James Yood was Associate Professor of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also taught contemporary art theory and criticism at Northwestern University, where he was Lecturer and Assistant Chairperson in the department of Art Theory and Practice. Active as an art critic and essayist on contemporary art, he was a Chicago correspondent to Artforum, and he also wrote for Glass magazine, American Craft, and Art and Auction.
Educated at the University of Wisconsin and at the University of Chicago, he gave public lectures on issues in modern art at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Terra Museum of American Art, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Madison Art Center, and at many other venues. He also served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Among his books are Spirited Visions: Portraits of Chicago Artists (1991), Feasting: A Celebration of Food in Art (1992), Gladys Nilsson (1995), Second Sight: Printmaking in Chicago (1935-95) (1996), and William Morris: Animal/Artifact (2001).
