Date of Award
Spring 4-30-1991
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Art & Art History
First Advisor
Wayne Dynes
Second Advisor
Ulku Bates
Academic Program Adviser
Ulku Bates
Abstract
William Olander, Senior Curator of The New Museum of Contemporary Art, was born July 14, 1950, and died of AIDS March 18, 1989. From his first curatorial project, a presentation of performance art in April 1980, and until his death, Olander's curatorial practice was based on theoretically formulated ideas that promoted active participation in culture with traditional and non-traditional mediums. He has been described as a "model museum curator" with some "very novel ideas."
This thesis traces Olander's early background and formal education in order to show the development of his approach to contemporary art within the institutional context of the museum and to delineate Olander's role as an activist curator and his understanding of postmodern culture and art.
Recommended Citation
Kurtz, Gayle Rodda, "William Olander The Practice of an Activist Curator" (1991). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/506
Comments
William Olander (1950-1989), Senior Curator of The New Museum.