Katy Deepwell joined Middlesex University in August 2013 as Professor of Contemporary Art, Theory and Criticism.
She is an art critic and writes art history and art criticism about 20th and 21st century art with a specialism in feminist art criticism and theory about contemporary women artists.
She has been teaching in higher education since 1986, including academic posts as: Head of Research Training and Reader in Contemporary Art, Theory and Criticism, University of the Arts, London (2004-2010) Research Fellow in Art and Design Department at University of Ulster, Belfast (1999-2002) Senior Lecturer in Art Theory at Oxford Brookes University (1995-1996). In addition, she has taught at many other colleges and Universities including:- Malmo Art Academy, Lund University; Goldsmiths College, University of London; University of Copenhagen; Farnham (now UCCA); Canterbury and Maidstone (once KIAD, now UCCA).
She was a Leverhulme Research Fellow in 2008-2009. In 2021, she received a Distinguished Feminist Scholar Award from College Art Association, USA. She is the founder of KT press and editor of n.paradoxa: international feminist art journal (KT press, 1998-2017). She edits the Feminist Art Observatory and runs a JISC listserv on Feminism's Local and Global Dynamics in Contemporary Art
She has a PhD in Art History from Birkbeck College, University of London, MA Social History of Art, University of Leeds, BA (Hons) Fine Art (Painting) St Martins School of Art.
Katy Deepwell works with PhD students and teaches across the MA and BA Fine Art.
She has written 2 MOOCs based on the FemTechNet principles for DOCCs. Both are published by KT press on https://nparadoxa.com.
The 10 lessons in the first explore feminisms in relation to contemporary art and the second of 6 lessons, explores Feminist Art Manifestos as is based on her book of 2014.
Women Artists in Britain Between the Two World Wars: 'A Fair Field and No Favour' (Manchester University Press, 2010) ISBN 978-0-7190-8080-7
Dialogues: Women Artists from Ireland. (London: IB Tauris, 2005). ISBN 1-85043-621-5
Ten Decades: The Careers of Ten Women Artists born 1897-1906, Exhibition Catalogue of Arts Council Touring Exhibition, Norwich Gallery, NIAD, April 1992, ISBN 1-872482-05-8.
Her edited / co-edited books include:
Fifty Feminist Art Manifestos (KT press, 2022)
Feminist Art Activisms and Artivisms (Netherlands: Valiz, 2020) ISBN: 978-94-92095-72-5
All-Women Art Spaces in Europe in the Long 1970s (co-edited with Agata Jakubowska) (Liverpool University Press, 2018). ISBN: 978-1786940582.
Feminist Art Manifestos: An Anthology (KT press, ebook, 2014) ISBN: 978-0-9926934-3-5
(co-edited with Mila Bredikhina) The Gender, Theory and Art Anthology: 1970-2000 (Moscow: Rosspen Publishing House, 2005) ISBN: 5-8243-0595-1
Editor of Women Artists and Modernism(Manchester University Press, June, 1998) ISBN 0-7190-5082-0
Editor of Art Criticism and Africa (Saffron Books, July 1997) ISBN 1-872843-13-1
Editor (& introductory essay) New Feminist Art Criticism: Critical Strategies (Manchester University Press, 1995) ISBN 0-7190-4258-5
Doctoral students welcome in the following areas of : fine art (practice and theory); art theory and criticism; feminist art history, criticism and curation. She welcomes projects which want to explore feminism, trans-nationalism and international collaborations and ideas in contemporary art practices.
Deepwell, Katy (2023) The politics and aesthetic choices of feminist art criticism. Arts , 12 (2). p. 63. ISSN 2076-0752
Deepwell, Katy (2022) The art, life and thought of Monica Sjöö. Paletten , 330 . pp. 42-52. ISSN 0031-0352
Deepwell, Katy (2022) Deklare! Erhebe deine Stimme! Schreie auf! Klage an! Prangere an! Uber Feministische Kunstmanifeste. In: EMPOWERMENT: Kunst und Feminismen. Beltin, Andreas and Koch, Katharina and Ruhkamp, Uta , eds. Bundeszentrale fur Politische Bildung/ bpb, Bonn, Germany, pp. 284-291. ISBN 9783838972336
Deepwell, Katy (2022) 50 feminist art manifestos. Deepwell, Katy , ed. KT press, London. ISBN 9780992693466
Deepwell, Katy (2022) Dentro y contra la latusa: la problemática de las mujeres artistas en las historias del arte / In and Against the lathouse: the problematic for women artists in art histories. In: YO SOMOS OTRAS: Prácticas de la subjetividad en la creación contemporánea. Cortes Zaborras, Carmen and Cortés Zuleta, Concepción and Cuevas de Barrio, Javier , eds. Editorial Universidad de Granada, Spain: Granada, pp. 23-56. ISBN 9788433868541
In 2019, she instigated the Advance HE Connect online Project, 'Feminist Art in an International Art Curriculum'. The project brought together feminist scholars from Japan, UK, USA, South Africa, and Europe in several video discussions, and launched an essay writing competition on teaching feminist art in 2021.
In 2018, after the conference Local/Global Feminist Art, held by CREATE/Feminisms, she initiated with Laura Leuzzi, a JISC email list: FEM-ART-LOCALGLOBALRESEARCH
In 2010, her book Women Artists Between the Wars (Manchester University Press) was funded by a publishers grant and an author's grant for illustrations from the Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art.
Katy Deepwell is editor-in-chief and founder of n.paradoxa: international feminist art journal (1998-2017).
She is Managing Editor of KT press, which publishes n.paradoxa and ebooks on contemporary women artists, as well as MOOCs on feminism and contemporary art. The website https://www.ktpress.co.uk houses open access to n.paradoxa articles and the Feminist Art Observatory, the largest repository of links and book information on feminism and contemporary art online.
She was President of the International Art Critics Association (British Section) between 1997-2000 and a member of the International Committee of this UNESCO NGO for several years.
She is regularly asked to be a peer reviewer for journals and book publishers, working on visual arts/ art history topics.