Iveta Slavkova | AUP Graduate

Biography

Professor Slavkova has a PhD in Art History from Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. Her PhD dissertation, partly published under the title “Réparer l'homme. La crise de l’humanisme et l’Homme nouveau des avant-gardes autour de la Grande Guerre (1909-1929)” (2020, Presses du Réel) studies the vision of the New Man of several avant-gardes at the time of the First World War, underpinned by the desire to reenact or cut with humanism. The book explores the instrumentalization of the humanist discourse in war propaganda to justify the global massacre orchestrated by the European civilization, the subsequent humanism crisis and the response of the avant-gardes.

In the continuation of this inquiry, Prof. Slavkova is working on an HdR (habilitation in the French university system) on abhumanism, a term coined by French writer, playwright and occasionally painter Jacques Audiberti. Loosely related to Surrealism, abumanism involved Audiberti himself as well as painters/poets Camille Bryen and Wols, and the writer/playwright/painter Beniamino Joppolo. This project participates in a larger scholarly effort to reassess the Parisian scene after the Second World War. More largely, this research raises onto-ecological questions on the definition and the limits of the acting subject, the place of humans in the eco-sytem and the universe, casting into question human supremacy and the linearity of history and progress.

Prof. Slavkova has edited several volumes and published numerous papers related to art to these topics, more recently Surrealism and Ecology (Vernon Press, 2025) and Crisis (Ge Gruyter, 2022).

Education/Degrees

Ph. D. Modern and Contemporary Art History, 2006 University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Mention très honorable avec les félicitations du jury à l’unanimité (summa cum laude) Dissertation: “L’Homme n’est peut-être pas le centre de l’univers“. La crise de l’humanisme et l’Homme nouveau des avant-gardes (1909-1930), supervisor Pr. Philippe Dagen Post-graduate thesis (DEA), Modern and Contemporary Art History, 2000 University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Mention Très bien avec félicitations (magna cum laude) Dissertation: “Dessiner comme écrire. La démarche de cinq artistes abhumanistes: Antonin Artaud, Camille Bryen, Fred Deux, Henri Michaux et Wols“ MA (Maîtrise) Modern and Contemporary Art History, University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Mention Très bien avec félicitations (magna cum laude) Dissertation: “Wols (1913-1951). Contradiction dans l’analyse et l’interprétation de l’œuvre“ BA (Licence) Art History and Archaeology, 1998, University of Montpellier III, Paul-Valéry, Mention Bien (cum laude)

News

Scholarly work accepted for publication

Avant-garde and War, Berlin, De Gryuter, co-edited David Ayers (University of Kent), Sascha Bru (KU Leuven), Kate Kangashlahti (KU Leuven), proceedings of the 9th EAM conference in Krakow expected 2026
“‘War is particularly humanist and human’. War, abhumanism, an opera and a circus.”, in Avant-garde and War, Berlin, De Gryuter, approved by the editorial committee, expected 20026
“Immanence et inhumanité. Réflexions sur Camille Bryen et le néo-dadaïsme”, Neo-Dada et néo-dadaïsmes, éd. Fabrice Flahutez et Olivier Penot-Lacassagne, Paris, L’Echappée, expected 2026.

Habilitation Project

Research project HdR at the University Saint-Etienne

L’abhumanisme, l’avant-garde et l’art à Paris après la Seconde Guerre mondiale (working title), HDR project (Habilitation à diriger des recherches), supervisor Fabrice Flahutez (Professor, Université Lyon-Saint-Etienne)

The project summarizes my research on abhumanism, Jacques Auidberti, Camille Bryen and Wols during the past 10 years. Key topics were presented at various conferences and all my recent articles explore aspects of this subject. In the French University system an HdR (Habilitation à diriger des recherches) is a second doctorate which qualifies the candidate to become a Professor and to direct PhDs and sit of PhD juries. I am intending to publish this work as a monograph upon completion

Publications

BOOKS Monograph 2020, Réparer l'homme. La Crise de l'humanisme et l'Homme nouveau des avant-gardes autour de la Grande Guerre (1909-1929), Presses du réel (Dijon) https://www.lespressesdureel.com/ouvrage.php?id=2218 Review 1 by Catherine Dufour, in Mélusine en ligne, 2020 https://melusine-surrealisme.fr/wp/iveta-slavkova-reparer-lhomme-la-crise-de-lhumanisme-et-lhomme-nouveau-des-avant-gardes-autour-de-la-grande-guerre-1909-1929/ Review 2 by Mariana Pinto dos Santos, « Italian Futurism and the Bauhaus through the lens of humanism », Revista de História da Arte: “Art in the Periphery — hommage to Foteini Vlachou", n°9, 2021 (https://institutodehistoriadaarte.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/rha_w_9.pdf) p. 127- 131. Review 3 by Abigael van Aelst (KU Leuven), in European Legacy, vol. 27, n° 7-8, 2022. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10848770.2022.2029175?scroll=top&needAccess=true&role=tab) Review 4 by Deirdre O’Grady (University College Dublin): “The Crisis of Humanism, the Search for a New Man and the Historical Avant-garde”, in The International Yearbook of Futurism Studies, vol. 13, Berlin, De Gryuter, 2023, p. 447-451 (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111318394-022/html?lang=de ) Edited/ co-authored/translated/ 2025, Surrealism and Ecology, Wilmington, Vernon Press, co-editors Anne-Marie Butler and Donna Roberts https://vernonpress.com/book/2432?srsltid=AfmBOoptig5EK6G208RBD4pqFN22YxxNwQWGHzY-twNXXYMPuZbns7OJ 2023, Les Avant-gardes européennes (1905-1935). Guide illustré, Paris, Hermann, Sascha Bru (author), Iveta Slavkova (translator) https://www.editions-hermann.fr/livre/les-avant-gardes-europeennes-1905-1935-sascha-bru 2022, Crisis, Berlin, De Gruyter. 7th volume of the series “European Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies”, co-edited David Ayers (University of Kent), Sascha Bru (KU Leuven), Li Lin (University of Antwerpen), Kate Kangashlahti (KU Leuven) https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110773637/html 2013, “Histoire des arts: une méthode des exemples”, Documentation photographique/La documentations française, n° 8091, co-authored with Marianne Cojannot-Le Blanc (Université de Paris Ouest) 2010, “Les Années 1930 : art et résistance. Éveil politique et engagement des artistes”, Dissidences, n°9, co-edited with Jean-Paul Salles (Université de la Rochelle) and Vincent Chambarlhac (Université de Dijon) Peer-reviewed articles 2022, “Camille Bryen Avant-Gardist/Abhumanist: A Reappraisal of an Artist Who Called Himself the “Best-Known of the Unknown”, Arts, Volume 11, Issue 2, 43 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/11/2/43/htm 2021, “The Strange Destiny of Wols, the « French Pollock ». Reflections on Abhumanism and the the Parisian avant-garde in “Periphery” after World-War II, Revista de História da Arte: “Art in the Periphery — Homage to Foteini Vlachou", n°9, May 2021, 83-97. (https://institutodehistoriadaarte.files.wordpress.com/2021/05/rha_w_9.pdf) 2020, Cemetery civilization: Circus Wols, World War II and the collapse of humanism”, Arts: “World War, Art, and Memory: 1914 to 1945”, Volume 9, Issue 3 (https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/9/3/93) 2017, “Histoire de l’art, histoire, culture visuelle”, Histoire@politique, n°33; special issue edited by Cécile Pichon-Bonin, Anastasia Simoniello, Jerôme Bazin: Image, éducation et communisme dans l’Europe des années 1920-1930 (https://journals.openedition.org/histoirepolitique/9809 ) 2011, “La bouteille de Wols, la plume de Sartre et une histoire à réécrire”, Food & History, vol. 9, n°1; special issue edited by Valérie Boudier and Frédérique Desbuissons: “Inebriating Creations: from the 16th to the 20th Century. Alcohol as Motor, Motif, and Metaphor in (Early) Modern Art” https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1484/J.FOOD.1.102295 Book chapters and academic articles 2019, “Utopies sociales et politiques des avant-gardes 1912-1968”, La Vie intelectuelle en France xixe et xxe siècles, vol. 2, Paris, Editions Points, edited by Laurent Jeanpierre and Christophe Charles, second edition (first published 2016, Editions du Seuil) https://www.editionspoints.com/ouvrage/la-vie-intellectuelle-en-france-collectif/9782757873465 First edition on 2016 at Editions du Seuil https://www.seuil.com/ouvrage/la-vie-intellectuelle-en-france-tome-2-collectif/9782021081435 2014, “La marginalité comme condition de l’art : l’alcoolisme de Wols vu par Sartre”, Arts drogués. Expériences psychotropiques et création artistique, Presses universitaires de Paris Ouest, edited by Miguel Egaña et Fabrice Flahutez https://books.openedition.org/pupo/8273 2013, “L’homme entre alpha et omega : vertus et périls de l’unité absolue. Le logo de Schlemmer pour le Bauhaus”, Histoire de l’art, n° 71 ; special issue edited by Camille Morando : L’Écrit dans l’œuvre https://www.persee.fr/doc/hista_0992-2059_2012_num_71_1_3423 2013, “Surviving the Collapse of Humanism after World War II: the ‘Abhumanist’ Response of J. Audiberti and C. Bryen”, Contemporary French & Francophone Studies SITES, vol. 3, n°17 https://sites.uconn.edu/volume-17-issue-3/ 2011, “L’Humanisme aussi est un mythe. Prolégomènes à une peinture abhumaniste”, Art et mythe, Presses universitaires de Paris Ouest, edited by Thierry Dufrêne and Fabrice Flahutez : https://books.openedition.org/pupo/1994?lang=fr 2010, “L’Exil avorté de Wols au comité Fry. Pour une multiplicité des résistances”, Dissidences n°9 ; special issue edited by Vincent Chambarlhac, Jean-Paul Salles and Iveta Slavkova: Les Années 1930 : art et résistance. Éveil politique et engagement des artistes 2007, “Deux aspects de la crise de l’humanisme dans l’entre-deux-guerres”, Mélusine, n°XXVII https://www.melusine-surrealisme.fr/site/astu/Slavkova_Position Conference Proceedings 2018, « Entre charme et effroi. « Circus Wols », le récit de Wols des années terribles », in Nathalie Ponsard and Jean-Pierre Caron (ed.), La France en guerre : cinq « années terribles » 1792-1793 / 1814-1815 / 1870-1871 / 1914-1915 / 1939-1940, Rennes, PUR. https://books.openedition.org/pur/170448 2016, “From eternal knight to modern hero. The aviator as the New Man of the avant-garde at the outbreak of the Great War”, 1914: Guerre et Avant-gardes, Presses universitaires de Paris Ouest, edited by Marine Branland https://books.openedition.org/pupo/15645 2012, “The Saatchi Collection Between Art Loving and Self-interested Investment”, Modernity of Collection, Torun, Contemporary Art Centre/University of Copernic 2011, “Le Futurisme entre propagande et revendication libertaire”, Art & Propagande : jeux inter-dits/Gevaarlijk spel tussen kunst en propaganda, published as special issue of Témoigner/Getuigen : revue pluridisciplinaire de la Fondation Auschwitz, n°111, edited by Luba Jurgenson et Philippe Mesnard https://www.auschwitz.be/images/_bulletin_trimestriel/111_slavkova.pdf 2010, “Dalí entre 1925-1929. Le désir n’est pas humaniste”, Dalí. Sur les traces d’Eros, edited by Geneva, Editons Notari, edited by Frédérique Joseph-Lowery and Isabelle Roussel-Gillet 2009, “La Révolution surréaliste, un travail collectif pour défaire le sujet”, La Fabrique surréaliste, actes du séminaire du Centre de Recherches sur le Surréalisme/University of Paris III, edited by Maryse Vassevière, https://www.melusine-surrealisme.fr/5.-Fabrique_BAT.pdf 2004, “Circus Wols, un projet de Wols au camp des Milles”, Les Ecrits d’artistes depuis 1940, Caen, Editions de l’IMEC, edited by Françoise Levaillant exhibition catalogs 2017, « Horreur et rédemption dans l’œuvre de guerre de Zinoview », Alexandre Zinoview. Un peintre russe sur le front français (1914-1918), edited by Cécile Pichon-Bonin et Alexandre Sumpf, Paris, Editions Gallimard ; exhibition at Péronne, Historial de la Grande Guerre, May 18—December 10 2017 https://www.librairie-gallimard.com/livre/9782072721687-alexandre-zinoviev-un-artiste-russe-sur-le-front-occidental-collectif/ 2008, Notes for five artworks in Le Futurisme et Paris, edited by Didier Ottinger, Paris/Milan, Editions du Centre Pompidou/5 Continents, translated into English and Italian; exhibition at the MNAM/Centre Pompidou, October 15, 2008—January 29, 2009 textbooks 2011, French Literature Textbook, High school Junior Year, Paris, Editions Nathan:

Hard copy textbook
Digital textbook with interactive resources (animations, and interactive visual analysis)
Teacher’s book (suggested answers and additional development on the images)

Conferences & Lectures

Organization of conferences and talks November 27th 2024: "Sastuma Hirohachi and his Artistic Circle in Paris in the Interwar Period: Collecting as Politicum”, by Helena Capcova (College of Global Liberal Arts, Ritsumeikan University, Osaka, Japan), Art History Department talks in collaboration with the Student Government at AUP https://aup.campuslabs.com/engage/event/10741967 October 28-October 30th 2024: 5th conference of the ISSS (International Society for the Study of Surrealism) at AUP in partnership with with Julia Drost (Centre allemand d’Histoire de l’art), Fabrice Flahutez ((Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne) and Olivier Penot-Laccassagne (Université Paris 3) https://surrealismstudies.org/2024/10/18/isss-surrealismes-paris-2024-program/ https://www.aup.edu/news-events/news/2024-12-02/prof-iveta-slavkova-brings-global-surrealism-conversations-aup https://szurrealizmus.wordpress.com/2024/11/04/le-surrealisme-en-2024/ June 12-13 2024, “Decolonizing the avant-garde I”, at AUP with Sascha Bru (KU Leuven), Fabrice Flahutez (Université Saint-Etienne) and Isabelle Wünsche (Constructor University Bremen) https://d-ag.weebly.com/paris-2024.html and https://www.aup.edu/news-events/news/2024-07-31/art-history-fine-arts-department-hosts-international-symposium March 22d 2023 , “Biodesign: Crossing Art and Science”, by Natasha Chayamoor-Heil (CNRS/Ecole de la Villette, Paris, France), Art History Department talks in collaboration with the Student Government at AUP April 5th 2022: “Jean Painlevé: Scientist and Surrealist”, by Christina Heflin/University of London, UK), Art History Department talks in collaboration with the Student Government at AUP November 17th-20th 2022, 4th conference of the ISSS (International Society for the Study of Surrealism),virtual, selection committee, https://surrealismstudies.org/isss-surrealisms-2022-call-for-proposals-appel-a-propositions-convocatoria-de-propuestas/ November 11th-14th 2021, 3d conference of the ISSS (International Society for the Study of Surrealism), virtual, selection committee, https://surrealismstudies.org/isss-surrealisms-2021-schedule-and-how-to-join/ Dec. 14-15 2010: International conference “Les années 30: Art et Résistance”, with the Research lab HAR and the journal Dissidences (presentation of the special issue, the articles and authors, debates and round tables), Auditorium of the University of Paris Ouest Academic papers and invited talks December 12 2025, “Le grand magasin de Jacques Audiberti et le cirque de Wols. Phantasmagories d’un monde nouveau après la guerre”, conference 1920-2020: Phantasmagories of war. Forms of antimimesis in the representation of conflict in Western and Eastern literatures, University of Palermo https://www.unipa.it/dipartimenti/cultureesocieta/1920-2020-Fantasmagorie-di-guerra--Convegno-internazionale/ November 27 2025, “Circus Wols”: a Critical utopian Project in Critical times”, conference Art-critical Reflection, Sofia University Saint Kliment Ohridski https://nucci.uni-sofia.bg/news/art-critical-reflections-conference/ May 27 2025, "‘We are building a New World.’ Avant-garde artists and the First World War", invited talk, conference cycle "The artist as Citizen", Credo Bonum Foundation, Sofia https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ9JLWqNZ4b/ September 17 2024: “‘War is particularly humanist and human’. Abhumanism, war, and the zero hour of humanism”, 9th bi-annual conference of the EAM Avant-garde and War, University of Krakow https://eam9.confer.uj.edu.pl/ April 9 2024 “Entre rêve et réalité: le surréalisme et Paris”. Between Dream and Reality: Surrealism and Paris », invited talk at AUBG (American University of Bulgaria), Modern Languages and Arts Department https://www.facebook.com/PanitzaLibrary/posts/entre-r%C3%AAve-et-r%C3%A9alit%C3%A9-le-surr%C3%A9alisme-et-paris-1924-1939between-dream-and-reality/831777982329078/ February 1 2023, « Il n’y a pas d’aventure purement humaine ! » Abhumanism in the context of post-World War II Paris, invited talk at KU Leuven (MDRN lectures) http://www.mdrn.be/news/mdrn-lecture-abhumanism-post-wwii-paris-iveta-slavkova-american-u-paris ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XEtS_U7_JU November 19 2022, “Breaking the body limits: the anti-humanist vision of the self in the abhumanist works of Jacques Audiberti and Camille Bryen”, 4th conference of the ISSS (International Society for the Study of Surrealism), online November 12 2021, “Earth as a Desert: Surrealism and Ecology (revisited)” panel organization and round table with Anne Marie Butler, Donna Roberts, Christina Heflin, Julia Drost, Samantha Kavky, 3d conference of the ISSS (International Society for the Study of Surrealism), online May 26 2021, “Penser le corps corps au-delà de l’humanisme, Jacques Audiberti et l’abhumanisme”, The Politics and Narratives of bodies/Politiques et récits du corps, May 26-28 2021, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (Argentina) and Fernando Gonçalves,Universidade do Estado de Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), online https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxSNNPxkKW8&list=PLcXlcesjzxY_s3nIs0Oqip-tfwm_HvaI9&index=3 February 12 2021: “Earth as a Desert: The Ecology of Surrealism”, Panel chair and organizer with Anne Marie Butler (Kalamazoo College), for the CAA (College Art Association) Annual Meeting 2021, topic “Art and Climate Change”, online November 3d 2020: Presentation of my monograph Réparer l’homme, annual meeting of the “Association des Amis de Jacques Audiberti”, online March 15 2019: “Abhumanism after World-War II Paris: a “Periphery” within a “centre”, Art in the Periphery, Instituto de História Contemporânea da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa e Instituto de História da Arte da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (Lisbon) November 2 2018: “L’homme n’est peut-être pas le centre de l’univers” : Surrealism and Abhumanism, SURREALISMS: Inaugural Conference of the ISSS, Bucknell University Humanities Center September 6 2018: “Abhumanism as realism: assuming cruelty”, Realisms, EAM (The European Network for Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies), University of Münster http://www.eam-europe.be/realisms-avant-garde-university-m%C3%BCnster-2018 March 12 2018, “World War I and Commemoration”, invited talk, seminar Memory and Commemoration in Europe taught by Yael Hirsch, CIEE Paris September 15 2017: “Oscar Schlemmer’s logo for the Bauhaus: the dictate of totalizing unity”, Dictators and degenerates. Modernism, Fascism and the Pursuit of Culture, University College Dublin June 17 2016, « Entre charme et effroi. « Circus Wols », le récit de Wols des années terribles », La France en guerre : cinq « années terribles » 1792-1793 / 1814-1815 / 1870-1871 / 1914-1915 / 1939-1940, University of Clermont-Auvergne July 18 2014: “The Aviator, the Avant-garde and the Great War. The Crossing of the Skies between ultimate spirituality and ultimate potential of destruction”, in Annual Conference of the “Space in Between” Society, London, Institute of English Studies, University of London December 5 2013: “L’aviateur : chevalier éternel, héros moderne, Homme nouveau des avant-gardes”, 1914 : Guerre et avant-garde, Université Paris Nanterre March 15 2013: “La marginalité comme condition de l’art : l’alcoolisme de Wols vu par Sartre”, round table and debate around the publication Les Arts drogués (Presse Universitaires de Paris Ouest), Maison Rouge/Fondation Antoine-de-Galbert, Paris in relation to the exhibition Sous influences. Artistes et psychotropes, 15 février—19 mai 2013 November 21 2012, “Histoire des arts : arts visuels, quelques clefs pour lire les images”, château de Grignan, Châteaux de la Drôme/ Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale September 7 2012: “Rethinking Camille Bryen's Materiality within the Framework of his Own Abhumanist Theory”, in Material meanings, EAM (The European Network for Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies), University of Kent, Canterbury April 11 2011 : “Le futurisme entre propagande et revendication libertaire”, in Art & Propagande : jeux inter-dits/Gevaarlijk spel tussen kunst en propaganda, Auschwitz Foundation/Bibliothèque royale Albertina, Brussels June 7 2010 : “Quelle définition pour l’avant-garde?”, round table “The End of the Avant-Gardes”, invited speaker, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris September 26 2009: “La bouteille de Wols”, in La Création ivre. L’alcool comme métaphore, moteur et motif artistique (16-20e siècles), Institut National d’Histoire de l’art (INHA), Paris July 2 2009: “The New Man and Humanism: Back to the Difference between Dada and Futurism”, in Back to the Futurists: Avant-Gardes 1909-2009, Queen Mary University London, University of London, Swansea University October 17 2008: “The Saatchi Collection between Art Loving and Self-interested Investment”, Modernity of Collections, Center of Contemporary Art, Torun August 18 2007: “Dalí entre 1925-1929. Le désir n’est pas humaniste”, Dalí. Sur les traces d’Eros, Cerisy-la-Salle February 3 2007, “Détruire le sujet pour construire une communauté nouvelle. Réflexion sur Dada et le politique”, La Destruction et l’avant-garde, Institut National d’Histoire de l’art (INHA), Paris October 12 2006: “La Révolution surréaliste démythifie l’humanisme”, seminar Fabrique surréaliste, Centre de recherche sur le surréalisme, Université de Paris 3 March 6-9 2002, “Circus Wols, un projet de Wols au camp des Milles”, Les Ecrits d’artistes depuis 1940, École Normale Supérieure (Paris)/IMEC (Caen) April 5 2001: “Wols entre la France et l’Allemagne”, conference and round table, Centre allemand d’Histoire de l’art (Paris) Museums and General Public (most recent)

Affiliations

Now-2025: Member of the Research Lab ECLLA – Études du Contemporain en Littératures, Langues, Arts, University of Saint-Etienne
Now-2024: Member of the Editorial Board of EAM series, De Gruyter, Berlin
Now-2018: Member of the ISSS (International Society for the Study of Surrealism)

Nominated for Vice-President in 2022

Now-2017: Member of the association “Les Amis de Jacques Audiberti”
Now-2016: Member of the Editorial Board of 20/21, Presses universitaires de Paris Ouest
Now-2016: Accredited as “Conférencier national” by the French Ministry of Culture
Now-2012: Member of the “European Network for Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies” (EAM)
2018-2012, Member of the Research Lab “Histoire de l’art et des représentations” HAR, (EA 3461, Paris-Ouest-Nanterre)
2001-2012, Member of the Research Lab “Cultural and Social History of Art”, HiCSA (EA 4100, Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne)