معرفی
Sampada Aranke is an Associate Professor in Art History and Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University's College of Arts and Sciences. Her research bridges performance theories, visual culture, and Black cultural aesthetics, focusing on how artists and activists reframe death and resistance in Black Power era contexts. She has published widely in e-flux, Artforum, and October, and authored Death's Futurity, examining mortality's role in Black political imagery.
Her work engages with artists like David Hammons, Sadie Barnette, and Rashid Johnson, analyzing materiality, abjection, and spatial politics. Notable contributions include her 2021 Art Journal award-winning article on visual escapes in Black art practices.
Research themes span Afro-pessimist aesthetics, carceral studies, and anti-Black violence resistance through art. She explores how Black artists use abstraction, sculpture, and performance to challenge systemic oppression, emphasizing embodiment and radical visibility.
Her recent publications (2023-2025) focus on reinterpreting Hammons' work and Black geographies, while earlier work (2010-2017) addressed postcolonial identity and material culture critiques. Current interests include spatial politics and queer collaboration aesthetics.
- Scientific Awards: 2021 Art Journal Award
- Professional Contributions: Catalog essays for major Black artists, editorial roles in leading art journals
Her academic service includes curriculum development in comparative studies, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue between art history and cultural theory.
