Dr

James Brown

Personal statement

As a Senior Lecturer in Historical and Critical Studies, l teach modules for the practice based disciplines and on the BA (Hons) History of Art and Design programme.

I joined the University in February 2018 from Plymouth College of Art, where I taught Critical and Contextual Studies across art and design subjects for eleven years. I also have extensive experience teaching in the discipline at a range of HE institutions including Lancaster University, Leeds Metropolitan University and UCLAN.

My research addresses art history and cultural theory, focussing on art criticism from the late-twentieth century to the present. My PhD addressed the ‘decline of art criticism’ in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s, and the relationships between criticism and the art market.The focus of this project was the magazine Modern Painters and its founding editor, the English art critic Peter Fuller. My research continues to address Fuller, contextualising his central role in British art and art criticism in the 1980s and 1990s.

Most recently I have spoken about Fuller’s critical friendship with the American painter Robert Natkin, exploring the creative outcomes of this friendship, and arguing that it played a significant role in both the ongoing development of Fuller’s criticism and of Natkin’s painting.

Currently I am interested in the role of art criticism in the context of arts education. I am particularly interested in developing collaborative critical projects between undergraduate art students through both curricular and extra-curricular projects.

Academic qualifications

• PhD Cultural Theory – University of Plymouth
• MPhil Art History - Lancaster University
• BA (Hons) Art: History and Culture - Lancaster University
• QTS - Plymouth Marjon University.

Professional memberships

• Member - Association of Art Historians

Teaching specialisms

• Critical Practices (Fine Art, Creative Arts, Photography)
• Art History
• Cultural Theory.