Matthew Levy, Ph.D.

Matthew Levy, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Outreach, Research, and Creative Activities, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Associate Professor of Art History, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts program
126 Kochel

Mailing Address:
PENN STATE BEHREND
170 KOCHEL CENTER
ERIE, PA 16563

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

Minimalist art, abstract painting, the relationship between abstraction and mass culture

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

Ph D, History of Art, New York University

MA, History of Art, Williams College

BA, Religion, Williams College

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

Collaborators: Laura Cruz, Co-Presenter; Ashley Russell, Co-Presenter

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

February, 2018

Papers and Oral Presentations
A Classicist aboard the Space-Time Mothership: David Novros at Park Place
College Art Association Annual Conference
Los Angeles, CA

October 25, 2017 - October 27, 2017

Papers and Oral Presentations
Robert Mangold's Chromophilia
SECAC Annual Conference
Columbus, OH

October 16, 2017

Public dialogue with artist
Matthew Levy and David Novros
Public Program
Judd Foundation, New York, NY