Lewis ‘Alan’ Longino, UChicago graduate student and scholar of postwar Japanese art, 1987‒2024

Colleagues remembered art historian’s ‘intellectual spirit,’ empathy and curiosity

Lewis “Alan” Longino, a University of Chicago graduate student who studied and curated contemporary art around the globe, passed away on July 8 in Biloxi, Miss., after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 36.

A Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Art History, Longino focused his research on postwar Japanese conceptual art and global contemporary art. In particular, he examined the Japanese artist Yutaka Matsuzawa’s approach to a dematerialized practice, which was based upon a system of quantum physics, non-Zen Buddhism and parapsychology. In 1988, Matsuzawa (1922‒2006) published his “Quantum Art Manifesto,” which set out directions, instructions, kōan and other meditations for readers to consider their connection to art on a quantum level.

“Alan combined his curatorial and art historical perspectives to position Matsuzawa within the context of contemporary art worldwide,” said Chelsea Foxwell, a UChicago professor in the Departments of Art History and East Asia Languages and Civilizations, and the College. “His passing is a huge loss for the field, and I can’t underscore how deeply his loss is felt by our community.”

His classmate and friend Cybele Tom remembered Longino’s amazing spirit and curiosity.

“Alan’s intellectual spirit could be described as quantum: He was always making unpredictable connections, bridging gaps and effecting collaboration,” she said.

According to his colleagues, Longino was a vital contributor to the Department of Art History who was always supporting and encouraging fellow classmates. A fourth-year student in the doctorate program, Longino served as a teaching assistant for numerous UChicago undergraduate courses and as the co-coordinator of the Visual and Material Perspectives on East Asia workshop.

“Anyone who spoke with Alan about art would be changed by the experience,” said Matthew Jesse Jackson, professor in the Departments of Art History, Theater and Performance Studies, Visual Arts and the College and chair of the Department of Visual Arts at UChicago. “He was incredibly generous and life-affirming. It has been our community’s great privilege to be able to share this precious time with him.”

Longino also founded Longino, IAH, a curatorial initiative that culminated in four short exhibitions in UChicago’s Cobb Hall. “Alan encouraged deep immersion in single works of art,” said Trevor Brandt, his friend and graduate student in Art History. “Alan knew what he was supposed to do during his time on Earth, and he felt his time at UChicago was well spent.”

Classmate Yan Jin recalled his friend as “a great teacher and instructor” who was “beloved by his students for his depth in knowledge and well-rounded pedagogical style.”

Friend and collaborator Jan Kaps remembers Longino as a fierce champion of contemporary art, writing that “For Alan, the artist always came first ... he lived and breathed his work.”

Travel, curatorship and art history

Longino was born on Sept. 27, 1987, in Biloxi to Lewis and Denise Longino. He grew up playing soccer and participated as a student and then as a staff member in CISV International, a non-governmental organization based in England that hosts programs and events for children to promote hands-on learning and intercultural friendships. Through CISV, Longino traveled to Vienna, Budapest and Banff in Canada.

Longino discovered his lifelong passion for the curation of art and its history when he attended the University of Mississippi, where he and earned his bachelor’s degree in French and art history.

He continued his education in New York City, earning a master’s degree in fine arts from Hunter College and working in several art galleries. After managing an art gallery in Cologne, Germany, Longino conducted logistical analysis for exhibits at the major art fairs, ranging from Mexico City to Basel, Switzerland, to Hong Kong. Before entering graduate school at UChicago, Longino co-organized an exhibit for the Cologne art gallery that traveled to the U.S., Japan and Hong Kong.

In addition to his research at UChicago, Longino has also produced shows on the artist’s work in collaboration with the art historian and curator, Reiko Tomii.

“Alan was a great curatorial mind who knew how to enhance the vision of an artist in the form of exhibition,” Tomii said. “We co-curated a show of Matsuzawa, for whom he orchestrated a marvelously ethereal environment of pink in a former industrial space in Portland, Ore., in 2019, while he curated an intimately intellectual nook for another conceptual pioneer, On Kawara, in a tiny seminar room on campus at UChicago in 2024.”

Posthumously, he will receive a transitional master’s degree in Art History from UChicago at the end of the Summer Quarter 2024. Longino’s research has been published in digital and print art journals.

“Alan had a passion for art that is rare even within our discipline,” said Megan Sullivan, associate professor in the Department of Art History and the College at UChicago. “I can’t think of many of other art historians who approached their object of study with such empathy and genuine curiosity. He was a highly original thinker who sought, through his research on Matsuzawa, to rethink our understanding not only of conceptual art—but of art and communication more broadly.”

Longino’s sister, Lauren Ann, preceded him in death. He is survived by his parents; his niece and nephew, Baylee Baker and Logan Shiver; and many uncles, aunts and cousins.

The Department of Art History will host a remembrance in September for students, faculty and staff. More information about this event will be forthcoming.

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