Norman Kleeblatt (MA Art History, Diploma in Conservation, IFA ‘75) is a curator, art historian, and critic, especially renowned for his well-crafted and broad ranging yet highly personal exhibitions. Since the 1980s, his shows have introduced new discursive frames for modern and contemporary art and society in Europe and the United States from the early nineteenth century to the present. He recently stepped down from his position as Chief Curator at the Jewish Museum after a tenure of over forty years at the institution. This symposium will be an opportunity for scholars and artists to reflect on and discuss Kleeblatt’s most influential exhibitions, including "The Dreyfus Affair: Art, Truth and Justice" (1987), "Too Jewish? Challenging Traditional Identities" (1996), and "Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940–1976" (2008) among many others, as well as his rethinking of art and cultural history, exhibition and institutional models. The afternoon consisted of two thematic sections, each with papers and panel discussions, followed by a conversation with Kleeblatt.
Participants:
Daniel Belasco Executive Director, Al Held Foundation
Maya Benton Consulting Curator, International Center of Photography, New York
Mel Bochner Artist
Emily Braun Distinguished Professor, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY
Lisa Corrin Director, Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University
David Joselit Distinguished Professor, Art History PhD Program, CUNY Graduate Center
Deborah Kass Artist
Mischa Kuball Professor for Public Art/Spaces, Academy of Media Arts Cologne
Rhonda Lieberman Writer and Artist
Courtney Martin Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Dia Art Foundation
Steven Nelson Director of the African Studies Center and Professor of African and African American Art History, University of California, Los Angeles
Lucy Partman PhD Candidate, Princeton University
Joan Rosenbaum Former Director, The Jewish Museum, New York
Ken Silver Silver Professor of Art History, New York University
Robert Slifkin Associate Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Joan Snyder Artist
Calvin Tsao Principal, Tsao & McKown Architects
This program was co-sponsored by the Al Held Foundation, New York.