Joshua Rutherford is an art historian, educator, and advocate for social change. His research focuses on Confederate Monuments and the performances surrounding their construction. He investigates the ways in which public demonstrations have affected the social acceptability of Confederate memorialization to better understand how structures of representation play a role in perpetuating systemic racism. His research in Art History privileges community reception, collective representation, and political activism using methodology rooted in performance studies, affect psychology, and media theory.
Equally well versed in other areas of Art History, Joshua has completed in depth research projects on topics ranging from ancient to contemporary: Fluxus, Marina Abramovic, Gerhard Richter, Daniel Spoerri, Joseph Beuys, Stelarc, Information Arts, Robert Smithson, Gutai, Roman Copies of Greek Originals, Queerness in Renaissance Art, Neolithic Japanese Art, Byzantine Icons, Renaissance Printmaking.
As an educator, Joshua is passionate about inclusion and strives to create a learning environment in which ideas can be discussed, challenged, and otherwise explored from multiple perspectives. He believes in learning through experience and strives to create projects that help students connect their personal work to the canon of art history.
Learn more at: https://joshuarusrex.com/
Conference presentations:
Procession: Black Representation, Precarity and Performance in the Reconstruction Period: https://youtu.be/
To Rally: Grievability, Dispossession, and Performativity in the history of Confederate Monuments: https://youtu.be/
Essay: Procession: Black Representation, Precarity, and Performance in the Reconstruction Period