Fall 2009 Speakers and Visiting Artists
Ryla T. and John F. Lott Endowment Funded Program
Dr. James Elkins: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 7:00 PM in English 106
Title: "The Place of Language in Visual Art"
The School of Art proudly presents Dr. James Elkins, E.C. Chadbourne Professor & Chair in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism, School of the Art Institute of Chicago as the Ryla T. & John F. Lott Endowment for Excellence in the Arts Scholar in Residence this fall. James Elkins is an internationally recognized scholar in the areas of art history, art criticism, photography, visual studies and many more. He is the author of twenty-eight books, hundreds of essays and articles, and has been a speaker at conferences around the world.
Earlier This Semester
Art History Faculty Lectures (7:00 PM in Art B-01)
Each fall, Art History Faculty members present short lectures on their current research. Lecture topics this fall will include Pre-Columbian, Contemporary Chinese, and a history of exhibition practices in early 20th century USA.
Dr. Kevin Chua: Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Title: "Public Intimacy, or the Discipline of Affect in China"
Modern and contemporary discourse often revolves around the notion of a “public,” a group of individuals able to make rational, informed decisions, and then act on these decisions for the good of society. Yet what belies such a utopian ideal of politics are ‘difficult’ affects like envy, hate, revenge, and shame, which hug the underside of the public sphere. This paper will explore the problem of shame from the Cultural Revolution into contemporary Chinese art, by looking at a set of works by Zhao Yannian, Xing Danwen, Li Shan, Liu Xiaodong, and Liu Rentao. If, for philosophers like Habermas, we move from “prepolitical” affects to a “political” public, how might we turn this assumption around, to rediscover the intrinsic politicality of affect?
Dr. Jorgelina Orfila: Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Title: "Before the “White Cube”: Maud Dale’s Approach to Modern Art Display"
The experiments in modern art display prompted by the growing interest in modern art in the United States during the interwar period were part of a larger cultural struggle to define modernity and what was modern about American culture. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., first director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, developed a purportedly scientific, rational approach to art display that became known as the “white cube.” This was one of the strategies that cemented this museum’s standing as the paradigmatic international institution devoted to the installation and collecting of modern art. This paper analyzes Maud Dale’s installations of the collection of French modern art she assembled with her husband, Chester Dale, in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Hers was one of the approaches to the display of modern art that thrived in New York before the institutionalization of MoMA’s “white cube.” The analysis of this case study helps us to gain a better comprehension of the experimental models and fluctuating definitions of modern art that flourished in the American art world of the 1930s.
Dr. Carolyn Tate: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Title: “Niñopa: The miracle-working baby of Mexico City”
Around 1000 BC, people along the shores of Lake Chalco in the highland Valley of Mexico used lifesize hollow babies, made of clay, as a ritual focus. These “Olmec” hollow babies are masterworks of ceramic art but their significance is still a mystery. To better understand how they might have been used, Dr Tate explores a possible connection with a contemporary hollow baby of wood, known as Niñopa. This sculpture of an infant Jesus has been tended for at least 500 years by the parishioners of Xochimilco — a town less than two miles away from the ancient epicenter of hollow baby manufacture, Tlapacoya. Devout families sponsor Niñopa for a year in their homes— and the waiting list for sponsorship is currently more than 40 years long!
Fall Speaker's Series
The Fall Speakers Series brings a selection of top artists, curators, and critics from around the US to provide lectures and to meet with students and faculty. All lectures are at 7:00 PM in Art B-01, unless otherwise specified.
G. Daniel Massad, Philadelphia painter (Thursday, September 24, 2009)
Born in Oklahoma, Massad is currently serving as artist-in-residence at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA, where he teaches. His primary medium is pastel and he is known for his meticulously detailed, highly personal still lifes. Many of his works are part of public collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., and The Art Institute of Chicago. Massad received an MFA in 1982 from the University of Kansas. Prior to receiving his MFA, he earned a bachelor's degree in English from Princeton and a master's degree in English from the University of Chicago.
Dick Lane, Gallery Talk, Monday, October 5 at 4:30pm in SRO Photo Gallery
Lane’s series, Kirlian Photographs, uses high-voltage, low-current electricity to create glowing, colorful portraits of plant life. These photographs bring the invisible into view, while making references to the electro-chemical processes in all living beings. Lane feels that the images speak to the theory that life on earth began in a primordial soup literally sparked to life by atmospheric lightning. Lane is currently an Instructor of Photography at Texas Christian University and holds an MFA from the University of Florida, Gainsville, FL. He has exhibited nationally and internationally.
Greg Metz, Dallas sculptor, installation & performance artist (Thursday, October 15, 2009)
Metz is a senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Dallas as well as an internationally known sculptor and installation/performance artist. His efforts led to the founding of The MAC, an alternative arts organization and performance center in Dallas, TX. His work is political in nature and issue oriented, focusing on art as propaganda. Metz received his MFA in printmaking from Indiana University in 1984.
Hills Snyder, Artist's Lecture, October 19, 2009 at 6:00pm in B-01
Artist's Lecture :: Word to Your Mothra
Hills Snyder explores history and myth through installations that playfully combine arcane and pop cultural references. Snyder's propensity for punning, coupled with his interest in means of making sense (and nonsense), infuse his work with insights that transcend everyday ironies to touch on universal themes. Born in Lubbock, TX, in 1950, Hills Snyder currently resides in Helotes, TX. He has exhibited extensively and internationally.
Exhibitions and visiting speakers programs at the School of Art are supported by generous grants from the Helen Jones Foundation and The CH Foundation, both of Lubbock. Additional support comes from Cultural Activities Fees administered through the College of Visual & Performing Arts.