Henk
Slager (1960) studied philosophy, art history and literary theory at both
the University of Amsterdam and Amsterdam's Free University. In 1989, he earned
a Ph.D. (University of Amsterdam) writing an art philosophical thesis entitled
Formalistic Temperament.
From 1989 to 1993, he was involved in a project researching the foundations
of art and cultural science for Brussels' Free University. His publications
In the Twilight of the Sacred (with Hubert Dethier) and Archeology of Art Theory
were in keeping with this line of research. Afterwards, his interest shifted
from academic (theoretical) aesthetics to an (experimental) theorizing related
to the practice of contemporary art.
In 1993 he established the Global Vernunft foundation which organizes and executes
projects (exhibitions, symposia, publications) concerning the interface of philosophy
and contemporary art. The journal L&B (Lier en Boog), Series of Philosophy of
Art and Art Theory is an annual publication of Global Vernunft and the Dutch
Society of Aesthetics edited by Henk Slager and Annette W. Balkema. L&B seeks
to develop a parallel discourse investigating current themes related to contemporary
visual art and theory involving philosophers, theorists, artists, curators and
architects.
Since 1994, Henk Slager has been teaching philosophy of art at the postgraduate
curatorial training program (De Appel), Amsterdam.
Since 2001 he is professor of Aesthetics at the Higher Insitute of Fine Arts,
Antwerp. He is a board member (Ass. Secretary General) of the IAA (International
Association for Aesthetics).