Mitchell Herrmann

Mitchell Herrmann received his Ph.D. from Yale University, taught previously at Sarah Lawrence College, and was a research fellow at the Museum of Modern Art. He specializes in global modern and contemporary art with interests in ecology and the environment, aesthetic theory, decolonial theory, performance, Black diasporic art, conceptual art, and science and technology in art. Herrmann’s current book project examines contemporary artists working with living organisms, and his second book project analyzes the relation between global conceptualism and logistical technology. His work has been supported by the Mellon Foundation and the Newcombe Foundation.

Recent Courses Taught

Artists' Writings
Global Contemporary Art

Research Interests

Global modern and contemporary art, ecology and the environment, aesthetic theory, decolonial theory, performance, Black diasporic art, conceptualism, science and technology in art

Distinctions

• Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship (2025–26)
• Mellon Fellowship for Civic Engagement, Sarah Lawrence College (2025)
• Andrew W. Mellon Museum Research Consortium Fellowship, Museum of Modern Art (2023–24)
• Yale Graduate Impact Fellowship (awarded twice) (2022–23)
• Marshall Scholarship, United Kingdom (2016–18)
• Braunschweig PROJECTS Art Scholarship and Residency (2018)

Selected Publications

• (Forthcoming) “Keeping Time: Media, Music, and Black Temporality in Stan Douglas’s Early Work.” Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism.
• (Forthcoming) “‘Air become Spirit’: Joan Jonas's Elemental Media.” TDR: The Drama Review [Winner, 2025 TDR Essay Contest]
• “Plastic Flesh and the Biological Oeuvre.” October 191 (Winter 2025): 53-71
• “Unsound Phenomenologies: Harrison, Schaeffer and the sound object.” Organised Sound vol. 20, no. 3 (2015): 300-30

Appointed to the Faculty

2026

Educational Background

Ph.D., Yale University
M.A., Kingston University, U.K.
B.A./B.Mus., Oberlin College and Conservatory