Spring 2011
AdmissionAll lectures begin at 6:00 p.m. in SAIC’s Columbus Auditorium, 280 South Columbus Drive (unless otherwise noted).
Call 312.899.5185 or visit www.saic.edu/vap to confirm times and locations.
Spring 2011 Lecture Series
February 7:José Muñoz
José Muñoz is the Chair of the Performance Studies Department at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. His publications include various articles and the monographs Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics, Cruising Utopia: the Then and There of Queer Futurity, and the forthcoming The Sense of Brown. This presentation is supported in part by DePaul University, LGBTQ Studies Program.
February 28: Lisa Freiman
Lisa D. Freiman is Senior Curator and Chair of the Department of Contemporary Art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. During her eight-year tenure there, Freiman has created a renowned contemporary art program that has influenced encyclopedic museums engaging in the art of our time. In the fall of 2010, Freiman was appointed by the United States Department of State to be commissioner of the U.S. Pavilion for the 54th Venice Biennale, opening June 2011.
March 8: Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series: Kori Newkirk
Los Angeles-based SAIC alumnus Kori Newkirk (BFA 1993) creates multimedia paintings, sculptural installations, and photographs that transform his materials into gestures toward the semiotics of cultural identity and his own personal/familial history. His work explores the meaning of the materials, bringing to light the ways in which the implications may be transformed as they are forged through cultural context.
March 10: Yael Bartana
Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.
Free for SAIC students
A recent recipient of the Artes Mundi prize, Amsterdam- and Tel Aviv-based artist Yael Bartana creates slippery, sophisticated films and videos that reflect upon contemporary Israeli culture, the ideas and rituals that bind its citizens together, and its larger geopolitical context. Drawing upon ethnographic traditions, utopian Soviet-style propaganda, and historical reenactment, Bartana’s work provocatively shuttles between irony and sincerity, playfulness and dead seriousness to examine relationships between the individual and the state.
March 31: Tobias Putrih
Slovenia-born artist Tobias Putrih creates sculptures and installations that use everyday materials such as cardboard and Styrofoam to address architecture and structure, positing models for different uses and forms of inhabited space. His work was included in the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007) and the 29th São Paulo Biennale (2010), and has also been included in group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art (New York), MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA), and the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven).
April 12: Wangechi Mutu
The work of Kenya-born, New York-based artist Wangechi Mutu is a visceral response to her critiques of gender, culture, and mass-media imagery. Exploring the female body as a site of engagement and provocation, Mutu’s work samples imagery from disparate sources—medical diagrams, fashion magazines, anthropology and botany texts, pornography, and traditional African arts. Mutu has recently exhibited at Deutsche Guggenheim, Art Gallery of Ontario, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Miami Art Museum.
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About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)
A nationally accredited leader in educating artists, designers, and scholars since 1866, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) offers undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate programs to nearly 3,200 students from across the globe. Located in the heart of Chicago, SAIC has an educational philosophy built upon a multidisciplinary approach to art and design, giving students unparalleled opportunities to develop their creative and critical abilities, while working with renowned faculty who include many of the leading practitioners in their fields. SAIC’s resources include the Art Institute of Chicago and its new Modern Wing; numerous special collections and programming venues provide students with exceptional exhibitions, screenings, lectures, and performances. For more information, please visit www.saic.edu.
