Brian T. Leahy
Brian T. Leahy
Assistant Professor of Art History
Montana State University Billings
Assistant Professor of Art History
Montana State University Billings
My research investigates the material substrates of canon formation.
How do we know what we know about the history of art?
How do the mechanisms of publicity and recognition affect the decisions of artists working in the present?
How has the public relations industry intertwined with art criticism and history, and to what end?
These questions motivate my articles, book chapters, and book projects. My current book manuscript, For Immediate Release: Contemporary Art and Exhibition Media, answers these questions by examining the work of artists in North America and Europe between the 1960s and 1980s.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
“No Signature: On the Status of Style in Abstract Painting,” esse arts + opinions, no. 114: Abstractions (in press)
“My Funny Verlainetine: Queer Citations in Ray Johnson’s Mail Art,” in Cases of Citation: On Literature in Art, eds. Chloe Julius, Matthew Holman, and Michael Green (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2024)
“Twins,” in Ray Johnson C/O, eds. Caitlin Haskell and Jordan Carter (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University Press, 2021)
“Frances and Feigen,” in Ray Johnson C/O, eds. Caitlin Haskell and Jordan Carter (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University Press, 2021)
“Sinking Bear,” in Ray Johnson C/O, eds. Caitlin Haskell and Jordan Carter (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University Press, 2021)
“Louise Lawler, Who Says? Who Shows? Who Counts?,” in Who Says? Who Shows, What Counts? Thinking About History with the Block’s Collection, eds. Essi Rönkö and Kate Hadley Toftness (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2021)
“Tania Pérez Córdova at Tina Kim,” review, Artforum, January/February 2021
“Joel Shapiro, Untitled, 1971,” in Material Meanings: Selections from the Constance R. Caplan Collection, ed. Matthew S. Witkovsky (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University Press, 2020)
“Adrian Morris,” review, The Brooklyn Rail, May 2020
“A mail art renaissance is growing in the US—just as the postal service struggles to survive,” news article, The Art Newspaper, May 2020
“New Images of Man at Blum and Poe,” review, Artforum, May/June 2020
“Candida Alvarez at moniquemeloche,” review, Artforum, May/June 2020
“Gordon Hall at Document,” critic’s pick (review), Artforum online, 11 Dec. 2019
“Martha Tuttle at Rhona Hoffman,” review, Artforum, Oct. 2019
“New Edition Review: Analia Saban,” review, Art in Print, vol. 8, no. 6 (Mar-Apr 2019): 20
“Robert Lostutter at Corbett vs. Dempsey,” review, Artforum, Feb. 2019
“Bethany Collins at PATRON,” review, Artforum, Dec. 2018
“Elana Herzog & Luanne Martineau at Western Exhibitions,” review, Artforum, Oct. 2018
“Ad Reinhardt’s Narrative Vision,” article, Art in Print, vol. 8, no. 8 (Sept-Oct 2018): 15-17
“Critical Albums,” catalog essay, BLACK BLOODED, May-Jul 2018, New Gallery of Modern Art, Charlotte NC
“Suspect Poetics: Peter Shear’s Open Paintings,” exhibition essay, Editions of You, Jan-Feb 2017, Devening Projects, Chicago IL
New Edition Reviews: “Mickalene Thomas,” “Astrid Bowlby,” and “Tess Jaray,” Art in Print, Vol. 6 No. 6, March – April 2017