James Crump


James Crump is an award-winning American film director, writer and producer and acclaimed art historian and curator whose recent films include Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art which premiered at the New York Film Festival with The Wall Street Journal declaring "takes its place among the great art documentaries of the past half century"; and , winner of the Metropolis Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 DOC NYC Film Festival.
An acclaimed art historian and curator, Crump is also the author or co-author of numerous books and has published widely in the fields of modern and contemporary art. His critical texts have appeared in ArtReview, Art in America, Artforum and Archives of American Art Journal for the Smithsonian Museum, among numerous others. With artists Thomas Struth, Martha Rosler and Omer Fast among others, Crump presented at the Museum of Modern Art's August Sander Project: 2017

Career

Crump earned a Master of Arts and Ph.D in history of art respectively at Indiana University and University of New Mexico. He has collaborated with a host of museums and galleries, including Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, the Grey Art Gallery of NYU, Princeton University Art Museum and Huis Marseille, Amsterdam. He has organized exhibitions or published books with James Welling, Doug and Mike Starn, Nan Goldin, Ross Bleckner, Lynn Davis, and the estates of Berenice Abbott, Robert Mapplethorpe, Carlo Mollino, Willem de Kooning, Garry Winogrand, and Walker Evans.

Filmography

''Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe''

Crump directed the feature-length documentary film Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe, which premiered in North America at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and in Europe at Art Basel. It explores the influence curator Sam Wagstaff, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and musician/poet Patti Smith had on art in New York City in the 1970s. It began airing on the Sundance Channel in March 2008.

''Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art''

Crump wrote, produced and directed Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art. Set in the desolate desert spaces of the American southwest, this feature documentary film unearths the history of land art during the tumultuous late 1960s and early 1970s. Troublemakers was one of twelve documentary films selected by the 53rd New York Film Festival, September 25–October 11, 2015. The film released theatrically at IFC Center, New York, January 8, 2016.

''Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco''

Written, produced and directed by Crump, this documentary film concerns Antonio Lopez, the Puerto Rican-born, Harlem- and Bronx-raised, bisexual fashion illustrator of 1970s New York and Paris, and his colorful and sometimes outrageous milieu. premiered at the 2017 BFI London Film Festival and subsequently was awarded the 2017 DOC NYC Metropolis Grand Jury Prize and the 2018 Cinéfashion Film Award for Best Fashion Feature Film. The film released theatrically in the United States at IFC Center, New York, September 14, 2018, Laemmle Theatres Royal Theatre, Los Angeles, September 21, 2018 and over twenty other major US markets It became available on iTunes Store, Amazon Prime Video and Vudu January 2019 and subsequently began airing on the premium cable and satellite television network Starz May 2019. The film qualified for consideration for the 2018 Academy Awards Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

''Spit Earth: Who is Jordan Wolfson?''

Crump's latest film, Spit Earth: Who is Jordan Wolfson? is a feature documentary which Artnet News called a "searing psychological portrait" of the controversial and divisive artist. Due to the conditions wrought on the film industry by the COVID-19 health crisis, the film was released worldwide on the leading streaming platforms May 1, 2020.

Books (as author)