Mary Kelly appointed Judge Widney Professor at USC Roski School of Art and Design

World-renowned artist, scholar, and educator Mary Kelly has been named a Judge Widney Professor at the University of Southern California.

Contact: Stephanie Weiss at (213) 821-2957 or weisss@usc.edu; Allison Engel at (213) 740-1927 or allison.engel@usc.edu

Known for project-based work that addresses issues of sexuality, identity, and collective memory in the form of large-scale narrative installations, Kelly’s fresh voice has had a deep influence on the evolution and critique of conceptual art. From early works exploring the mother-child relationship through a series of works focused on war and, most recently, on intergenerational history, her practice continues to drive and inform debates around feminism and postmodernism in art.

“We believe strongly in the ability of artists to spur social change and to that end, Mary Kelly is a leader,” said USC Provost Michael Quick. “As one of the world’s foremost feminist artists, Professor Kelly uses her work to address some of the most complex problems and challenges in our society. We are honored to have her join our faculty.”

Erica Muhl, dean of the USC Roski School, added, “Mary Kelly’s work as an artist and scholar has become pivotal to the development of contemporary art since 1970. Her extraordinary contributions to arts practice and arts pedagogy, including her groundbreaking work with graduate students, is known and esteemed worldwide. Her vision and experience will complement that of USC Roski’s existing roster of world-class faculty, and help to set the stage for the next decade in the school’s advancement.”

The Widney Professorship, named after Judge Robert Maclay Widney, the university’s founder, is reserved for exemplary scholars and practitioners in the arts, sciences, humanities, business and leadership. Kelly will be the first fine artist and the first woman to hold this position. As a Widney Professor of Art, she will join the faculty at the USC Roski School of Art and Design, providing mentorship and educational opportunities to USC Roski students, and further advancing the school as a center of exceptional artistry and critical thought. Following closely on the hires of Suzanne Lacy, Nao Bustamante, Patty Chang, Keith Mayerson, Kori Newkirk and Edgar Arceneaux, Kelly’s appointment further confirms the school’s commitment to providing the highest quality of education for its students.

Kelly has been long considered one of the most influential artists working today. Her work has been exhibited by leading institutions around the world, including the Institute for Contemporary Art London, The New Museum, New York, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, The Vancouver Art Gallery, Generali Foundation, Vienna, Whitney Museum, New York, MOCA Los Angeles, MOCA Chicago, Walker Art Center, ICA Boston, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Musée National d’Art Moderne (Centre Pompidou) Paris, and in international exhibitions such as The Whitney Biennial (1991, 2004), The Biennale of Sydney (1984, 2008), and documenta 12.

Noted for her theoretical writings on art, Kelly’s published works include Imaging Desire (MIT Press, 1996) and Post-Partum Document (University of California Press, 1983/1998). She is a recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, as well as honorary doctorates from the University of Wolverhampton, England, and Lund University, Sweden.

Kelly began studying painting in Florence, Italy, in the early 1960s. For her first job, she moved to Beirut, Lebanon, to teach art at the Lebanese American University, where she immersed herself in French literature and philosophy. After war broke out in 1967, Kelly moved to London for postgraduate work at Saint Martin’s School of Art, London, where she began her life-long evaluation of conceptualism. Kelly became an active member of the early women’s movement, working to support the unionization of women, and becoming a founder of the first union for artists. During the 1970s, she worked with the Berwick Street Film Collective on the influential documentary art film, Nightcleaners (1970-1975), and collaborated with other artists on the installation, Women & Work: a document on the division of labor in industry (1973-1975), as well as realizing her iconic six-part project, Post-Partum Document (1973-1979).

Kelly continued to interrogate womens’ relation to the body, money, history and power in her four-part project, Interim (1984-89). During the 1990s, she focused on the issue of war, developing the ephemeral medium of compressed lint to form text in intaglio, and realizing an exhibition, The Ballad of Kastriot Rexhepi (2001), which consisted of a 200-foot linear relief and live performance of an original score by composer Michael Nyman. Love Songs (2005-07), which featured prominently in documenta 12, included a collaboration with younger women on the restaging of the 1971 Miss World protest, as well as the production of a three-dimensional work composed of intergenerational narratives reflecting on feminism.

In 1989, Kelly joined the faculty of the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Kelly comes to USC following a 21-year tenure as distinguished professor of art and critical theory in the School of the Arts and Architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she established the Interdisciplinary Studio area for graduate students engaged in site-specific, collective and project-based practices.

[Image of Mary Kelly by Aasa Lunden]

About USC Roski
The Roski School of Art and Design at the University of Southern California is a unique, supportive environment for creativity, experimentation and collaboration in the visual arts. The school encourages interdisciplinary approaches to studio art, design, curatorial practice and critical studies. With equal emphasis on making and thinking, the USC Roski School prepares artists, designers, curators, and writers to contribute in new and meaningful ways both to their fields and to society at large.

The USC Roski Master of Fine Arts program is a two year, full-time, studio-based program located in the center of Los Angeles and led by faculty artist and Vice Dean Nao Bustamante. With a select cohort enrolled each year, the program provides a unique experience that focuses on interdisciplinary and wide-ranging experimental arts practices. The USC Roski MFA is designed to maximize each graduate student’s individual studio experience, and its instructional model is focused on critical dialogue as provided by regular studio visits with faculty artists and scholars, as well as guest artists, scholars and curators.

Headed by renowned scholar Amelia Jones, the USC Roski MA Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere program is an intensive master’s-level program in the practice and history of curating studied through the lens of critical theory and the history of art and visual culture. Over two years of full-time academic study, students explore modes of curatorial practice in a curriculum combining seminars and professional training, including MA practicum courses, resulting in an exhibition or programmed events and a master’s thesis.