Duologues On Kawara
February 24, March 24, March 31, and April 28, 2015, 6:30pm
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
5th Ave at 89th St
New York City
Duologues On Kawara
In conjunction with On Kawara—Silence, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum will host a range of public programs. Conceived by exhibition curator Jeffrey Weiss, the discussion series Duologues On Kawara positions the artist within a global, interdisciplinary context. The dynamic pairing of talks are followed by framed conversations on specific aspects of Kawara’s work, encompassing diverse topics such as language, travel, politics, pictorial abstraction, and the theme of the “everyday.”
All events of the series Duologues On Kawara include a viewing of On Kawara—Silence and a wine reception in the Guggenheim rotunda.
Free for students with advanced RSVP.
Tom McCarthy and Simon Critchley
February 24, 6:30pm
Novelist Tom McCarthy and philosopher Simon Critchley, cofounders of the semi-fictitious International Necronautical Society, discuss identity, authenticity, fragmentation, mortality, silence, and the absurd elements of Kawara’s practice as aspects of the construction of the self that is both real and abstract. McCarthy will also read selections related to these topics from his new book, Satin Island, and Critchley will provide insights from his new work of semi-fiction, Memory Theatre. For tickets, click here.
David Batchelor and Briony Fer
March 24, 6:30pm
Artist David Batchelor and art historian Briony Fer come together to consider Kawara’s Today series of Date Paintings through the lenses of the practical, aesthetic, and conceptual history of color in the context of modern and postmodern pictorial abstraction. For tickets, click here.
Emily Jacir and Nikos Papastergiadis
March 31, 6:30pm
Drawing upon themes of tourism, migration, displacement, and exile, transnational artist Emily Jacir and internationally renowned cultural historian Nikos Papastergiadis shed light upon Kawara’s practice with a discussion about the strategic function of travel, the artist’s studio as an unfixed site, and personal, social, and political identity. For tickets, click here.
Alfredo Jaar and Tom McDonough
April 28, 6:30pm
This conversation will focus on two themes that surface when considering the political context of Kawara’s practice: the post-Conceptual representation of world events such as war; and the Situationist model of socio-cultural critique concerning the “practice of everyday life.” Artist and activist Alfredo Jaar and writer and critic Tom McDonough discuss these themes in relation to their own projects. For tickets, click here.
Participants
David Batchelor is a London–based artist and writer whose vibrant two- and three-dimensional work relates to a long-term interest in color and urbanism.
Simon Critchley is a philosopher and the Hans Jonas Professor at The New School for Social Research.
Briony Fer is a curator, critic, and Professor of History of Art at the University College London who has written extensively on 20th-century and contemporary art.
Alfredo Jaar is a New York–based artist, architect, and filmmaker whose multidisciplinary practice explores a range of social and political issues tied to globalism.
Emily Jacir is a conceptual artist, activist, poet, and archivist based in the Mediterranean who is renowned for works that address resistance, movement, transformation, and questions of translation.
Tom McCarthy is a writer and artist who explores the intersection of art, philosophy, and literature in his work.
Tom McDonough is a writer, critic, and Associate Professor of Art History at Binghamton University, State University of New York, whose work examines art and politics in the postwar era.
Nikos Papastergiadis is a cultural theorist, writer, and Professor of Cultural Studies and Media & Communications at the University of Melbourne. His recent publications include Cosmopolitanism and Culture (2012), Spatial Aesthetics (2006), and Metaphor and Tension (2004).
More On Kawara events
Eye To Eye: David Reed
Tuesday, April 14, 6:30pm
Abstract artist and educator David Reed leads an intimate tour of On Kawara—Silence, sharing his deep perspective from a lifetime of close looking at contemporary art. For tickets, click here.
One Million Years
Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, 11am–5pm
This monumental series consists of two groups of volumes, One Million Years: Past and One Million Years: Future, with pages listing past and future years, respectively. Since its first public reading in 1993 at the Dia Center for the Arts, New York, live readings of One Million Years have occurred around the world, each recitation picking up where the last left off. For this reading, one male and one female reader will be seated at a table on the ground floor of the Guggenheim rotunda and will take turns reading dates from the two works. Free with museum admission.
Curator’s Eye Tour
On Kawara—Silence with exhibition curator Anne Wheeler
Friday, March 13, noon
Meets at the Membership Desk
Free with museum admission
The Leadership Committee for On Kawara—Silence is gratefully acknowledged for its support, with special thanks to David Zwirner, New York/London; Glenstone; Leonard and Louise Riggio; and Konrad Fischer Galerie, Düsseldorf and Berlin.
This exhibition is also supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
