Julian Adoff
PhD Candidate: Modern Art and Design of Central Europe
Pronouns: He/Him/His
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About
Julian Adoff is a Ph.D. Candidate in Art History at the University of Illinois at Chicago with a concentration in Central and Eastern European Studies. Julian maintains deeply intertwined research and studio practices. Julian is interested in challenging modes of thought surrounding the predominance of art historical methodologies that prioritize conceptions of art from a Western European point of view and challenge traditional center-periphery dichotomies. His research investigates Habsburg-born artists and their roles within the history of national identity creation in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Drawing on Critical Theory, Jewish Studies, and the History of Graphic Design, Julian aims to understand the roles of identity played in the formation of collective, nationalist consciousness. His research has been supported by the UIC Provost Graduate Research Award. He is the first dual degree student to graduate from Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2019, where he received an MA in Critical Studies and an MFA in Visual Studies. He received his BA in Studio Art and Visual Culture from Linfield College in May 2016. Julian’s studio practice explores the notion that research is a creative act, where he explores the Jewish mysticism inherently found within the history of critical theory and art history and tries to tease these out by searching within texts.
Selected Publications
In Progress: “Ugly and Out of Sight: Reconsidering the Irrational in Walter Benjamin’s Theory of Allegory.” Solicited by Brian Winkenweder and Tijen Tunali for their edited volume, Routledge Companion to Marxism(s) in Art History. (2024)
Service to Community
Chair of CAA's Students and Emerging Professionals Committee (2020-2022)
Education
MFA Visual Studies, Pacific Northwest College of Art, 2019
MA Critical Studies, Pacific Northwest College of Art, 2019
BA Studio Art, Linfield College, 2016