Faculty Books
Victor Manuel Espinosa
VictorEspinosa2008@u.northwestern.edu
Advisor: Fine
Areas of Interest
Sociology of Art and Visual Culture; Outsider Art and Artistic Singularity; Latin American and Latina/o Art; Transnational Migration and Cultural Change; Ethnography and Qualitative Methodologies
Current Research
My dissertation, titled Framing Martín Ramírez and the Van Gogh Effect: The invention of Outsider Art and the Reproduction of a Singularity Regime, is an in-depth historical case study that examines the reception of Martín Ramírez (1895-1963), a Mexican immigrant and psychiatric patient who produced a large body of artwork while secluded in two California psychiatric institutions (1931-1963). Specifically, my research analyzes the actors and discourses crucial to understanding how a working-class Mexican immigrant without credentials came to be defined as the “perfect paradigm of Outsider Art,” recently hailed by New York art critics as “simply one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.” More broadly, I use Ramírez’s case to study the emergence and reproduction of the regimes of value that explain the process of construction of artistic singularity, the search for cultural authenticity, and the negotiation of boundaries and hierarchies in the contemporary art world. My research presents thick description of this paradigmatic case though information collected in archives, participant observation, and interviews with dealers, collectors, art critics, and curators. I trace a wide variety of discourses produced since the 1950s in order to analyze the construction of his visual production and life as a mystery; the deployment of that mystery to reproduce the notion of genius; and the appropriation of his artwork by mainstream art institutions.
Awards/Honors
2010, Dissertation Fellowship Honorable Mention. Ford Foundation and the National Research Council of the National Academies
2009, Sociology Research Fellowship. Department of Sociology, Northwestern University
2007, Robert F. Winch Memorial Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Lecturer. Department of Sociology. Northwestern University
2005, Fellow, Smithsonian Institute for the Interpretation and Representation of Latino Cultures
2004, MacArthur Summer Research Grant
William Henry Exum Award
The intent of this prize is to honor the memory of William Henry Exum, a member of the Department of Sociology and the African American Studies Department, who died in 1986 at the age of 37. Exum was concerned with the quality of writing and research analysis in student papers. He was also interested in racial problems facing minority youths in higher education. This award was established as a means of continuing his goals of breaking barriers for all minorities.
The award submission deadline is April 27, 2012. All interested students should submit a 15-20 page paper, typed and double-spaced, on a topic dealing with race and ethnicity. Students are not limited to a sociological approach in preparing their submissions, nor is the award limited to sociology or social science majors.
The paper should include a cover sheet with the student's name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, year in school, and major.
Three copies of the essay must be submitted by the announced deadline to the Exum Award - Department of Sociology, 1810 Chicago Ave., Evanston Campus or one copy by email to sociol@northwestern.edu.
This award is open to all undergraduate students from all disciplines.
Upcoming Events
COLLOQUIUM: Aldon Morris, Sociology, Northwestern University
May 24, 2012 • 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
