Biography

I am an art historian of modern and contemporary art, with a particular interest in politics, digital media, and questions of subjectivity. I have MAs from The University of Edinburgh and The Courtauld Institute of Art, and a PhD from University College London. Before joining the department I taught art history at the University of Warwick and Northeastern University London. 

Research

Ivan's research project at York, ‘Relating Objects: Sculpture and Trumpism’, focusses on the ways in which contemporary artists have investigated the relations between digital media, social polarisation, and far-right populism. Addressing a notable gap in art historical scholarship, my work examines why sculpture has proven the medium most amenable to artists protesting Trumpism and in what ways this work illuminates how sculptors have responded to an increasingly dematerialized image culture. Focussing on a group of artists working in a North American context, I argue that materiality, masculinity, and the monument are crucial nodal points for understanding important shifts in recent sculptural practice.

Publications

• ‘That Monster’, in Cases of Citations: On Literature in Art, ed. by Chloe Julius and Michael Green, Manchester: Manchester University Press (2024), pp. 54-65.
• ‘That Monster Over There: Silvia Kolbowski, Trump, and Allegory’, Art History, volume 46, number 4, September 2023.
• ‘Undercover of the Shield: Mary Kelly's Gloria Patri and negative narcissism’, Third Text, 186, vol 37, issue 5, September 2023.
• ‘On Meme-work’, October, vol. 183, Winter 2023, pp. 3-16.