Alex Jovanovich
| Alex Jovanovich | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 (age 50–51) Hobart, Indiana, U.S. |
| 🏫 Education | School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA, 2003) |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | |
Search Alex Jovanovich on Amazon.
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]
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]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Whitney Biennial 2014: Alex Jovanovich". Whitney Museum of American Art. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Alex Jovanovich, Editor". Artforum. December 30, 2024. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Comer, Stuart; Elms, Anthony; Grabner, Michelle (2014). Whitney Biennial 2014. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art. pp. 357–358. ISBN 978-0-300-19687-0. Search this book on
- ↑ "FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art Opens". School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Foumberg, Jason (2013). "Alex Jovanovich at Adds Donna". Artforum. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Saunders, Heather (April 17, 2018). "Alex Jovanovich: The Artist's Contemplative Work Is a Match for the Museum's Library". Cleveland Museum of Art. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Arango, Jorge S. (July 7, 2024). "More Summer Art Shows to See". Portland Press Herald. Portland, Maine. p. E.5.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Baker, R.C. (December 18, 2025). "Two Artists Ask: How Abject Do You Wanna Get?". The Village Voice. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Thompson, Michael (June 2015). "The 2014 Whitney Biennial: The Book as a Medium in Contemporary American Art". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 109 (2): 147–192. doi:10.1086/681814. JSTOR 10.1086/681814.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Museum of Arts and Design Hosts Series Examining the Role of Objects in Contemporary Performance". Museum of Arts and Design. March 25, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
- ↑ Greenberger, Alex (July 20, 2017). "Artist List Revealed for First FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art". ARTnews. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
- ↑ "David Carrino & Alex Jovanovich: Actual Queers Kissing!". Elliott Templeton Fine Arts. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Jovanovich, Alex (April 2020). "Clarity Haynes". Artforum. Vol. 58 no. 8.
This is a general yet reasonably accurate description of an obese, middle-aged physique—one that belongs to me, a gay man.
- ↑ "Interpreting Andy Warhol with Alex Jovanovich". Artforum. July 14, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
External links
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