John Paul Ricco
Current affiliations
- Associate Director, Centre for Comparative Literature
Areas of interest
- Aesthetics and Ethics
- Queer Theory
- Contemporary Art and Architecture
- Contemporary Continental Philosophy
- Jean-Luc Nancy
- Security and Freedom
- Sexuality and Religion
Biography
Professor Ricco is an art historian and queer theorist, working at the juncture of contemporary art, queer theory, and philosophy, noted for his work on aesthetics and ethics; sexuality and intimacy; and eco-deconstruction. Ricco is the Lead Curator of the Sexual Representation Collection, Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies.
He is the author of two monographs: The Logic of the Lure (University of Chicago, 2003) and The Decision Between Us: art and ethics in the time of scenes (University of Chicago, 2014). He recently completed the third volume in this trilogy on “the intimacy of the outside,” titled: “Queer Finitude” (anticipated publication 2025). Ricco has recently coedited special issues of Parallax and Journal of Visual Culture on Jean-Luc Nancy, and special issues of differences and Postmodern Culture on Leo Bersani. His writing has also appeared in CR: New Centennial Review, Porn Archives, Capitalism and the Camera, World Picture, and The Brooklyn Rail, amongst others.
Select publications
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"Unlovable Oneness." Postmodern Culture. Special issue on "Afterlives of the Anti-Social" co-edited by John Paul Ricco and Austin Svedjan, volume 33, numbers 2 & 3, January-May 2023 (published June 2024).
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“Not Just Antisocial, Inhuman.” Postmodern Culture. Special issue on "Afterlives of the Anti-Social" co-edited by John Paul Ricco and Austin Svedjan, volume 33, numbers 2 & 3, January-May 2023 (published June 2024).
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“Incongruity.” differences. Special Issue: “Syntax of Thought: Reading Leo Bersani” co-edited by Jacques Khalip and John Paul Ricco, volume 34, number 1, May 2023.
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“Afterword to Hymne Stomique.” Co-authored with Andrea Gyenge. Jean-Luc Nancy, Corpus III. Fordham University Press, 2023.
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"Jean-Luc Nancy: Drawing the Edge of the Common." Parallax, volume 27, number 1, June 2021.
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“Moths to the Flame: Photography and Extinction.” Capitalism and the Camera: Essays on Photography and Extraction, edited by Kevin Coleman and Daniel James. Verso Books, 2021.
Awards & recognition
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Chancellor Jackman Faculty Research Fellow, Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto, 2015-16.
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Top 50 Best Designed Books of 2003, American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA), for The Logic of the Lure (designed in collaboration with Liz Cosgrove, University of Chicago Press).
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Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award, Texas Tech University.