PREVIEW AHIS 180: The Art Museum - Professor Bridget R. Cooks - Art History - Research Guides at University of California Irvine

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Exhibition Documentation

This will be uploaded + made available by Friday, October 24.

Inoperative Community by Jean-Luc Nancy
Call Number: Langson Library ; HM131 .N3313 1990

ISBN: 0816619247

Publication Date: 1991-06-01

This work examines community as an idea that has dominated modern thought and traces its relation to concepts of experience, discourse and the individual.

Library Research & Resources for AHIS 181: The Art Museum

Welcome and The Exhibition Review Assignment!

This page will help you research and write your Exhibition Review for The Inoperative Community: Exhibition x Practice, UCI 1965–2025. Use the resources and examples here to find scholarly sources, learn how to analyze exhibitions, and strengthen your writing. The assignment is linked below for your convenience (and on Canvas!), and remember that you can select any exhibition for research but some possibilities are outlined below, as these feature well-known artists.

Abstract Expressionist Ceramics (1966)
Los Four: Almaraz, de la Rocha, Luján, and Romero (1973)
Helen Pashgian: Recent Works (1975)
Hannah Wilke: Starification Photographs and Videotapes (1976)
Female Fantasies (1977)
Theater of Refusal: Black Art and Mainstream Criticism (1993)
...and Europe will be stunned (2012)
The Warplands: Cauleen Smith (2017)
Yong Soon Min: KISSSSS (2024)

The Exhibition Review Assignment

Below are a few very helpful documents to consult and reference as you brainstorm and begin to write your exhibition review. These resources are easy to read and meant to provide a framework for your review - elements such as describing works, critical analysis, sourcing, and more helpful tips! Some of the basic structures of an exhibition review are as follows:

An introduction / briefly describe the exhibition and its premise.
Context / Situate the UAG historically and thematically
Analysis / Discuss specific archival materials or curatorial choices that stood out.
Interpretation / Reflect on the broader significance (social, political, institutional)
Conclusion / Personal takeaways x thoughts on what this exhibition contributes to understanding the UAG's legacy.

And if it helps, here are the slides with the reflection questions we went over during the library workshop!

"Writing a Review of an Exhibition" by Sylvan Barnet
From Barnet's canonical "A Short Guide to Writing About Art" a helpful chapter on writing an exhibition review (p. 143-155)
"Writing Art Reviews" by OCAD University's Writing & Learning Center
A helpful 1-page document on how to write an art review including context on descriptive and analytic components.
"Writing Exhibition Reviews" by Emily Carr University of Art + Design's Writing Center
Includes helpful information for using sources and critical analysis when writing an exhibition review

Please consult these professionally written exhibition reviews to give you examples of writing styles, intros, and endings of a review. They are published in important art journals and prominent newspapers.

Kalina, Richard. “Through Color” Art in America, vol 104, no. 5, 2016, 118-26.
In 2016, there was a major retrospective exhibition of Alma Thomas's work titled "Alma Thomas" which was co-organized by the Tang Museum at Skidmore College and the Studio Museum in Harlem. This is a review of that show.
Nancy Princenthal, "Simone Leigh at the Venice Biennale" Art in America 2022

Annotated Bibliographies

Oxford Bibliographies
A collection of subject-based bibliographies in many disciplines including Art History. Each article acts as a guide to the current scholarship on a topic, and includes commentary and annotations.

Searching for: Articles & Exhibition Reviews

Art Journals
Library Databases (articles, exhibition reviews, interviews)

When researching artists or exhibitions, these leading art journals are excellent sources for finding artist interviews, exhibition reviews, and scholarly discussions about art movements and criticism. Unlike general web searches, these publications feature writing by art historians, critics, and curators, offering deeper insight into the art world. Explore the titles below to discover credible and engaging perspectives on both historical and contemporary art. You can also browse a fuller list of art journals here.

Art in America (1913-)
Art in America is a magazine that covers contemporary and modern art, offering reviews of exhibitions, profiles of artists, and critical essays—making it a great resource for research and understanding current art trends.
Archives of American Art Journal (1960-)
The Archives of American Art Journal engages with primary sources to explore new stories about art and American culture, making the Smithsonian’s collections accessible to scholars, artists, students, and lifelong learners.
Artforum International (1962-)
Artforum has played a key role in documenting and shaping the discourse around contemporary art, making it an invaluable resource for researching archival exhibitions like those of John Coplans and Daniel Martinez. In its early years, the magazine was especially important for highlighting West Coast artists and movements, providing critical visibility to a region often overlooked in mainstream art publications.
October (1976-)
October is a scholarly journal that publishes critical essays and research on modern and contemporary art, providing in-depth analysis and theoretical perspectives for students studying art history or visual culture.
American Art (1987-)
American Art publishes innovative peer-reviewed scholarship on the history of art and related visual culture. The journal critically engages with the material and conceptual conditions of art and provides a forum for the expanding field of American art history.
Third Text (1987-)
Art Journal is a peer-reviewed publication that publishes critical essays on modern and contemporary art, making it an important resource for understanding art historical debates, particularly those surrounding the culture wars and contested ideas of art and identity.
American Art (1987-)
First published in 1987 as Smithsonian Studies in American Art, this journal publishes peer-reviewed scholarship on American art and visual culture, offering critical insights and supporting the evolving field of American art history.
Women & Performance (1983-)
A journal that explores the intersections of feminism, performance, and cultural practice, publishing scholarship, critiques, and creative work that examine gender, identity, and social issues in the arts.
Frieze: Contemporary Art and Culture (1991-)
Frieze is an influential contemporary art magazine that features critical essays, exhibition reviews, and artist interviews, offering students insight into current trends and debates in the global art world.

When researching artists or exhibitions, library databases provide access to credible sources like scholarly articles, exhibition reviews, and artist interviews. Many of the art journals and magazines listed in the previous tab are indexed in these databases, often with full text, giving you reliable content that goes beyond what a basic web search can offer.

Art and Architecture Source
An excellent starting point for all visual arts research! This database covers all periods and media (historical and contemporary, decorative and commercial art, various areas of architecture and architectural design). It includes scholarship starting from the 1930s to the present, is international in scope.
Artforum Archive
The Artforum Archive offers full-text digital access to every issue from 1962 to 2020. Founded in San Francisco with a focus on West Coast artists—countering the dominance of New York-centered publications—Artforum features in-depth coverage of contemporary art, including reviews, essays, columns on film and pop culture, artist commissions, and gallery advertisements.
JSTOR
Provides access to scholarly journals, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. In addition to journal articles, users can access book chapters, ebooks, and primary source documents.
Project Muse
A broad collection of journals and ebooks with emphasis on humanities and social sciences. Publishers include numerous university presses and scholarly societies.
Taylor & Francis Journals Online
Provides full-text access to articles in the sciences, health sciences, social sciences and humanities. Quick search options include searching articles by citation, articles by text, and by specific publications. Quick browse options include browsing by publications, publishers, and subjects.

Newspapers!! You may also want to search newspapers for exhibition reviews as well. Here are a few to consult:

U.S. Major Dailies
Provides access to the five most respected U.S. national and regional newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal. Current content is available each day with archives that stretch as far back as 1980.
Los Angeles Times Historical [via ProQuest]
Provides access to the full text, "as printed" edition of Los Angeles Times, including images and advertisements, from 1881 - 1997.
New York Times Historical
Provides access to the full text, "as printed" edition of The New York Times, including images and advertisements. Coverage begins with the first edition published in 1851 and extends to three years from the present day (due to a rolling embargo).
New York Times, 1980 - Present
Full-text coverage of the New York Times, 1980 to present, via the ProQuest search interface.

For institutional access to the New York Times via the website, please follow the set up instructions here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/nytimes
Ethnic NewsWatch
Contains newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press. It also provides historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989.

Additionally, you can get FREE NYTimes.com and Washingtonpost.com access with UC Irvine Libraries! Sign up below.

Searching for: Books & Exhibition Catalogs

Finding art books and exhibition catalogs can take a bit of digging—some are available online, but many exist only in print. Use these library tools to explore both digital and physical collections to discover the full range of resources available.

UC Library Search
Here you can search for eBooks, print books, and book chapters that UCI owns, subscribes to, or can access through Interlibrary Loan. This tool searches across all UC campus collections and lets you limit results to UCI, find full text for millions of titles, and borrow materials from any UC library.
Project Muse
A broad collection of journals and ebooks with emphasis on humanities and social sciences. Publishers include numerous university presses and scholarly societies.
JSTOR
While most students search JSTOR for academic articles, this database also has many different eBooks available in the arts and humanities as well.
Taylor & Francis eBooks
A multidisciplinary database of eBooks in all disciplines, including the humanities. You may find some interesting critical texts in here about an artist movement, political issues at the time, or other relevant materials.

Google Books
Google Books is a discovery tool, not a source for full-text access—most books are still under copyright. It’s especially useful for searching an artist’s name or topic to see where they’re mentioned within a book, and then you can check the library to see if we have that title.

The Theater of Refusal
Call Number: On Order

Publication Date: 2025

On the 30th anniversary of this event, this publication reprints the eponymous 1993 volume documenting the show, which contained essays by Gaines, Lord and Berger, and the transcript of a roundtable of artists and writers.
The Theater of Refusal : black art and mainstream criticism by Maurice Berger; Charles Gaines; Catherine Lord
Call Number: Langson Library N6538.N5 T44 1993

Publication Date: 1993

Catalog of an exhibition held at University of California, Irvine, Fine Arts Gallery, Apr. 8-May 12, 1993;
Helen Pashgian
Call Number: Langson Library ; N6512 .P37

Publication Date: 1975

Catalogue of an exhibition held at the University of California, Irvine Fine Arts Gallery, December 5-27, 1975.
Pervert by Catherine Lord
Call Number: Langson Library ; NX650.H6 P47 1995

Publication Date: 1995

Catalog of the exhibition held Apr. 11-May 6, 1995.
Ed Moses Cross Section by Juli Carson (Editor, Contribution by); Kevin Appel (Contribution by); David Trend (Foreword by)
Call Number: Langson Library ; N6537.M667 A4 2015

Publication Date: 2016
Female fantasies : Jo Anne Bourgault [and others]
Call Number: Langson Library ; N5020 .I78

February 4-26, 1977, Fine Arts Gallery, University of California, Irvine / exhibition sponsored by the Committee for Arts.

Art and Queer Culture by Catherine Lord (Editor); Richard Meyer (Editor)
Call Number: Langson Library ; N72.H64 L67 2013

Publication Date: 2013-04-02

The first major historical survey to consider the ways in which the codes and cultures of homosexuality have provided a creative resource for visual artists. Attempts to trouble the conventions of gender and sexuality, to highlight the performative aspects of identity and to oppose the tyranny of the normal are all woven into the historical fabric of homosexuality and its representation.
Challenging Art: Artforum, 962-1974 by Amy Newman
Call Number: Langson Library ; N1.A8143 N49 2000

Publication Date: 2003

In 1962 the magazine Artforum, founded with the intention of challenging the East Coast art establishment, soon thereafter became the establishment', setting the terms by which art was to be judged.

A Library of Congress (LC) Call Number is like an address that tells you where a book lives on the library shelves. It’s made up of letters and numbers that group books by subject—so when you find one useful title, you can often discover more on similar artists, movements, or themes just by browsing nearby books in the same call number range.

LC Subject Ranges:

A - General Works
B - Philosophy, Psychology, Religion
C – History - Civilization
D - History – General (not U.S.)
E - U.S. History
F - U.S. Local History and Latin American History
G - Geography, Anthropology, Recreation
H - Social Sciences
J - Political Science
K - Law
L - Education
M - Music
N - Fine Arts
P - Language & Literature
Q - Science
R - Medicine
S - Agriculture
T - Technology
U - Military Science
V - Naval Science
Z - Information Science

N classification is for Fine Arts
NA = Architecture
NB = Sculpture
NC = Drawing / Design / Illustration
ND = Painting
NE = Print Media
NK = Decorative Arts
NX = Arts In General

These are all located on the 4th floor of the library! For a detailed overview of call numbers, click on the link below.

Library of Congress Class N Fine Arts

UC Irvine Special Collections & Archives Resources

New University
New University is the student newspaper of the University of California, Irvine. Issues from 1968-1983 were digitized from microfilm in 2007-2008. Issues from 1983-2003 were digitized from microfilm in 2015. Current and some back issues are available at http://www.newuniversity.org

Best Kept Secret :UCI and the development of contemporary art in Southern California, 1964-1971 by Grace Kook-Anderson; Peter Frank (Contribution by); Marilyn Nix; Cole Akers; Laguna Art Museum (Laguna Beach, Calif.) Staff (Contribution by)
Call Number: Langson Library Special Collections and Archives ; N6530.C22 S6854 2011 OC

Publication Date: 2011

Through first-hand interviews with the artists, collected ephemeral materials, early works from the artists of this time-period, the production of a short documentary, and the publication of a book, the overlooked activities that took place were recognized as an important moment in the emergence of contemporary art in Southern California.
A hotbed of advanced art : four decades of visual arts at UCI
Call Number: Langson Library Special Collections and Archives ; N6487.I7 H66 1997 University Archives

Publication Date: 1997

Exhibition from November 11-December 6, 1997 / curated by Dickran Tashjian.