board of Visitors. It seems that nearby patrons of Art Basel initially thought the incident was a work of...
Nov 30, 2015 | Essay, From the Chair
Opening the Sunday New York Times this weekend, I was struck by the front-page article with the following title, “The March into the Museum, Black Artists, Long Neglected, Join and Expanding Canon.” As the article resonated with the lecture that I was already planning...
