Joan Kee

Joan Kee
Known forScholarship on Dansaekhwa; art and law
Academic background
EducationYale College (BA)
Harvard Law School (JD)
Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (PhD)
Academic work
DisciplineArt history
Sub-discipline
Modern and contemporary art
InstitutionsUniversity of Michigan
Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
Notable works
Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method (2013)
Models of Integrity: Art and Law in Post-Sixties America (2019)

Joan Kee is an American art historian specializing in modern and contemporary art who serves as Judy and Michael Steinhard Director of New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. She has previously served as Professor in the History of Art at the University of Michigan.

Academic career

Kee earned her PhD at New York University Institute of Fine Arts. Her supervisor was Shitao scholar Jonathan Hay. Research for her dissertation was supported by an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship from the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Kee also obtained a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from Yale College, where she graduated magna cum laude.

Her first book, Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method, published by University of Minnesota Press in 2013, is credited with sparking global interest in Dansaekhwa, a major constellation of abstract paintings produced in South Korea from the 1960s. In 2014, she curated From All Sides: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method, a group show of representative Tansaekhwa artists that was widely acclaimed. She has been cited as Tansaekhwa's most prominent Anglophone scholar.

Kee's latest book – The Geometries of Afro Asia: Art beyond Solidarity, published April 2023 – presents a framework for understanding the rich and surprisingly understudied relationship between Black and Asian artists and the worlds they initiate through their work. Her previous book, Models of Integrity Art and Law in Post-Sixties America, includes discussion of the following artists, among others; Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Gordon Matta-Clark, Tehching Hsieh, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Sally Mann. Kee is a contributing editor to Artforum, advisory editor to the Oxford Art Journal, editor at large for the Brooklyn Rail, and also sits on the international advisory board of Art History. She has been cited in reference to artists like Zao Wou-ki, Gordon Matta-Clark, and to Park Seobo.

Selected publications

  • Contemporary Southeast Asian Art: The Right Kind of Trouble, Third Text, vol. 30, 2011
  • Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method, University of Minnesota Press, Minnesota, 2013
  • Contemporary Art in Early Colonial Korea: The Self Portraits of Ko Hui-dong, Art History 36:2, p392-417, April 2013
  • Towards Law as an Artistic Medium: William E. Jones' Tearoom, Law, Culture and the Humanities, May 27, 2014
  • What Scale Affords Us: Sizing Up the World Through Scale, Art Margins 3:2, p3-30, June 2014
  • To Scale, co-editor with Emanuele Lugli, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015
  • From All Sides: Tansaekhwa on Abstraction, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, 2015
  • The Measure of the World: Scenes From a Journey to Kaesŏng, Art History 38:2, p364-385, April 2015
  • Why Performance in Authoritarian Korea, Tate Papers 23, May 2015
  • Orders of Law in the One Year Performances of Tehching Hsieh, American Art (journal), 30, no. 1, Spring 2016
  • Art Chasing Law: The Case of Yoko Ono's Rape, Law and Literature (journal), June 2016
  • How Art and Law Can Work Together Beyond the Marketplace, with Sonia K. Katyal, Hyperallergic, January 12, 2017
  • Modern Art in Late Colonial Korea, a Research Experiment, Modernism/modernity, vol. 25, no. 2, April 2018
  • Models of Integrity: Art and Law in Post-Sixties America, University of California Press, February 2019
  • The Geometries of Afro Asia: Art beyond Solidarity, University of California Press, April 2023

Selected appearances

Fellowships and awards

  • Erwin Panofsky Fellowship, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2003-2008
  • Andrew W. Mellon Predoctoral Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, 2007

References

  1. ↑ McGlone, Peggy (2024-06-27). "Joan Kee Named Director of NYU's Institute of Fine Arts". New York University. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  2. ↑ "Joan Kee, Associate Professor & Director of Graduate Studies".
  3. ↑ "artnet Asks: K Auction on the Market's Dansaekhwa Moment". artnet News. 2016-05-18. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  4. ↑ "Why South Korea's monochrome painting movement is the art world's latest obsession". 2016-12-12.
  5. ↑ "The Koreans at the Top of the Art World". The New Yorker. 30 September 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  6. ↑ "FROM ALL SIDES: TANSAEKHWA ON ABSTRACTION". Blum & Poe. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "L.A.'s Best, 2014: Connie Butler". 17 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Schwabsky, Barry (2015-12-17). "It's Time To Stop Ignoring South Korean Abstract Art". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Archived from the original on 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  9. ↑ Kee, Joan (March 2019). Models of Integrity. Univ of California Press. ISBN 9780520299382.
  10. ↑ "Artforum Contributing Editors Release Statement on Allegations". www.artforum.com. November 2017. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  11. ↑ "Editorial_Board | Oxford Art Journal | Oxford Academic". academic.oup.com. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  12. ↑ Bui, Phong (5 February 2019). "Dear Friends and Readers". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  13. ↑ "Art History". onlinelibrary.wiley.com. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  14. ↑ Seno, Alexandra a (2009-05-21). "The Subtle Power of Zao Wou-Ki". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  15. ↑ Feinstein, Laura (22 February 2018). "New York Needs Gordon Matta-Clark Now More Than Ever". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  16. ↑ Seno, Alexandra A. (2011-05-19). "Park Seo-bo: 'Role of Art Is To Make People Worry'". WSJ. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  17. ↑ Kee, Joan (2011-07-01). "Introduction Contemporary Southeast Asian Art". Third Text. 25 (4): 371–381. doi:10.1080/09528822.2011.587681. ISSN 0952-8822. S2CID 142968600.
  18. ↑ Contemporary Korean Art.
  19. ↑ Kee, Joan (2013). "Contemporary Art in Early Colonial Korea: The Self Portraits of Ko Hui-dong". Art History. 36 (2): 392–417. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8365.2013.00950.x. ISSN 1467-8365.
  20. ↑ "SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class journal research". doi:10.1177/1743872114533656. S2CID 147125132. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ↑ Kee, Joan (2014-06-01). "What Scale Affords Us: Sizing the World Up through Scale". ARTMargins. 3 (2): 3–30. doi:10.1162/ARTM_a_00079. ISSN 2162-2574. S2CID 57561517.
  22. ↑ "To Scale". Wiley.com. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  23. ↑ "FROM ALL SIDES: TANSAEKHWA ON ABSTRACTION". Blum & Poe. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  24. ↑ Kee, Joan (2015). "The Measure of the World: Scenes from a Journey to Kaesŏng". Art History. 38 (2): 364–385. doi:10.1111/1467-8365.12154. ISSN 1467-8365.
  25. ↑ Tate. "Why Performance in Authoritarian Korea? – Tate Papers". Tate. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  26. ↑ Kee, Joan (2016). "Orders of Law in the One Year Performances of Tehching Hsieh". American Art. 30: 72–91. doi:10.1086/686549. S2CID 155868708.
  27. ↑ Kee, Joan (2016). "Art Chasing Law: The Case of Yoko Ono's Rape". Law & Literature. 28 (2): 187–208. doi:10.1080/1535685x.2016.1185280. S2CID 148252029.
  28. ↑ "How Art and Law Can Work Together Beyond the Marketplace". Hyperallergic. 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  29. ↑ "Modern Art in Late Colonial Korea: A Research Experiment | Modernism / Modernity Print+". modernismmodernity.org. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  30. ↑ Kee, Joan (March 2019). Models of Integrity. Univ of California Press. ISBN 9780520299382.
  31. ↑ ""12th Gwangju Biennale: Imagined Borders" | Art Agenda". Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  32. ↑ "Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts Announces 2007–2008 Appointments". www.nga.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-21.