Brian O’Doherty

BRIAN O’DOHERTY was born in County Roscommon in 1928. A gifted polymath, he has been a doctor, conceptual artist, art historian, critic, film-maker, author of numerous books, art reviewer for the New York Times and editor-in-chief of Art in America. His novels include The Strange Case of Mademoiselle P. (1992; winner of the Sagittarius Prize), The Deposition of Father McGreevy (1999; shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2000), and The Crossdresser’s Secret (2015). Also known as the conceptual and installation artist Patrick Ireland – he changed his name in reaction to the Bloody Sunday killings in Derry in 1972 – he was until recently professor of fine arts and media at Long Island University, and he also taught film criticism for 25 years at Barnard College. He is the author of numerous works of art criticism, including American Masters and the influential essays ‘Inside the White Cube’ and ‘The Voice and the Myth’. He lives in New York with his wife, Barbara Novak, the art historian