“Adam Pendleton: To Divide By,” an exhibition catalog released by WashU’s Kemper Art Museum and distributed through the University of Chicago Press, has been recognized as the top monograph of 2024 by the Midwest Art History Society (MAHS).

The accolade was revealed during the society’s Outstanding Catalog Awards event, which took place in Denver on April 4 as part of the annual MAHS members gathering. “This publication offers significant theoretical context alongside meticulous attention to the specifics of the artist and his oeuvre,” remarked MAHS secretary and catalog committee member Erica Warren. “The design of the book also aligns effectively with the artwork and interpretive material.”

Kemper Art Museum curator Meredith Malone oversaw the editing of the monograph and coordinated the exhibition of the same title, which examined Pendleton’s pursuit of fostering dialogue between mediums and his conviction that abstraction holds the power to unsettle and disrupt. Malone also contributed one of three major essays, collaborating with contributors Joshua Chambers-Letson, a professor of performance studies and Asian American studies at Northwestern University, and critic Hal Foster, co-editor of the journal October and professor of art and archaeology at Princeton.

Included as well are a dialogue between Pendleton and critic Isabelle Graw and the full transcripts, presented here for the first time, of two film portraits created by Pendleton. David Wise from Forthcoming Studio designed the publication.

Established in 1973, the MAHS unites academic, museum-based, and independent art historians with the shared objective of scholarly exploration and the sharing of ideas. To learn more about the society, visit mahsonline.org. For additional details about the catalog, check out press.uchicago.edu. For more information regarding the Kemper Art Museum, go to kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu.

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