Alex Jovanovich
American artist and editor (born 1975)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alex Jovanovich is an American artist and senior editor at Artforum.[1][2] He works in drawing, writing, and 35mm slide projection, and his work has exhibited at such institutions as the Whitney Biennial.[3]
Alex Jovanovich | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 (age 50–51) Hobart, Indiana, U.S. |
| Education | School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA, 2003) |
| Known for | |
Early life and education
Jovanovich was born in 1975 in Hobart, Indiana.[1] He received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003.[4]
Career
Visual art
Jovanovich works primarily in 35 mm slide projection and drawing, in black-and-white, to address themes of love, spirituality, melancholy, and mourning.[1][5][6] His drawings include his hand-lettered text amid disembodied human orifices, flowers, and leather straps.[5]
He uses text in his work, both writing his own words and pulling from public-domain sources, including the Bible.[1][6] Some works incorporate domestic objects such as cufflinks and diaper pins, which Jovanovich described as being blessed by a witch.[7]
Critical reception
An Artforum review of Jovanovich's 2013 exhibition likened his work to a hypothetical collaboration between Christina Ramberg and Lee Bontecou, and noted how "shockingly sensitive" it is.[5] His drawings have been described as "obsessively drawn works in ink and graphite reminiscent of some occult manual."[7] The Village Voice noted the contrast between the name of a 2025 piece (I Fucked Your Dad Then Slit His Throat (WHITE FECES/SCUM CUNT)) and the "sheer graphic delight" of "delicately wrought fields of pencil lines complementing bold black ink designs".[8]
Jovanovich's use of words in his art and skill as a writer were among the reasons he was selected for inclusion in the Whitney Biennial, part of curator Anthony Elms's stated goal to make the exhibition "a literary event."[9]
Selected exhibitions
- 2013: "Some Poor Girls," Adds Donna, Chicago[5]
- 2014: Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; curated by Stuart Comer, Anthony Elms, and Michelle Grabner[3][9]
- 2015: "Making a Scene: Objects for Performance," Museum of Arts and Design, New York[10]
- 2018: FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, Cleveland Museum of Art; curated by Michelle Grabner and Jens Hoffmann[11][6]
- 2024: "If You Lived Here You Would...," Gingerbread House, Norway, Maine; with Valerie Hegarty, Adam Payne, and Michelle Grabner[7]
- 2025–2026: "Actual Queers Kissing!" Elliott Templeton Fine Arts, New York; with David Carrino[8][12]
Art criticism
Jovanovich is a senior editor at Artforum, where he contributes exhibition reviews, artist profiles, and art criticism.[2] His writing includes profiles of such artists as Brigid Berlin, John Currin, Clarity Haynes, Gerard Malanga, and Peter McGough; and reviews of exhibitions at such museums as MassMOCA, SFMOMA, Tate Modern, and the Whitney, and such independent galleries as Gagosian, Invisible-Exports, Matthew Marks, and Pace.[2][13]
Personal life
Jovanovich is of Serbian Orthodox heritage.[10] He lives and works in the Bronx.[1]
He is openly gay.[13] At age 10, Jovanovich saw Andy Warhol on The Love Boat and has described it as a formative experience, saying he saw in Warhol "something of myself" and "some glimmer of hope for a future."[14]