Moma Talks: Conversations

Introduction and Alejandro Cesarco Monday, May 09, 2011 12:00 PM Join us for Artists Present at Noon, the second in a special two-part series of talks by contemporary artists. In sessions consisting of short and dynamic presentations of 20 images, 25 seconds per image, loosely modeled on an informal Japanese presentation style, artists discuss their work, creative process, and other issues in contemporary art, followed by a moderated discussion. This session will focus on artists who create and present work that moves beyond the object, from publications and events to public talks and writing.

Friday, May 6, 2011 1:00–5:00 PM This half-day symposium centers on the potential of the print as a medium for the dissemination of art and ideas. We will address the print’s ability to represent formal innovations and aesthetic goals, to communicate issues of war and national pride, and to appear alongside news, commentary, and literature in publications and periodicals. Moderated by exhibition curator, Starr Figura, Associate Curator, Prints & Illustrated Books, MoMA. Held in conjunction with the exhibition German Expressionism: The Graphic Impulse. Program Schedule 
1:05–1:20 p.m. Welcome and introduction, Starr Figura 
1:20–1:45 p.m. Meike Hoffmann, Kunsthistorisches Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, "Early Expressionism between the Artist and the Audience" 
1:45–2:10 p.m. Christian Weikop, Visiting Lecturer, University of Edinburgh, "‘Arboreal Expressionism:’ The Wood Culture of the Brücke Artists" 
2:10–2:35 p.m. Timothy O. Benson, Curator, The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist

April 04, 2011 12:00 PM Join us for Artists Present at Noon, a special two-part series of talks by 10 artists. In sessions consisting of short and dynamic presentations of 20 images, 25 seconds per image, loosely modeled on an informal Japanese presentation style, artists discuss their work, creative process, and other issues in contemporary art, followed by a moderated discussion. This session will focus on contemporary abstract painters. Presenting artists on April 4 include Keltie Ferris, Jaya Howey, Jacob Kassay, Zak Prekop, and Patricia Treib. Moderated by Peter Eleey, Curator, MoMA PS1.

March 03, 2011 06:00 PM Writer John Giorno, who conceived of the Giorno Poetry Systems, will read his own poetic works inspired by the life and times of Andy Warhol, followed by artist Conrad Ventur screening his contemporary screen test films. John Giorno was a subject of Warhol’s original screen tests. A conversation to follow moderated by director of MoMA PS1 and exhibition curator Klaus Biesenbach.

February 25, 2011 01:00 PM In conjunction with the exhibition Abstract Expressionist New York, MoMA presents New Perspectives on Abstract Expressionism: A Young Scholars’ Panel. The following four international graduate students have been selected to present their papers which uncover new scholarship, interpretations, approaches, and analysis of Abstract Expressionism: Leanne Carroll, University of Toronto “From Motherwell’s Tragedy, Newman’s Alienation, and Reinhardt’s Isolation to the Minimalist’s Renown: On the Reception of Artist-Writers” Eileen Costello, The University of Texas at Austin “Beyond the Easel: The Dissolution of Abstract Expressionist Painting into the Realm of Architecture” Michelle DuBois, Boston University “New Demarcations for Old: Refining and Redefining Abstract Expressionism Vis-à-vis a Consideration of the Willard Gallery Artists” Valerie Hellstein, Stony Brook University “Abstract Expressionism’s Countercultures: The Club, the Cold War, and the New Sensibility” The panel’s s

Abstract Expressionism Reconsidered: A Roundtable Discussion Thursday, March 10, 2011, 6:30 p.m. Theater 3 The work of the Abstract Expressionists during the postwar period in New York was characterized by the deep conviction that contemporary painting could be not only a vehicle for personal expression, but also a form of spiritual experience. Artists Brice Marden and Tauba Auerbach and anthropologist Michael Taussig discuss the continuing relevance and implications of this viewpoint. Laura Hoptman, curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture, moderates the discussion.

Housing crises repeatedly plagued poor, often minority Americans during the twentieth century, from overcrowded, unsanitary speculative tenement buildings to crime-ridden high-rise public housing projects. The architectural failings of much low-income housing, such as inadequate ventilation, deficient plumbing, shoddy construction, and insensitive site planning, were usually accompanied by even more spectacular social failings—racism, sexism, and xenophobia are all written into the history of public housing, even if inadvertently. For example, the design of modern "tower in a park" housing projects ostensibly provided more light, air, and open space to the urban poor, but the oversized, monotonous buildings and surrounding vacant land also stigmatized the residents by identifying their economic status and isolating them from "normal" society. This lecture investigates the successes and failures of various low-income housing types—from row houses to tenements to high-rise towers—and suggests ways in which thei

Wednesday, February 2, 2011, 6:00 p.m. Theater 3 (The Celeste Bartos Theater), mezzanine, The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building Revitalizing Frank O'Hara's legacy and MoMA's historical commitment to poetry, this series invites poets and performers to bring the literary tradition to the Museum's collection. They read historical works and their own work that reflects on modern and contemporary art. Artists throughout the last century have pushed line across the plane and into real space, thus questioning the relation between the art object and the world. The exhibition On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century addresses the transformation of drawing, mark making, and gesture, as well as the role of the political line in art and everyday life. On this special evening, Cecilia Vicuña selects international poets to read their own works about the political line, a theme explored in On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century. In addition to Vicuña, participants include poet

Wednesday, January 26, 2011, 6:00 p.m. Theater 3 (The Celeste Bartos Theater), mezzanine, The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building Wendy Jeffers, curator, independent scholar and at work on a biography of Dorothy Miller titled Dorothy Miller and the Making of the Americans, and Brad Gooch, Professor of English at William Paterson University and author of City Poet: The Life and Times of Frank O’Hara (1994), explore the roles of two MoMA curators, Dorothy Miller, MoMA’s first curator (1934-1969) and Frank O’Hara, special assistant to the International Program (1955-1960) and curator of Painting and Sculpture (1960-66), who were great champions of the Abstract Expressionist artists. In conjunction with the exhibition Abstract Expressionist New York

Part 2 of 2 This half-day symposium, held in conjunction with the exhibition On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century, explores the extended field of drawing by analyzing the development of line throughout the century in two panel discussions. "From On Line to Online,” moderated by Catherine de Zegher, co-curator of the exhibition, features artists Anna Maria Maiolino, Julie Mehretu, Jean Fisher, Professor of Fine Art and Transcultural Studies, Middlesex University and writer on contemporary art, and Luis Camnitzer, Professor Emeritus at University of the State of New York. "The Performative Line,” moderated by Connie Butler, MoMA's Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings and co-curator of the exhibition, includes Benjamin Buchloh, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Modern Art, Harvard University; Ralph Lemon, artist and choreographer; Nick Kaye, Dean, College of Humanities & Chair in Performance Studies, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, England; and Janet Kraynak, Assistant Professo

Part 1 of 2 This half-day symposium, held in conjunction with the exhibition On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century, explores the extended field of drawing by analyzing the development of line throughout the century in two panel discussions. "From On Line to Online,” moderated by Catherine de Zegher, co-curator of the exhibition, features artists Anna Maria Maiolino, Julie Mehretu, Jean Fisher, Professor of Fine Art and Transcultural Studies, Middlesex University and writer on contemporary art, and Luis Camnitzer, Professor Emeritus at University of the State of New York. "The Performative Line,” moderated by Connie Butler, MoMA's Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings and co-curator of the exhibition, includes Benjamin Buchloh, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Modern Art, Harvard University; Ralph Lemon, artist and choreographer; Nick Kaye, Dean, College of Humanities & Chair in Performance Studies, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, England; and Janet Kraynak, Assistant Professo

Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 6:00 p.m. Theater 3 (The Celeste Bartos Theater), mezzanine, The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building Join leading contemporary artists as they discuss their work, the creative process, and issues in contemporary art. Andrea Zittel and Lisa Anne Auerbach discuss High Desert Test Sites and other alternative spaces for experimental works by both emerging and established artists. Moderated by Peter Reed, Senior Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs.

Thursday, November 11, 2010, 6:00 p.m. Theater 3 (The Celeste Bartos Theater), mezzanine, The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building Architect Francis Kéré’s design for a school in Gando, Burkina Faso, and artist Harun Farocki’s documentary film In Comparison (2009), are featured in the exhibition Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement (October 3, 2010-January 3, 2011). Both projects address traditions of brick production. In this evening’s program, Kéré and Farocki discuss the social issues surrounding the construction—with local materials and human labor—of Kéré’s school and a Burkina Faso-based clinic that Farocki filmed. Architect Toshiko Mori moderates the discussion. In conjunction with the exhibition Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement

Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 6:00 p.m. Theater 1 (The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1), T1 Neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks reads from his book The Island of the Colorblind, elaborating on oceanic islands, evolution, and plant life, and the illustrated publications that first shaped his passion for plants and science. The reading coincides with the publication of The Island of Rota, a limited-edition book published by the Library Council of The Museum of Modern Art to benefit MoMA's Library and Museum Archives. Coming out in late fall 2010, The Island of Rota unites a chapter of Sacks's The Island of the Colorblind that is focused on the ancient ferns and cycads found on a geographically isolated Micronesian Island with original photographs by Abelardo Morell and design by Ted Muehling.

Monday, November 8, 2010, 6:00 p.m. Theater 3 (The Celeste Bartos Theater), mezzanine, The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building Join leading contemporary artists as they discuss their work, the creative process, and issues in contemporary art. Mark Dion and J. Morgan Puett invite writer and critic Alastair Gordon to discuss Mildred’s Lane, a long-term experiment in large-scale project-, research-, and event-based practices with a living museum and an educational institution. Moderated by MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010, 6:00 p.m. Matisse's art continues to be popular, but also to be misunderstood as an art of hedonistic pleasure. This lecture, presented by John Elderfield, Chief Curator Emeritus, Department of Painting and Sculpture, and organizer of the exhibition Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917, explores the important lessons that Matisse's art, and his attitudes towards it, continue to teach us more than a century after he burst into public attention. In conjunction with the exhibition Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917

Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 6:00 p.m. This panel discussion is moderated by Roxana Marcoci, curator of the exhibition, The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today. Panelists include George Baker, Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Vice Chair, UCLA Department of Art History; Mark Godfrey, Curator, Tate Modern; Sarah Hamill, Assistant Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, Oberlin College; and Rachel Harrison, artist.

Part I of a series of talks by ten artists represented in MoMA PS1's Greater New York 2010 , (May 23–October 18), an exhibition of work by artists in the New York metropolitan area who engage in a wide range of art practices and mediums. In sessions consisting of short and dynamic presentations of twenty images, twenty-five seconds per image, loosely modeled on an informal Japanese presentation style, artists discuss their work, their creative process, and other issues in contemporary art. Presenting artists include Xaviera Simmons, David Benjamin Sherry, Pinar Yolaçan, Erin Shirreff, and Michele Abeles. Moderated by Christopher Lew, Manager of Curatorial Affairs, Exhibition Funding Liaison, MoMA PS1.

Part I of a series of talks by ten artists represented in MoMA PS1's Greater New York 2010 , (May 23–October 18), an exhibition of work by artists in the New York metropolitan area who engage in a wide range of art practices and mediums. In sessions consisting of short and dynamic presentations of twenty images, twenty-five seconds per image, loosely modeled on an informal Japanese presentation style, artists discuss their work, their creative process, and other issues in contemporary art. Presenting artists include Xaviera Simmons, David Benjamin Sherry, Pinar Yolaçan, Erin Shirreff, and Michele Abeles. Moderated by Christopher Lew, Manager of Curatorial Affairs, Exhibition Funding Liaison, MoMA PS1.

Part I of a series of talks by ten artists represented in MoMA PS1's Greater New York 2010 , (May 23–October 18), an exhibition of work by artists in the New York metropolitan area who engage in a wide range of art practices and mediums. In sessions consisting of short and dynamic presentations of twenty images, twenty-five seconds per image, loosely modeled on an informal Japanese presentation style, artists discuss their work, their creative process, and other issues in contemporary art. Presenting artists include Xaviera Simmons, David Benjamin Sherry, Pinar Yolaçan, Erin Shirreff, and Michele Abeles. Moderated by Christopher Lew, Manager of Curatorial Affairs, Exhibition Funding Liaison, MoMA PS1.