Saul Ostrow is an art critic and Associate Professor of Visual Arts and Technologies at The Cleveland Institute of Art[1] Trained as an artist, he is best known as a critic and curator, having curated over 80 exhibitions.
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Ostrow attended the High School of Art and Design (NYC), upon graduation he attended the School of Visual Arts (NYC) for four years. He then went on to receive his M.F.A from The University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has taught at Pratt Institute, Syracuse University, The School of the Visual Arts and was acting head of MFA studio program at New York University and Director of the Center for Visual Art and Culture at The University of Connecticut.
Since 1987, he has curated over 80 exhibitions in the US and abroad. Recently he curated the exhibition "Modeling the Photographic: The Ends of Photography" for the McDonough Museum of Art located in Youngstown, Ohio. This show examined the impact of digital art on current art practice and included internationally recognized artists such as:James Welling, Barbara Probst, Fabian Marcaccio, Joseph Nechvatal, Curtis Mitchell, Matthew Buckingham and Penny Umbrico.
Mr. Ostrow is the editor of the book series "Critical Voices in Art, Theory and Culture" published by Routledge London and is the Art Editor for Bomb Magazine. (At one point, he was Co-Editor of Lusitania Press- acting from 1996-12004.) [2]
His writings have appeared in innumerable art magazines, journals, catalogues and books in the USA and Europe. He also supplies reviews regularly for Art in America. His essay; "Criticism as an Exemplary Supplement or Politics1 Phantom Limb (for JD)" appeared in "States of Criticism" - a book edited by James Elkins.
In a 2011 interview with Brian Sherwin for FineArtViews, Ostrow declared that art criticism is important because it helps to establish the concept of the "collective self". Ostrow suggested that criticism is important because it helps to address the "contradictions and dichotomies inherent in our social and cultural lives". In the interview Ostrow shared his experience as Art Editor for Bomb Magazine and his insight into the "changing landscape" of art criticism due to the advent of the Internet and art blogs. When asked about sexism, ageism, and racism within the contemporary art world Ostrow suggested that all three exist because all three exist in larger society. [3]