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| Jed Perl | |
|---|---|
| Name | Jed Perl |
| Birth date | 1951 |
| Birth place | New York City |
| Occupation | Art critic, essayist, author |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Notable works | The Art of the Hand, Magicians and Charlatans, What Is Postmodernism? |
Jed Perl Jed Perl is an American art critic and essayist known for his long-running engagement with modern and contemporary visual arts and for his tenure at prominent publications. He has written extensively on painting, sculpture, and the institutions of art, situating artists and exhibitions within debates involving Abstract Expressionism, Modernism, and Postmodernism. Perl's criticism has appeared in major outlets and has influenced discussions in museums and among curators, collectors, and artists.
Perl was born in New York City in 1951 and grew up amid the cultural institutions of Manhattan. He studied at Harvard College, where he was exposed to the history of European painting, Renaissance studies, and American art history debates. After Harvard, Perl pursued graduate work that connected him to the circles of art history scholarship and to curatorial networks associated with institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. His formative years coincided with the rise of Pop Art, the lasting presence of Abstract Expressionism, and the emergence of new galleries in SoHo.
Perl's professional career began in the 1970s, when he entered art journalism and criticism, contributing to publications like The New Republic and The New Criterion. He later became a staff critic at The New Republic and served as an editor at large for The New York Review of Books, writing essays and reviews that engaged with artists represented by galleries such as Gagosian Gallery, Dia Art Foundation, and Pace Gallery. Perl has also contributed to The New Yorker and Artforum, and his pieces regularly intersect with debates taking place at institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His journalistic practice combined exhibition reviews, artist profiles, and commentary on cultural policy debated in venues including the National Endowment for the Arts.
Perl's criticism emphasizes craft, tradition, and the ethical responsibilities of artists, contrasting these concerns with trends associated with Conceptual Art, Performance Art, and certain strains of Contemporary art institutional practice. He has written about figures ranging from Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning to Cindy Sherman and Damien Hirst, often foregrounding debates about originality, technique, and the role of the critic. Perl is attentive to the histories of European Modernism and the legacies of the Avant-garde, while critiquing aspects of Postmodernism that, in his view, marginalize the painterly tradition. His essays engage with curatorial strategies at the Tate Modern and exhibition histories such as those surrounding the Venice Biennale. Perl also addresses the market forces evident in auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's and the relationships among museums, collectors, and foundations such as the Carnegie Corporation.
Perl is the author of several books that collect his criticism and expand into cultural history. His books include sustained studies of artists and broader meditations on art and value, published by presses connected to literary and art-historical audiences. Among his works, titles examine topics from the role of craftsmanship in painting to the biographies of influential modern artists and critiques of institutional practices at major museums. His essays have been anthologized alongside writings by critics such as Clement Greenberg, Harold Rosenberg, Michael Fried, and historians linked to Yale University Press and Princeton University Press. Perl's long-form pieces have engaged with monographs and catalog essays for exhibitions at venues like the Kimbell Art Museum, the Frick Collection, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
Throughout his career, Perl has received recognition from cultural and literary organizations that honor criticism and nonfiction writing. His work has been cited in lists of influential contemporary critics alongside recipients of awards from institutions such as the Pulitzer Prize committees and the National Book Critics Circle. He has also been invited to lecture at universities and museums including Yale University, Columbia University, and the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, reflecting peer recognition in both academic and curatorial circles.
Perl has lived and worked in New York City, remaining connected to the galleries of Chelsea and the academic communities of Columbia University and New York University. He has participated in public conversations at venues such as the 92nd Street Y and has served on advisory panels for exhibition planning at institutions like the Morgan Library & Museum. His friendships and professional relationships include artists, curators, and fellow critics active in the networks centered on Lower Manhattan and major art fairs such as Art Basel.
Category:American art critics Category:Writers from New York City Category:Harvard College alumni