Professor Peter Osborne
Faculties, deparments and locations
- Kingston School of Art
- Department of Humanities
- School of Creative and Cultural Industries
- Penrhyn Road
Director of the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy
- Email:
- p.osborne@kingston.ac.uk
About
I studied Philosophy and Economics at the University of Bristol in the late 1970s and took an MA and a DPhil in Philosophy at the University of Sussex (The Carnival of Philosophy: Philosophy, Politics and Positive Science in Hegel and Marx.)
From 1992 to 2010, I taught post-Kantian Philosophy and Art Theory at Middlesex University, mainly to postgraduates. In 1995, I founded the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP). In the summer of 2010, I moved to Kingston with three of my colleagues in the CRMEP, where I taught postgraduate programmes and PhD students. From 1983 to 2016, I was an editor of the journal Radical Philosophy.
I have held Visiting professorships at the University of Paris-8 (2012, 2014, 2019), The Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm (2015) and Yale School of Art (2017).
Qualifications
- BSc in Philosophy and Economics (Bristol)
- MA in Philosophy (Sussex)
- DPhil in Philosophy (Sussex)
Domains
Courses taught
My research interests are in Philosophies of Time, History and Experience; Philosophy of Art: historical ontology of the artwork, philosophical criticism, postconceptual art and global comparativism; Transdisciplinarity in the arts and humanities; Frankfurt Critical Theory: Benjamin and Adorno; Modern European Philosophy: Kant, Hegel, Marx, Heidegger.
My most recent book is Crisis as Form, which appeared from Verso in September 2022. I am currently working on a monograph that rereads Marx's Capital from the standpoint of post-Kantian European Philosophy, focusing on its articulation of various categories of time and the subject. I am also developing a grant project on the Historical Ontology of Contemporary Art.
Publications
Afterlives : transcendentals, universals, others
(2022). Kingston upon Thames, U.K.: (CRMEP BOOKS)
Crisis as form
Osborne, Peter (2022). London U.K.: (Verso)
Thinking art : materialisms, labours, forms
(2020). Kingston upon Thames, U.K.: (CRMEP Books)
Capitalism : concept, idea, image : aspects of Marx's 'Capital' today
(2019). Kingston, U.K.: (CRMEP Books)
The postconceptual condition : critical essays
Osborne, Peter (2018). London, U.K.: (Verso Books)
Anywhere or not at all: the philosophy of contemporary art
Osborne, Peter (2013). London, U.K.: (Verso)
Spheres of action: art and politics
(2013). London, U.K.: (MIT Press)
The state of things
(2012). Oslo, Norway: (Office for Contemporary Art Norway)
El arte mas alla de la estetica: ensayos filosoficos sobre el arte contemporaneo
Osborne, Peter (2010). Murcia, Spain: (CENDEAC)
ISMS: recuperating political radicality in contemporary art 2. Populism and genre
(2008). Oslo, Norway: (Office for Contemporary Art Norway)
ISMS: recuperating political radicality in contemporary art 1. Constructing the political in contemporary art
(2007). Oslo, Norway: (Office for Contemporary Art Norway)
Art of welfare
(2006). Oslo, Norway: (Office for Contemporary Art Norway)
How to read Marx
Osborne, Peter (2005). London, U.K.: (Granta)
Walter Benjamin: critical evaluations in cultural theory
(2004). London, U.K.: (Routledge)
Conceptual art
(2002). London, U.K.: (Phaidon)
Philosophies of race and ethnicity
(2002). London, U.K.: (Continuum)
From an aesthetic point of view: philosophy, art and the senses
(2000). London, U.K.: (Serpent's Tail)
Philosophy in cultural theory
Osborne, Peter (2000). London, U.K.: (Routledge)
The politics of time: modernity and avant-garde
Osborne, Peter (1995). London, U.K.: (Verso Books)
Interesting art
Osborne, Peter, 2024, New Left Review, 150, pp 156-168
The planet as political subject?
Osborne, Peter, 2024, New Left Review (145)
[Contribution to the symposium] What is radical?
Osborne, Peter, 2022, ArtMargins (10), 3, pp 72-74
Ilusoes de totalidade : a contemporaneidade global e a condicao do museu = Illusions of totality : global contemporaneity and the condition of the museum
Osborne, Peter, 2018, MODOS - Historia da Arte (2), 3, pp 91-100
Redemption through discourse?
Osborne, Peter, 2017, New Left Review (108)
Die Idee der postkonzeptuellen Kunst (und Musik) = The idea of postconceptual art (and music)
Osborne, Peter, 2016, MusikTexte : Schriften fur neue Musik, 151
Arte contemporanea e arte pos-conceitual
Osborne, Peter, 2016, Poiesis (17), 27, pp 39-54
Introduction
Osborne, Peter, 2016, Radical Philosophy, 196, pp 6-8
The Kabakov effect : 'Moscow conceptualism' in the history of contemporary art
Osborne, Peter, 2016, Afterall : a journal of art, context and enquiry, 42
Gillian Rose and Marxism
Osborne, Peter, 2015, Telos (2015), 173, pp 55-67
El archivo como vida después de la vida [Archive as Afterlife]
Osborne, Peter, 2015, Concreta, 6, pp 38-49
Problematizing disciplinarity, transdisciplinary problematics
Osborne, Peter, 2015, (32), 5-6, pp 3-35
The distributed image = Das Verteilte Bild
Osborne, Peter, 2015, Texte zur Kunst, 99, pp 74-87
Futures Present: Lite, Dark and Missing
Osborne, Peter, 2015, Radical Philosophy, 191, pp 39-46
Out of sync: Tomba’s Marx and the problem of a multi-layered temporal dialectic
Osborne, Peter, 2015, Historical Materialism (23), 4, pp 39-48
'Art' versus 'Image'?
Osborne, Peter, 2014, Texte zur Kunst, 95, pp 52-55
The postconceptual condition, or, the cultural logic of high capitalism today
Osborne, Peter, 2014, Radical philosophy, 184, pp 19-27
More than everything: Zizek’s Badiouian Hegel
Osborne, Peter, 2013, Radical Philosophy, 177, pp 19-25
Temporalization as transcendental aesthetics: avant-garde, modern, contemporary
Osborne, Peter, 2013, Nordic Journal of Aesthetics (23), 44-45
Guattareuze? (Book Review of: Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari: intersecting lives by Francois Dosse)
Osborne, Peter, 2011, New Left Review, 69, pp 139-151
Walter Benjamin
Osborne, Peter and Charles, Matthew, 2011, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring)
Infinite exchange: the social ontology of the photographic image.
Osborne, Peter, 2010, Philosophy of Photography (1), 1, pp 59-68
A sudden topicality: Marx, Nietzsche and the politics of crisis
Osborne, Peter, 2010, Radical philosophy, 160, pp 19-26
An image of romanticism - fragment and project: from Schlegel's 'Athenaeum Fragments' to LeWitt's 'Sentences on Conceptual Art'
Osborne, Peter, 2009, Verksted #11: Sol LeWitt's 'Sentences on Conceptual Art': manuscript and draft materials 1968-69., pp 5-27
Art after photography, after conceptual art
Osborne, Peter, 2008, Radical philosophy, 150, pp 36-51
Marx and the philosophy of time
Osborne, Peter, 2008, Radical philosophy, 147, pp 15-22
Living with contradictions: the resignation of Chris Gilbert and the presentation of politics in recent curatorial practice
Osborne, Peter, 2007, Afterall (16), pp 108-113
Ou est l'oeuvre d’art? l’art, l’architecture et l’espace de l’oeuvre post-conceptuelle
Osborne, Peter, 2007, Multitudes (HS1), pp 87-112
Neo-classic: Alain Badiou's Being and Event
Osborne, Peter, 2007, Radical philosophy, 142, pp 19-29
Imaginary radicalisms: notes on the libertarianism of contemporary art
Osborne, Peter, 2007, Verksted #8: ISMS: recuperating political radicality in contemporary art: I. constructing the political in contemporary art, pp 9-35
The dreambird of experience: Utopia, possibility, boredom
Osborne, Peter, 2006, Radical philosophy, 137, pp 36-44
Whoever speaks of culture speaks of administration as well
Osborne, Peter, 2006, Cultural Studies (20), 1, pp 33-47
Elmgreen and Dragset's the Welfare Show: a historical perspective
Osborne, Peter, 2006, Verksted #7: Art of welfare, pp 19-40
On comparability: Kant and the possibility of comparative studies
Osborne, Peter, 2005, Boundary 2 (32), 2, pp 3-22
Art beyond aesthetics: philosophical criticism, art history and contemporary art
Osborne, Peter, 2004, Art History (27), 4, pp 651-670
The reproach of abstraction
Osborne, Peter, 2004, Radical philosophy, 127, pp 21-28
Interpreting the world - September 11, cultural criticism and the intellectual Left
Osborne, Peter, 2003, Radical philosophy, 117, pp 2-12
Images abstraites. Signe, image et l'esthetique dans la peinture de Gerhard Richter
Osborne, Peter, 2001, La Part de l'Oeil (17/18), pp 228-239
Non-places and the spaces of art
Osborne, Peter, 2001, The Journal of Architecture (6), 2, pp 183-194
Modernism as translation
Osborne, Peter, 2001, Traces: a multilingual series of cultural theory and translation (1), pp 319-329
Review article: Installation, performance, or what?
Osborne, Peter, 2001, Oxford Art Journal (24), 2, pp 147-154
Radicalism and philosophy
Osborne, Peter, 2000, Radical philosophy, 103, pp 6-11
The other within: rethinking psychoanalysis
Osborne, Peter and Fletcher, John, 2000, Radical philosophy, 102, pp 31-41
Remember the future? The Communist Manifesto as historical and cultural form
Osborne, Peter, 1998, Socialist Register (34), pp 190-204
Times (modern), modernity (conservative): notes on the persistence of a temporal motif
Osborne, Peter, 1996, New Formations: a journal of culture/theory/politics, 28, pp 132-141
Tactics, ethics, or temporality? Heidegger's politics reviewed
Osborne, Peter, 1995, Radical philosophy, 70, pp 16-28
The politics of time
Osborne, Peter, 1994, Radical philosophy, 68, pp 3-9
A Marxism for the postmodern? Jameson's Adorno
Osborne, Peter, 1992, New German Critique, 56, pp 171-192
Modernity is a qualitative, not a chronological, category
Osborne, Peter, 1992, New Left Review (I/192), pp 65-84
Knowledge, truth, history : contemporary art and the problem of art-historical periodisation
Osborne, Peter (2023). In: Fox, James, (eds.) and Simonti, Vid, (eds.), Art and knowledge after 1900 : interactions between modern art and thought. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press, pp 111-130
No going back – but not forward to there either : once more on art and/as research
Osborne, Peter (2021). In: Slager, Henk, (eds.) and Balkema, Annette W., (eds.), The Postresearch Condition. Utrecht, The Netherlands: Metropolis Books
Imperial Hangover : a conversation between Roger M. Buergel and Peter Osborne
Osborne, Peter and Buergel, Roger M. (2020). In: Amanshauser, Hildegund, (eds.) and Bradley, Kimberly, (eds.), Navigating the Planetary : a guide to the planetary art world—its past, present, and potentials. Vienna, Austria: Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts; Verlag für Moderne Kunst, pp 191-204
Adorno and Marx
Osborne, Peter (2020). In: Gordon, Peter E., (eds.), Hammer, Espen, (eds.) and Pensky, Max, (eds.), A companion to Adorno. Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell, pp 303-319
Notes on form
Osborne, Peter (2020). In: Osborne, Peter, (ed.), Thinking art : materialisms, labours, forms. Kingston upon Thames, U.K.: CRMEP Books, pp 159-179
Osovremenivayaklassiku / klassitsiziruyasovremennost = Contemporizing the classical / classicizing the contemporary
Osborne, Peter (2019). In: Grachikova, Julia, (eds.), Shishko, Olga, (eds.) and Yuzhakova, Elizaveta, (eds.), Klassika i sovryemyennost : otrazhyeniya = Classics and contemporary : reflections. Moscow, Russia: Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, pp 18-23
Working the contemporary : history as a project of crisis, today
Osborne, Peter (2019). In: de Assis, Paulo, (eds.) and Schwab, Michael, (eds.), Futures of the contemporary : contemporaneity, untimeliness and artistic research. Leuven, Belgium: Leuven University Press, pp 135-146
The exhibition-form and the space-time of the artwork: a retroactive ontology. A conversation with Peter Osborne
Osborne, Peter (2019). In: Garcia, Tristan, (eds.) and Normand, Vincent, (eds.), Theater, garden, bestiary: a materialist history of exhibitions. Berlin, Germany: Sternberg Press and ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, pp 269-277
The image is the subject: once more on the temporalities of image and act
Osborne, Peter (2019). In: Goerling, Reinhold, (eds.), Gronau, Barbara, (eds.) and Schwarte, Ludger, (eds.), Aesthetics of standstill. Berlin, Germany: Sternberg, pp 124-137
Capitalism : concept, idea, image
Osborne, Peter (2019). In: Osborne, Peter, (eds.), Alliez, Éric, (eds.) and Russell, Eric-John, (eds.), Capitalism : concept, idea, image - aspects of Marx's 'Capital' today. Kingston, U.K.: CRMEP Books, pp 3-18
Anachronismo Feliz : Luis Camnitzer, Arte Conceptual y Politica = Happy anachronism : Luis Camnitzer, conceptual art and politics
Osborne, Peter (2018). In: Pinteno, Alicia, (ed.), Luis Camnitzer : Hospicio de Utopias Fallidas. Madrid, Spain: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, pp 46-73
Dialectics of taste and non-taste : archive as afterlife and life of art
Osborne, Peter (2018). In: Quinn, Malcolm, (eds.), Beech, David, (eds.), Lehnert, Michael, (eds.), Tulloch, Carol, (eds.) and Wilson, Stephen, (eds.), The persistence of taste : art, museums and everyday life after Bourdieu. Abingdon, U.K.: Routledge, pp 49-62
Every other year is always this year: contemporaneity and the biennial form
Osborne, Peter (2015). In: Esche, Charles, (eds.), Eilat, Galit, (eds.), Enguita Mayo, Nuria, (eds.), Lafuente, Pablo, (eds.), Proenca, Luiza, (eds.), Sagiv, Oren, (eds.) and Seroussi, Benjamin, (eds.), Making Biennials in Contemporary Times: Essays from the World Biennial Forum No. 2. São Paulo, Brazil: Biennial Foundation, Bienal de São Paulo Foundation and, pp 15-27
Dialectical ontology of art: Xavier Le Roy's “Retrospective” in/as contemporary art
Osborne, Peter (2014). In: Cvejic, Bojana, (ed.), 'Retrospective' by Xavier Le Roy. Paris, France: Les Presses Du Reel, pp 103-111
Illusions of totality: global contemporaneity and the condition of the museum
Osborne, Peter (2014). In: Muzyczuk, Daniel, (eds.) and Polit, Pawel, (eds.), Constellations: Art and the experiences of modernity. Lodz, Poland: Muzeum Sztuki, pp 426-443
Purely financial. Question de philosophie
Alliez, Eric and Osborne, Peter (2014). In: Cassin, Barbara, (ed.), Derrière les grilles: Sortons du tout-évaluation. Paris, France: Mille et une Nuits, pp 43-64
The rhetoric of display
Osborne, Peter (2014). In: Deliss, Clémentine, (eds.) and Yvette, Mutumba, (eds.), Foreign Exchange (or the stories you wouldn't tell a stranger). Zurich, Switzerland: Diaphanes, pp 167-200
October and the problem of formalism
Osborne, Peter (2013). In: Lejeune, Anael, (eds.), Mignon, Olivier, (eds.) and Pirenne, Raphael, (eds.), French Theory and American Art. Brussels, Belgium:, pp 180-195
Abstrakte Bilder: Zeichen, Abbild und Asthetik in Gerhard Richters Malerei
Osborne, Peter (2011). In: Elger, Dietmar, (eds.) and Kuster, Kerstin, (eds.), Gerhard Richter: Fotographie und Malerei – Malerei als Fotographie: Acht Texte zu Gerhard Richters Medienstrategie. Koln, Germany: Walther Konig, pp 161-175
Expecting the unexpected: beyond the 'horizon of expectation'
Osborne, Peter (2011). In: Hlavajova, Maria, (eds.), Sheikh, Simon, (eds.) and Winder, Jill, (eds.), On Horizons: A Critical Reader in Contemporary Art. Utrecht, Netherlands: BAK, pp 112-128
An Interminable Avalanche of Categories: Medium, Concept and Abstraction in the work of Robert Smithson [or Against "Sculpture"]
Osborne, Peter (2011). In: Gaitan, Juan A., (eds.), Schafhausen, Nicolaus, (eds.) and Szewczyk, Monika, (eds.), Cornerstones. Berlin, Germany: Sternberg Press, pp 132-151
(Jeff Wall and...) Conceptual art
Osborne, Peter (2011). In: De Wolf, Hans, (ed.), Jeff Wall: the crooked path. Brussels, Belgium: Bozar Books, pp 138
Malerei der Negation: Gerhard Richters Negative
Osborne, Peter (2011). In: Elger, Dietmar, (eds.) and Kuster, Kerstin, (eds.), Gerhard Richter: Fotographie und Malerei – Malerei als Fotographie: Acht Texte zu Gerhard Richters Medienstrategie. Koln, Germany: Walther Konig, pp 148-160
Philosophy after theory: transdisciplinarity and the new
Osborne, Peter (2011). In: Elliott, Jane, (eds.) and Attridge, Derek, (eds.), Theory after 'theory'. Abingdon, U.K.: Routledge, pp 19-33
Yardsticks: when will the postwar end?
Osborne, Peter (2011). Santiago de Compostella, Spain: Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Xunta de Galicia, pp 33-39
The fiction of the contemporary: speculative collectivity and transnationalism in The Atlas Group
Osborne, Peter (2011). In: Avanessian, Armen, (eds.) and Skrebowski, Luke, (eds.), Aesthetics and contemporary art. Berlin, Germany: Sternberg Press, pp 101-123
Modernism and philosophy
Osborne, Peter (2010). In: Brooker, Peter, (eds.), Gasiorek, Andrzej, (eds.), Longworth, Deborah, (eds.) and Thacker, Andrew, (eds.), The Oxford handbook of modernisms. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, pp 388-409
'The truth will be known when the last witness is dead': art as evidence, or, history not memory
Osborne, Peter (2010). In: Merewether, Charles, (eds.) and Potts, John, (eds.), After the event: new perspectives on art history. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press
Abstract images: sign, image and aesthetic in Gerhard Richter's painting
Osborne, Peter (2009). In: Buchloh, Benjamin H. D., (ed.), Gerhard Richter. London, U.K.: MIT Press, pp 95-112
Modernisms and mediations
Osborne, Peter (2009). In: Halsall, Francis, (eds.), Jansen, Julia Alejandra, (eds.) and O'Connor, Tony, (eds.), Rediscovering aesthetics: transdisciplinary voices from art history, philosophy, and art practice. Stanford, U.S.A.: Stanford University Press, pp 163-177
Occasionalism
Osborne, Peter (2009). In: Faldbakken, Matias, (ed.), Matias Faldbakken: shocked into abstraction. Birmingham, U.K.: Ikon Gallery Ltd., pp 44-71
Starting up all over again: time and existence in some conceptual art of the 1960s
Osborne, Peter (2009). In: Eleey, Peter, (ed.), The quick and the dead. Minneapolis, U.S.A.: Walker Art Center, pp 91-106
Philosophy and contemporary art after Adorno and Deleuze: an exchange
Osborne, Peter and Alliez, Eric (2008). In: Garnett, Robert, (eds.) and Hunt, Andrew, (eds.), Gest: laboratory of synthesis #1. London, U.K.: Book Works, pp 35-64
Uberstezung: zwishen philosophie und kulturtheorie
Osborne, Peter and Buden, Boris (2008). In: Buden, Boris, (eds.) and Nowotny, Stefan, (eds.), Uberstezung: das versprechen eines begriffs. Vienna, Austria: Verlag Turia + Kant, pp 185-196
Where is the work of art?
Osborne, Peter (2007). In: Whittaker, E., (eds.) and Landrum, A., (eds.), Nonsite to celebration park: essays on art and the politics of space. Bath, U.K.: Bath Spa University, pp 13-32
The power of assembly: art, world, industry
Osborne, Peter (2006). In: Merewether, Charles, (ed.), Zones of Contact: 2006 Biennale of Sydney. Sydney, Australia: Biennale of Sydney, pp 125-128
Art as displaced urbanism: notes on a new constructivism of the exhibition form
Osborne, Peter (2004). In: Kuzma, Marta, (eds.) and Gioni, Massimiliano, (eds.), With all due intent: Manifesta 5 : European biennial of contemporary art. Spain: Actar, pp 64-77
Distracted reception: time, art, and technology
Osborne, Peter (2004). In: Morgan, Jessica, (eds.) and Muir, Gregor, (eds.), Time zones: recent film and video. London, U.K.: Tate Publishing, pp 66-75
Photography in an expanding field: distributive unity and dominant form
Osborne, Peter (2003). In: Green, David, (ed.), Where is the photograph?. Maidstone, U.K.: Photoworks, pp 63-70
Versuche der Vergangenheit einzuholen. Konservative Modernitat und regressive Modernisierung in Grossbritannien
Osborne, Peter (2003). In: Kurnumaki, Jussi, (eds.) and Polenen, Kari, (eds.), Zeit, Geschichte und Politik: Zum achtzigsten Geburstag von Reinhart Koselleck. Jyvaskyla, Finland: University of Jyvaskyla, pp 199-211
Everywhere, or not at all: Victor Burgin and conceptual art
Osborne, Peter (2002). In: Roberts, Catsou, (ed.), Relocating: Victor Burgin. Bristol, U.K.: Arnolfini, pp 62-75
Greedy Kunst
Osborne, Peter (2002). In: Merck, Mandy, (eds.) and Townsend, Chris, (eds.), The art of Tracey Emin. London, U.K.: Thames and Hudson, pp 40-59
Introduction: philosophies of race and ethnicity
Sandford, Stella and Osborne, Peter (2002). In: Sandford, Stella, (eds.) and Osborne, Peter, (eds.), Philosophies of Race and Ethnicity. London, U.K.: Continuum, pp 1-9
Introduction: From an aesthetic point of view
Osborne, Peter (2000). In: Osborne, Peter, (ed.), From an aesthetic point of view: philosophy, art and the senses. London, U.K.: Serpent's Tail, pp 1-10
Conceptual art and/as philosophy
Osborne, Peter (1999). In: Newman, Michael, (eds.) and Bird, Jon, (eds.), Rewriting conceptual art. London, U.K.: Reaktion Books, pp 47-65
Introduction: Transdiciplinarity
Osborne, Peter(2010). In: From structure to rhizome: transdisciplinarity in French thought, 1945-the present: histories, concepts, constructions, 16 - 17 Apr 2010 :London, U.K.
"It is necessary to be absolutely modern": Adorno's categorical imperative of philosophy
Osborne, Peter(2008). In: Fourth Annual Joint Conference of the Society for European Philosophy and the Forum for European Philosophy, 29 - 31 Aug 2008 :Dublin, Ireland