Gavin Butt
Encyclopedia
Gavin Butt is a British art historian based at Goldsmiths, University of London.
, performance theory and queer theory
, and has become an important figure in contemporary art history and queer theory. He received his PhD from the University of Leeds
in 1998 with the dissertation Men on the Threshold: The Making and Unmaking of the Sexual Subject in American Art 1948-1965, later revised and published in 2005 under the title Between You and Me: Queer Disclosures in the New York Art World 1948-1963 by Duke University Press
. In 2004 Butt edited the much praised anthology After Criticism - New Approaches to Art and Performance. Here, as in his more recent work on cultural seriousness, he argues for the importance of the paradoxical: criticism that works against the doxa
of received wisdom. Butt has written extensively on artists such as Andy Warhol
, Larry Rivers
, Joe Brainard
, Jasper Johns
, as well as performance artists such as Kiki and Herb
, Oreet Ashery, and David Hoyle. He is currently working on a project entitled Are You Serious? Flirtatious Acts in Contemporary Art and Performance.
Butt is senior lecturer at the department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, and is co-directing a three year creative research project entitled Performance Matters, funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Overview
Gavin Butt works in the intersection between art historyArt history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
, performance theory and queer theory
Queer theory
Queer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of LGBT studies and feminist studies. Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of 'queerness' itself...
, and has become an important figure in contemporary art history and queer theory. He received his PhD from the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
in 1998 with the dissertation Men on the Threshold: The Making and Unmaking of the Sexual Subject in American Art 1948-1965, later revised and published in 2005 under the title Between You and Me: Queer Disclosures in the New York Art World 1948-1963 by Duke University Press
Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher of books and journals, and a unit of Duke University. It publishes approximately 120 books annually and more than 40 journals, as well as offering five electronic collections...
. In 2004 Butt edited the much praised anthology After Criticism - New Approaches to Art and Performance. Here, as in his more recent work on cultural seriousness, he argues for the importance of the paradoxical: criticism that works against the doxa
Doxa
Doxa is a Greek word meaning common belief or popular opinion, from which are derived the modern terms of orthodoxy and heterodoxy.Used by the Greek rhetoricians as a tool for the formation of argument by using common opinions, the doxa was often manipulated by sophists to persuade the people,...
of received wisdom. Butt has written extensively on artists such as Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Larry Rivers
Larry Rivers
Larry Rivers was an American artist, musician, filmmaker and occasional actor. Rivers resided and maintained studios in New York City, Southampton, New York and Zihuatanejo, Mexico.-Biography:...
, Joe Brainard
Joe Brainard
Joe Brainard was an American artist and writer associated with the New York School. His prodigious and innovative body of work included assemblages, collages, drawing, and painting, as well as designs for book and album covers, theatrical sets and costumes...
, Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking.-Life:Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina with his paternal grandparents after his parents' marriage failed...
, as well as performance artists such as Kiki and Herb
Kiki and Herb
Kiki and Herb are an American drag cabaret duo. Bond portrays Kiki DuRane, an aging, alcoholic, female lounge singer...
, Oreet Ashery, and David Hoyle. He is currently working on a project entitled Are You Serious? Flirtatious Acts in Contemporary Art and Performance.
Butt is senior lecturer at the department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, and is co-directing a three year creative research project entitled Performance Matters, funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Books
- ed. After Criticism: New Approaches to Art and Performance, Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
- Between You and Me: Queer Disclosures in the New York Art World, Duke University Press, 2005.
Articles
- ‘Hoyle’s Humility’, (interview with David Hoyle), in Dance Theatre Journal, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2008.
- ‘Should We Take Performance Seriously?’, in Oreet Ashery, Dancing with Men, 2008.
- ‘How I Died For Kiki and Herb’, in Henry Rogers (ed.), The Art of Queering in Art, Article Press, 2007.
- ‘Stop that Acting! Performance and Authenticity in Shirley Clarke’s Portrait of Jason’, in Kobena Mercer (ed.), Pop Art and Vernacular Cultures, MIT Press / InIVA, 2007.
- ‘Joe Brainard’s Queer Seriousness, or, How to Make Fun Out of the Avant-Garde’, in David Hopkins (ed.), Neo-Avant-Garde, Rodopi Press, 2006.
- ‘Scholarly Flirtations’, in Angelika Nollert, Irit Rogoff, Bart de Baere, Yilmaz Dziewior, Charles Esche, Kerstin Niemann und Dieter Roelstraete (eds.), A.C.A.D.E.M.Y, Revolver 2006.
- ‘America and its Discontents: Art and Politics 1945-1960’, in Amelia Jones (ed.), Contemporary Art Since 1945, Blackwell, 2006.
- ‘Happenings in History, or, The Epistemology of the Memoir’, Oxford Art Journal, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2001.