

David Raskin
Professor, Mohn Family Professor of Contemporary Art History
Contact
Bio
David Raskin is the Mohn Family Professor of Contemporary Art History at SAIC.
He earned his Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Texas, his M.A. in Art History and Criticism from Stony Brook University, and his A.B. in Visual Arts and Psychology from Brown University. He teaches seminars on Ekphrastic Writing and topics in Modern and Contemporary Art, including Minimalism, Pop, Postminimalism, Jackson Pollock, Vito Acconci, Rosalind Krauss, Michael Fried, Andy Warhol, and “feedback” in installation, performance, and video art.
Many institutions have supported Raskin’s scholarly work and research, including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Whitney Museum.
Raskin’s pioneering monograph, Donald Judd (2010), has been reviewed or noted in more than 26 publications, including Art History, Art Journal, Burlington Magazine, The Art Newspaper, and The Times Literary Supplement. His other writings are widely read, and he has contributed essays to catalogs of exhibitions at the Tate Modern, London; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Ludwig Museum, Cologne; Ca’ Pesaro Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna, Venice; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Experience at SAIC
Mohn Family Professor of Contemporary Art History (2000). Chair: Department of Sculpture; Chair: Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism; Chair: Fiscal Affairs, Faculty Senate Committee; and Chair: Faculty Contract and Tenure Review Board.
Selected Books
- Jose Dávila. Contributor, 2023.
- Barry x Ball: Medardo Rosso Project. Contributor, 2019.
- Sam Falls. Contributor, 2018.
- Joel Shapiro. Contributor, 2017.
- Matt Siber: Idol Structures. Co-author, 2015.
- Noriyuki Haraguchi. Co-author, 2014.
- Jo Baer. Contributor, 2013.
- The Language of Less (Then and Now). Contributor, 2011.
- Donald Judd. Author, 2010; 2019 reissue.
- Olle Bærtling: A Modern Classic. Contributor, 2007
- Midwestern Unlike You and Me: New Zealand's Julian Dashper. Co-author, 2005.
- Donald Judd. Co-author, 2004.
Selected Essays
Art History; Art Journal; Art in America; New Art Examiner; Arte Al Dia International; Art Criticism; Art History Versus Aesthetics; Encyclopedia of Aesthetics; The Burlington Magazine; Common Knowledge; caa.reviews; ASAP Journal; Bomb Magazine.
Personal Statement
SAIC is an exciting place to practice art history and ekphrasis. I am part of a large department of modern and contemporary art specialists with diverse perspectives and areas of expertise. When teaching, my main goal is to have a lively conversation in which the entire class looks at the art we are studying and uses it to debate broader social, political, and philosophical issues. The wider art school community is a vibrant place where artists, critics, and scholars come together to ask the same question when confronted by masterpieces from history and the work inside their studios: why does art matter now?
In my research practice, I tell stories about art that situate the moment of its encounter within art-historical scholarship. My goal is to probe personal experiences for their broader cultural implications. I ask what we expect from art, why we have these desires, and how art satisfies or frustrates these needs. I published my first essay on art in 1994 as a participant in the famed Whitney Museum Independent Study Program and my first creative nonfiction story 30 years later, in 2024.