Stephen Melville

While not specifically addressing the artwork of Hirsch Perlman, this lecture will present issues common to the artist’s work, implicating it in the process. These issues involve the broad representation and perception of meaning: reconstruction and deconstruction, the significance or insignificance of myth and tradition, or how subjectivity and context affect our perceptions and definitions of images and words. Mr. Melville has published critical essays in Artforum and October. He holds a BA in History and Philosophy of Religion and a PhD in Comparative Literature, both from the University of Chicago. He is currently Professor of English at Syracuse University.