Mailing Address:
PENN STATE BEHREND
170 KOCHEL CENTER
ERIE, PA 16563
Biography
Dr. Matthew L. Levy specializes in modern and contemporary art, with a particular focus on American art of the 1960s. His book, Abstract Painting and the Minimalist Critiques: Robert Mangold, David Novros, and Jo Baer in the 1960s (Routledge, 2019), undertakes a reappraisal of Minimalist art through an examination of three key painters, who have historically been viewed as peripheral figures in a predominantly sculptural movement. He is presently conducting research for his next book, the catalogue raisonné of David Novros’s murals and site-specific works. His writing has appeared in ASAP/J, the Brooklyn Rail, and the Journal of Contemporary Painting, as well as in exhibition catalogues for the National Gallery of Canada, New Museum, and Museum Wiesbaden. Prior to joining the Behrend faculty, Dr. Levy held several art gallery and museum positions, and these experiences informed his work in the college’s arts program.
Courses Taught
- ARTH 112: Renaissance to Modern Art
- ARTH 325: Impressionism to Surrealism
- ARTH 326: Art Since 1940
- ARTSA 301: Introduction to Arts Administration
- ARTSA 402W: Management and Strategic Planning in the Arts
Research Interests
Minimalist art, abstract painting, the relationship between abstraction and mass culture
Publications
Painting Reframed: Jo Baer in the 1960s - 2024
"Provinces, Kings, Mountains" - 2022
Abstract Painting and the Minimalist Critiques: Robert Mangold, David Novros, and Jo Baer in the 1960s - 2021
Interview with David Novros - 2021
Squaring Accounts - 2020
Abstract Painting and the Minimalist Critiques: Robert Mangold, David Novros, and Jo Baer in the 1960s - 2019
Mary Corse at the Whitney Museum of American Art, ASAP/J - 2019
"Paradoxes of Perception" - 2019
'Jon Pestoni: Some Years,' Cleveland Museum of Art Transformer Station, 23 April-24 July 2016, Journal of Contemporary Painting - April, 2017
Specific Painting: David Novros, Donald Judd, and 101 Spring St. - 2016
Jacqueline Humphries at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, Journal of Contemporary Painting - October, 2016
David Novros's Painted Places - 2014
Of Mice and Ghosts, The Brooklyn Rail - January, 2014
Ad Reinhardt, Sixties Painter, The Brooklyn Rail - December, 2013
Agostino Bonalumi - 2012
Pilvi Takala, Amalia Pica, Minam Apang - 2012
Center for Land Use Interpretation, Emily Jacir, Huong Yong Ping, Walid Raad, Rirkrit Tiravanija - 2011
Enrico Castellani: Silver and White/Fausto Melotti: Sculptures and Ceramics - 2011
Pizzi Cannella: Earth Sky and Sea - 2008
Review: Doubt by Richard Shiff, …might be good - March 21, 2008
Bowery Artist Tribute - 2007
Calder and Melotti: Lyrical Constructions - 2007
White Knuckle Psychedelia: Thrills of the Mind in Carsten Höller’s Amusement Park - 2007
Dario Robleto: ‘Fear and Tenderness in Men’ at D’Amelio Terras, …might be good - October 6, 2006
Lothar Hempel: ‘Umbrella’ at Anton Kern Gallery, …might be good - June 16, 2006
Education
Ph D, History of Art, New York University
MA, History of Art, Williams College
BA, Religion, Williams College
Papers and Presentations
March 27, 2025
Panels
Alternative Approaches to Grading
October 23, 2024 - October 26, 2024
Papers
Flex in the Specs: Grading for Growth in Art History
SECAC Annual Conference
Atlanta, GA
March 19, 2024
Lectures
From Canvas to Concert
This lecture was part of an event jointly organized by the Erie Art Museum and the Erie Philharmonic on the occasion of the latter's performance of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. I presented a lecture about the history of visual artists drawing inspiration from music, and a pianist performed excerpts from the the Mussorgsky piece.
October 13, 2023
Panels
'Ungrading' Art History: How It Works and Why to Do It
Annual Conference
Richmond, VA
March 29, 2023
Presentations
Contemporary Art and the Plastics Paradox
Worldwide Teach-In on Climate and Justice
November 10, 2022
Panels
Exhibition Talk: David Novros, Flavin Judd, and Matthew Levy
New York, NY
October 20, 2022
Workshops
Grading Differently: Rethinking How and Why We Do Classroom Assessment
2020
Public Conversation
On Robert Mangold: A Conversation with Dan Graham and Matthew L. Levy
Virtual Program
Public conversation with internationally exhibiting artist Dan Graham on the occasion of the Pace Gallery exhibition "Robert Mangold: Paintings 2017-2019."
October, 2020
Panels
The Mural in Contemporary Art
SECAC Annual Conference
Virtual Conference
September 22, 2018
Panels
Sculpture for Society
Cleveland, OH