HYBRID PROGRAM: IN-PERSON AND STREAMING ONLINE

An Art History of Materials III

Kerr Houston, professor of art history, theory and criticism, Maryland Institute College of Art

This lecture, the third in a series of three, will explore the place of materiality in contemporary art, theory, and art history. Since 2001, when Bill Brown popularized the term “thing theory”, artistic objects and materials have been newly conceptualized in dazzling ways, and artists have turned to non-traditional materials in order to challenge familiar patterns and explore emergent possibilities. Together, we will look at examples of work by artists such as Brian Jungen, Suchitra Mattai, and Wangechi Mutu, consider recent writings by critics and historians centrally interested in materiality, and ponder the challenges posed to curators and conservationists, who are now confronted with an increasingly dizzying range of non-traditional materials. In the process, we’ll also begin to wrap up this lecture series by thinking collectively about how artists’ uses of materials in art have evolved, and about how a history of materials might continue to develop in the future.

$15 fee for guests and subscribers (no fee for members)