Dr Stacy Boldrick

I conduct research into the long history of iconoclasm or image breaking (the deliberate defacing dismantling or destruction of works of art and historic artefacts) and its significance for social groups and institutions. My monograph Iconoclasm and the Museum explores the museum’s attitudes to iconoclasm in the stories it tells about its objects through public display.

I am Deputy Head of School and the PGR Director for the School of Museum Studies.

I bring to the School expertise in medieval and contemporary art history and in curatorial practice. I bring sector-facing knowledge from my time at The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh, the University of Edinburgh (VARIE consortium) and the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds. Curatorial collaborations include Wonder: Painted Sculpture from Medieval England (Henry Moore Institute Leeds) and Art under Attack: Histories of British Iconoclasm (Tate Britain co-curated with Tabitha Barber). 

My main research interest is in contemporary and historical acts of iconoclasm. Iconoclasm and the destruction of art are long established topics in the history of Byzantium the Northern European Reformation Revolutionary France and Nazi Germany but only in the past two decades has the subject grown to become a global contemporary subject of study in the humanities and social sciences. My research in this field includes edited volumes and curated exhibitions and a monograph.

My book Iconoclasm and the Museum (2020) presented research into objects of iconoclasm - from defaced medieval sculptures to the attacked Rokeby Venus from deposed confederate monuments to destruction in contemporary art practice - undertaken in 20 museums and archives in Memphis, New York, Philadelphia, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester, Yorkshire, Utrecht and Venice. Past grants (Marc Fitch Fund CCSAH Research Development Grants) supported new research for the monograph. A British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant initiated the next stage of research into Negative Space Analysis and is leading to a larger scale comprehensive project analysing medieval objects of iconoclasm in church collections.

Books

Boldrick, S. Iconoclasm and the Museum (London and New York: Routledge, 2020). (Monograph) [Reviewed in The Burlington Magazine, Oxford Art Journal, Museums Journal, Critique d’art et al.]

Boldrick, S., Brubaker, L. and Clay, R. (eds). Striking Images: Iconoclasms Past and Present (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013; reprinted London and New York: Routledge, 2018).

Barber, T. and Boldrick, S. (eds). Art under Attack: Histories of British Iconoclasm (London: Tate, 2013).

Boldrick, S. and Clay, R. (eds). Iconoclasm: Contested Objects, Contested Terms (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007; reprinted London and New York: Routledge, 2017).

Boldrick, S., Park, D. and Williamson, P. (eds). Wonder: Painted Sculpture from Medieval England (Leeds: Henry Moore Institute, 2002). [Highly Commended Award, AXA/Art Newspaper Exhibition Catalogue Awards 2003.]

Chapters and articles

Boldrick, S.,'Conversation on Black Lives Matter 1: Stacy Boldrick with Tami Sawyer', in Tomas Macsotay, Nausikaä El-Mecky, (eds), Toppling Things as Memorial Contestation: Spectacle and Affect of Monument Removal (Brill, 2025), pp.161-171.

Boldrick, S.,'Break It Like the Iconoclasts: Byzantium and the Case of Iconoclasm Exhibitions', in Handbook of the Modern Reception of Byzantium (Routledge, forthcoming, 2026).

Boldrick, S.,'Beyond Reconstruction: Site-specific Displays of Medieval Sculptural Fragments', in Marjan Debaere and Anne Liefsoens, eds., The Afterlife of Medieval Sculpture (Ards/M-Leuven, forthcoming 2026).

Boldrick, S.,'Idol and Idolatry', in Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Religion. Oxford University Press. June 21, 2023. 

Boldrick, S., 'Acts of Deposition: Afterlives and Social Lives', in Edwin Coomasaru, ‘Monuments Must Fall’ Conversation Piece, British Art Studies, Issue 24, March 2023.

Boldrick, S.,'Destruction in Art and Film', in José Antonio González Zarandona, Emma Cunliffe, Melathi Saldin, (eds), Handbook of Heritage Destruction (London and New York: Routledge, 2023), pp.158-173.

Boldrick, S.,'Parts, Not Wholes: Long Histories and Negative Space Analysis' in Gianluca Miniaci, ed., Breaking Images: Damage and Mutilation of Ancient Figurines (Oxford: Oxbow, 2023), pp.93-110.

Boldrick, S., Clay, R., Duster, M. and Magee, K., 'Remembering and Forgetting Confederate Monuments: Taking the Bitter with the Sweet'; co-authored with Richard Clay, Keith Magee, and Michelle Duster, The Sculpture Journal 31/1, 2022.

Boldrick, S., 'Michael Landy: Break Down: Twenty Years', online and print essay accompanying Michael Landy, Break Down: Twenty Years, Thomas Dane Gallery, London (13 April-6 June 2021) and Firstsite, Colchester (19 June - 5 September 2021), 13 April 2021.

Boldrick, S., 'Speculations on the Visibility and Display of a Mortuary Roll', chapter in Jack Hartnell, eds., Continuous Page. Scrolls and Scrolling from Papyrus to Hypertext (London: Courtauld Books Online, 2020).

My supervisory experience encompasses the expanded field of iconoclasm (including the destruction of art), provenance studies, transhistorical exhibitions, and curatorial studies and topics related to the history of medieval and contemporary art. I welcome applications from prospective PhD students.

Recent and current PhD theses supervised:

Art and War - Anglo-American Troops in Italy (1943-45)

Figural Stone Sculpture & Image Perception in Pre-Viking England (c. 600-850) (co-supervised with Professor Jo Story)

Mounting Empire: The National Gallery and British Imperialism, 1824 - 1900

A Museum Based on an Idea: Examining the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Art’s History through their Acquisitions and Exhibitions Policies, 1980-2020 (co-supervised with Professor Simon Knell)

Conflicts and Opportunities: Art Academies in China in the Era of the ’85 New Wave

Exploring the Concept and Institution of Contemporary Chinese Art Museums in Shanghai from 2000 to 2023: Case Studies of Rockbund Art Museum and Power Station of Art

Representing Ethnic Minority Cultures in China: Museums, Heritage, and Ethnic Minority Groups

The Relativity of Relevance: How Artists Are Serving as a Catalyst for Organizational Change in Historic House Museums

I bring into my teaching a wide range of innovative approaches to teaching, management and leadership. In the Art Museum and Gallery Studies (AMAGS) MA Programme, my teaching includes leading modules and leading projects within modules, contributing content to other modules, supervising MA research projects (dissertations) and as a supporter of the placement module, bringing in several art institutions as new placement partners (including Dulwich Art Gallery, Hepworth Wakefield, the Henry Moore Institute, Hospitalfield, Jupiter Artland and others). I have been the module leader of Curating Now, teaching exhibition curating, interpretation and programming, and for Managing Art Collections, focusing on collections management, art handling, object biography and iconoclasm; I have taught the practice of curating art exhibitions and project management in curating the student exhibition for Entering the Field (2016-21). I have also contributed to the module  Making Art History, focusing on the history of art history and the value and impact of early art historical methodologies.

In 2018 I was awarded the ‘Creative Innovator’ Discovering Excellence Award 2018 at the University of Leicester for innovations in student teaching based around information management and tutorials/pastoral care.

The student-nominated Superstar Awards have resulted in my nominations for Best Lecturer (2020/21; 2019/20; 2018/19) Best practice in inclusive learning and teaching (2018/19) and Best Personal Tutor (2018/19).

14 June 2021 “‘Say Her Name’: Iconoclasm Monuments and Museums” Unwanted Histories: The Legacies of Contested Monuments and Objects: New Homes New Interpretations New Meanings Department of History Universiteit Leiden.

22 January 2021 “Conversation on Black Lives Matter” Toppling Things. The Visuality Space and Affect of Monument Removal Departament d'Humanitats Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona.

10 December 2020 “Beyond Reconstruction: Site-specific Displays of Medieval Sculptural Fragments” 7th Annual Colloquium on Current Research in Medieval and Renaissance Sculpture: The Afterlife of Medieval Sculpture M-Museum Leuven.

12 November 2019 “Deface and Destroy” Off the Plinth: Episodes in the History of Public Sculpture Autumn Art Lecture Series University of Bristol.

17 June 2019 “Art under Attack” Chelsea College of Art UAL London.

16-17 March 2018 Chair of “Making Sense: Body and Mind’ session in New Directions in the Study of Medieval Sculpture Conference Henry Moore Institute Leeds. 

October 1993 to July 1997: Ph.D. Department of Art History and Archaeology University of Manchester. Thesis title: “The Rise of Chantry Space in England from ca. 1260 to ca. 1400”. Supervisor: Paul Binski.

August 1991 to May 1993: M. A. Department of History of Art and Architecture University of Pittsburgh. Thesis title: “The Eleanor Crosses: A Study in Typology and Meaning”. Supervisor: Alison Stones.

August 1986 to May 1990: B. A. (Hons.) Fine Art and Art History cum laude Phi Beta Kappa Rhodes College Memphis; inc. 1989 semester at Dept. of Art History & Theory University of Essex.