A.M. Bartholomew

Angela Bartholomew is a doctoral candidate in art history with support from the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

General research interests include the factors that shape the production and presentation of art. Particular interests involve the production of art in the 1980s and 1990s.

Her PhD research examines exhibitions and how they shape artistic practice, and in turn how artistic practice shapes exhibition making. It looks specifically at pivotal exhibitions that occurred in the Netherlands and Flanders in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. The manner in which curators shape the presentation, and the production of art, as well as the various strategies that artists adopt to influence the appearance, distribution, and reception of their work are of key interest.

MA Seminar (Period 1-2, 2016/2017), The Art of Exhibiting: Artistic Strategies and Subversion in the 1980s and 1990s

This course focused on strategies employed by artists of the 1980s and 1990s, looking in particular at exhibitions, which are one of the ways in which artistic strategies are made manifest. In the 1980s and 1990s, artists marginalized by the art world, such as women, people of color, post-colonial populations, ‘illegal’ immigrants, and queer communities, demanded increased recognition from art institutions. At the same time, counter-cultural movements, such as the punk and new wave scene, motivated not by inclusion but exclusion, developed spaces beyond the purview hegemonic institutions. The art market boom of the 1980s, while profitable for artists who succeeded in mastering its mechanisms, further marginalized others. State-support for individual artists that had been ample in the 1970s and early 80s, steeply declined in the latter half of the 1980s. At the same time, the increasing frequency and popularity of thematic exhibitions, art fairs, and biennials, meant a shift in attention away from the individual artist and the work of art. More importance than ever was levied upon the exhibition as a singular – and spectacular – event, and upon its creator, the curator. Artists creating work that was not readily embraced by established institutions were induced to engage with the forces shaping the reception of art. They developed effective strategies to navigate this treacherous climate for artistic autonomy. Each week of the course focused on a different strategy, introduced through case studies and grounded in theoretical literature. Original research into the history of artists’ initiatives, which were founded in this period, also formed a crucial element of the course. While the course was largely grounded in this specific period, the strategies introduced resonate with episodes throughout the history of art and into the present. These resonances were frequently discussed and encouraged as topics of student research.

BA Werkcollege, MKDA, 3rd Year (Period 4, 2015/2016), Actualiteiten Beeldende Kunst (Recent Developments in Art & Media):

This course investigated key forces that influence the production, presentation, and reception of art: the museum, funding agendas, the exhibition, historical discourse, the medium itself, and the art academy. These forces formed the six themes of the course. An excursion each week, to an art exhibition, public debate, lecture, or symposium took place in relation to the theme. With lectures, group discussions, and student presentations, the course also involved the writing of exhibition reviews, openly discussed in ‘editorial sessions’, and subsequently revised by the students.

Occasional guest lectures are offered in other courses in the faculty, such as:

'Documenta on Location: Learning from Documenta IX,' Background Session for Excursion to Documenta 14 (14 Sept 2017) 

‘Creativity & (Re)Framing: The Exhibition as a Battleground,’ BA Course: Creativity, Power & Commerce (19 Nov 2015).

‘One After the Other: Site-Specific Art, Exhibitions & the Museum,’ BA Course: Exhibition Machines (30 Sept 2015).

Advisory Board, Kunstlicht, Journal for Art, Visual Culture, and Architecture (2018-)

Co-Editor of the Memorial Papers, the discursive component of Everything For You: SculptureCommunism, by Jan De Cock (2013-present)

Editor and Contributor to Kunstlicht, Journal for Art, Visual Culture, and Architecture (2012-2017)

Embedded Researcher, Modeling Crowdsourcing for Cultural Heritage Project, University of Amsterdam, Creative Industry Research Centre Amsterdam (2013-2014)

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