Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, a Los Angeles-based art critic and journalist, writes about art, design and architecture.
Writings
Her book, Rebels in Paradise: The Los Angeles Art Scene and the 1960s, was published in 2011 by Henry Holt and Company and was on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list in the non-fiction category for twelve weeks. Also, it was chosen by the Los Angeles Public Library Association as one of the best books of 2011. In 2015, she was honored in the library’s “Literary Feast” benefit.
In 2022, she won an Emmy for producing and hosting the KCET Artbound documentary “Duchamp Comes to Pasadena,” which was based on her book Rebels in Paradise. It was produced by Artifact Studios.
Since the book’s publication, she has appeared in many venues talking about Los Angeles art and the 1960s including the 2018 Critical Dialogue program at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado.
Her first book, Full Bloom: The Art and Life of Georgia O’Keeffe, (W.W. Norton, 2004) was described by the New York Times as “the most definitive biography of the artist” to date, She has lectured frequently on O’Keeffe.
She consulted and appeared in Georgia O’Keeffe, the documentary released by Peter Jones Productions. As guest curator, she organized “Bridges and Waterfalls: Georgia O’Keeffe in Hawaii” at the Honolulu Art Museum in 2006.
Drohojowska-Philp has written the texts for many monographs include Modernism Rediscovered, the three-volume set of architectural photographs by Julius Shulman published by Taschen in 2007, Pedro Guerrero published by Cattletrack Press in 2009, Sensual Mechanical, a comprehensive study of the work of Craig Kauffman published by Frank Lloyd Gallery in 2012, Talking Heads: The Vent Haven Portraits by Matthew Rolston, Pointed Leaf Press in 2013, Donum: Gift of the Land, Volume 2 by Donum in 2022.
She has written catalogue essays on the work of many contemporary artists including John Baldessari, Alexis Smith, Tacita Dean, Robert Graham, Eleanor Antin, Emerson Woelffer, Frederick Hammersley, Peter Shire, Ken Price, Craig Kauffman, Dennis Hopper, Frank Gehry, Matthew Rolston and Gisela Colon and Kirsten Everberg.
Archives of American Art
From 2012 to 2015, she was West Coast curator of collections for the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art. For many years before and after that period, she conducted lengthy oral histories for AAA.
Radio and Television
From 2011 to 2019, she was a weekly art critic for KCRW radio (89.9).
From 2008 to 2011, she contributed to KUSC radio (91.5).
In 1985, she co-hosted The Territory of Art, a radio series produced by the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
In 1984, she co-hosted the KCET public television series Arts Illustrated.
Editorial positions
From 2005 to 2012, she was a regular contributor to Artnet
From 1984 to 2005, she was the West Coast editor of Artnews
From 1980 to 1984, she was art critic for the L.A. Weekly
Over the years, she has written for Art in America, Artforum, Art and Auction, Artnet, Architectural Digest, The Los Angeles Times, L.A.Style, Harpers Bazaar, Town and Country and other publications. She now contributes regularly to Alta and Wallpaper*.
Teaching and Academic Positions
From 1984 to 1987, she taught contemporary art theory classes at UCLA extension and Otis College of Art and Design.
From 1987 to 1996, Drohojowska-Philp was chair of the Department of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Otis College of Art and Design. She developed a critical theory department by hiring Dave Hickey, Christopher Williams, Meg Cranston and David Pagel.
She has lectured regularly on modern and contemporary art and in 2003 was honored to give the annual lecture to the International Association of Art Critics. She is listed in Who’s Who in American Art and is a member of The Authors Guild.
