Robert C. Morgan is a writer, artist, critic, art historian, curator, and educator. Knowledgeable in the history and aesthetics of both Western and Asian art, Morgan has lectured widely, written hundreds of critical essays (translated into twenty languages), published monographs and books, and curated numerous exhibitions. He has written reviews for Art in America, Arts, Art News, Art Press (Paris), Sculpture Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, and Hyperallergic. His catalog essays have been published by Gagosian, Pace, Sperone Westwater, Van Doren Waxter, White Cube (London), Kukje (Seoul), Malingue (Hong Kong), and Ink Studio (Beijing).
Since 2010, he has been New York Editor for Asian Art News and World Sculpture News, both published in Hong Kong. Many consider his book, The End of the Art World (Allworth, 1998), a classic in predicting the loss of critical judgment in art and its future direction as a marketing and investment phenomenon. In addition, he has written books and edited anthologies, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, Cambridge University Press, University of Minnesota Press. George Braziller, Inc. and Harry N. Abrams, Inc. In 1999, he was awarded the first ARCALE prize in International Art Criticism in Salamanca (Spain), and the same year served on the UNESCO jury at the 48th Biennale di Venezia.
In 2002, he was invited to give the keynote speech in the House of Commons, U.K. on the occasion of Shane Cullen’s exhibition celebrating the acceptance of “The Agreement” with Northern Ireland. In 2003, Dr. Morgan was appointed Professor Emeritus in Art History at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and, in 2005, became a Senior Fulbright Scholar in the Republic of Korea. In 2011, he was inducted into the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in Salzburg; and, in 2016, the Hesburgh Library, University of Notre Dame, acquired The Robert C, Morgan Collection on Conceptual Art.
Much of his work since the late 1990s has focused on art outside the West with books translated and published in Farsi, Korean, and Chinese. He continues to work with contemporary ink artists in the People’s Republic of China on whom he has frequently lectured and written. He has twice been invited to the Islamic Republic of Iran where he has lectured and juried major exhibitions. In addition to his scholarly pursuits, he has continued a parallel involvement as an artist (since 1970). Having had numerous exhibitions in past years, a major survey of his paintings and conceptual works was shown at Proyectos Monclova in Mexico City (2017), which published a detailed catalog focusing on his artistic career.
2019
1997 Edition
The Clocktower, Institute for Art and Urban Resources
1988 - 89
Hallwalls, Buffalo, New York
Co-sponsored by the NEA and the Rockefeller Foundation for the Arts)
1987
1987
Sponsored by the Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester and The Pyramid Arts Center (curated by Bill Olander)
1986
Massachusetts Council on the Arts and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Sculpture executed in Sunderland, Massachusetts
1974
Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, Boston, Massachusetts
1972 (destroyed 1977)
Memorial Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1968
Department of English, University of Redlands, California
1964
Interview by Noah Becker
March 2019
Interview by Jeffrey Collins
January 2015
Interview by Jeffrey Collins
January 2015
Interview by Jason Stopa, On-Verge
February 2014
Interview by Jeffrey Collins
June 2013
SinoVision
March 2013
Interviewed by Elizabeth D'Ambrosio, ArtCritical
December 2010
Interviewed by Phong Bui, The Brooklyn Rail
July - August 2009
Interviewed by Jan Van Woensel, Whitehot Magazine
November 2007
Interviewed by Joan Waltemath, The Brooklyn Rail
March - April 2002
Marc Straus Gallery, New York City
July 20, 2019
New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture, New York City
February 10, 2015
Stephen Romano Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
October 18, 2014
China Art Museum, Shanghai, China
June 29, 2014
The Armory Show
March 8-9, 2014
Florence Lynch Gallery, New York City
2001
Les Rencontres Place Publique, Paris, France
January 20, 2001
Symposium with Donald Kuspit and Dorothea Walker
The Irish Museum of Fine Arts, Dublin, Ireland
September 2000
Seminars at the University of Buenos Aires
Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
May 2000
Symposium at KwangJu Biennial 2000
April 21, 2000
A lecture series to promote The End of the Art World (New Yoirk: Allworth Press, 1998)
Locations:
Holly Solomon Gallery, New York City - January 14, 1999
The Roger Smith Hotel, New York City - January 21, 1999)
School of Visual Arts Amphitheatre, New York City - March 25, 1999
Small Press Book Fair, New York City - March 27, 1999
Barnes & Noble: Astor Place, New York City) - March 29, 1999
Barnes & Noble: San Francisco, California - August 24, 1999
Barnes & Noble: Berkeley, California - August 25, 1999
Seminars at the University of Buenos Aires, publication in Spanish (Eudeba y Centro Cultural Rojas, 2000)
Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
April 1998
Artists Talk on Art series
Phoenix Gallery, New York City
March 13, 1998
With Arthur Danto, Karen Wilkin, and Ronnie Lanfield
The Art Students League of New York, New York City
January 14, 1998
Art/Omi, Ghent, New York
July 1998
Artists Talk on Art series
Fulcrum Gallery, New York City
February 14, 1997
With Freya Hansell, Fabian Marcaccio, David Row, and Gwenn Thomas
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
November 1, 1996
With Cyrilla Mozenter and J. Abbott Miller
Writing the Arts conference
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
June 7, 1996
Panel with R.M. Fischer, Mary Miss, and Richard Kostelanetz
ARTRAX, New York City
June 14, 1995
Panel
Artists Museum, Mitzpe Ramon, Israel
April 20, 1995
Thread Waxing Space, New York City
November 19, 1994
Artists Talk on Art series
Fulcrum Gallery, New York City
October 28, 1994
Artbreaking
WBAI, New York City
September 8, 1994
With Dan Cameron
ART/OMI
July 1994
International Center for Advanced Stduies in Art and New York University, Tisch Hall
1994
Conference with visiting professors of art from Marseille, Frace
Pennsylvania Hotel, New York City
April 1994
With Stephanie Rose, Marjorie Welish, Frank Gilette, and Arnold Mesches
E. M. Donahue Gallery, New York City
November 18, 1993
With Michael Brenson, Klaus Kertess, and Suzane Anker
School of Visual Arts, New York City
November 16, 1993
Artbreaking
WBAI, New York City
December 2, 1993
With Estera Millman, Allan Kaprow, and Owen Smith (organized by Simon Anderson)
Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
October 30, 1993
The Great Hall, Cooper Union, New York City
June 1, 1993
With Dan Cameron, Holly Solomon, and Terry R. Myers
ART/OMI
July 23, 1993
KPFK, Los Angeles, California
November 26, 1992
Four Lectures/Discussions conceived by Robert C. Morgan
Thread Waxing Space, New York City
1.
With Clement Greenburg
November 14, 1992
2.
With Deborah Kass and Eleanor Heartney
November 20, 1992
3.
With Donald Kuspit
December 3, 1992
4.
With Lois Nesbitt and Joshua Dector
December 10, 1992
With Joshua Decter, Anna Chave, Mira Schor, Barry Schwabsky and Peter Halley
John Good Gallery, New York City
1992
With Frank Gillette (moderator), Joshua Decter, Jan Avgikos, Lois Nesbitt
E.M. Donahue Gallery, New York City
1992
With Pierre Restany, Dave Hickey, Philip Yenawine
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
1992
With Ken Johnson, Karen Wilkin, and Terry Myers
Woodstock, New York
1991
Invited participants included Sidney Tillim, Joseph Masheck, Peter Halley, Joshua Decter, Jeanne Silverthorne, Marjorie Welsh, Mira Schor, Klaus Ottmann, and Jeremy Gilber-Rolfe (organized by Saul Ostrow and Robert C. Morgan)
New York City
May 1991 (statements published in M/E/A/N/I/N/G #11, 1992)
With Joan Marter (moderator), Kim Levin, Robert Storr, Eleanor Heartney, and Judith Wilson
AICA Panel, Washington Sheraton, Washington, DC
February 22, 1991
With Vik Muniz, Komar & Meladmid, Catalina Parra, Alain Kirili
School of Visual Arts Amphitheater, New York City
November 20, 1990
With Terry Fulgate-Wilcox, moderator, Collins & Milazzo, Gary Sangster, and Richard Vine
Artists Talk on Art series
New York City
1990
Artists Talk on Art Series
New York City
1989
With Jean Baudrillard, Collins & Milazzo, Sara Charlesworth, Jorge Glusberg, Peter Halley, Joseph Kosuth, and Tim Rollins
Schimmell Auditorium, New York University
May 22 - 23, 1989
Sponsored by Rutgers University and Fashion Institute of Technology
October 14, 1988
With David Antin, Ingrid Sischy, Dara Birnbaum, John Miller, and Joseph Nechvatal
School of Visual Arts, New York City
October 13, 1988
University of Texas, Arlington
April 1988
Artists Talk on Art Series
Michael Walls Gallery, New York City
1988
AICA, American Division
1987
American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern Division
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
1987
College Art Association of America, Boston, Massachusetts
1987
College Art Association of America, Boston, Massachusetts
1987
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
1986
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
1986
Artists Talk on Art series
22 Wooster Street, New York City
1986
With Ayo, Philip Corner, Dick Higgins, and Alison Knowles
Artists Talk on Art series
469 Broome Street, New York City
1985
Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City
1985
Artists Talk on Art series
22 Wooster Street, New York City
1985
Artists Talk on Art series
22 Wooster Street, New York City
1984
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
1984
Parsons School of Design, New York City
1983
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
1983
National Art Education Association, Chicago, Illinois
1981
College Art Association of America, San Francisco, California
1981
Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas
1980
Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas
1979
National Art Education Association
San Francisco, California
1979
Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1973
Boston Visual Artists Union, WGBH, Boston, Massachusetts
1972