Exhibition
Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott
06/30/22-10/09/22
Conversations · Exhibition-Related · Exhibition-Related
Coming to Terms: Robert Colescott
Join legendary curator and art historian Lowery Stokes Sims for a panel discussion featuring Mimi Roberts and artist Carrie Mae Weems. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition “Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott,” this conversation will explore Robert Colescott’s far-reaching impact on art and culture.
This conversation is co-hosted by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
Watch
About the Speakers
Mimi Roberts (b. 1952, St. Louis, Missouri) is a cultural freelancer based in Santa Fe, NM. In 1996, Roberts was selected as the U.S. Commissioner for the Venice Biennale where she organized an exhibition of paintings by Robert Colescott. This presentation of Colescott’s work was the first time an African American artist represented the United States in Venice in a monographic exhibition, which included the New Museum’s loan of the 1987 painting The Star: A View from the Pinnacle. Ms. Roberts has a BA in Comparative Culture from University of California at Irvine (1975), where as a student she first encountered racism and gender bias in museums, and for better or worse made the decision to enter the museum profession and work for change. In 1977, she received an MA in art history with a concentration in museum studies from the George Washington University in DC, which was preceded in 1975 by a fellowship in the Whitney Museum Helena Rubinstein Independent Study Program, including an introduction to art world controversy and two special memories, the feeling of awe riding the elevator with curator Marcia Tucker who was working on the incredible Richard Tuttle show that got her fired, and being mentored by Lucy Lippard.
Lowery Stokes Sims is an independent curator and art historian. A distinguished institutional leader, she previously held posts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Museum of Arts and Design. She has taught, curated, and published nationally and internationally. In 1991, she received the Frank Jewitt Mather Award for art criticism from the College Art Association. Stokes Sims was named one of the Influential Curators of 2016 by Artsy, and was the Kress Beinecke Professor, 2021–22 at The Center, National Gallery of Art. She earned a PhD in art history from the Graduate School of City University of New York.
Carrie Mae Weems (b. 1953, Portland, OR) is a visual artist who lives and works in Syracuse, NY. Through image, text, film, performance, and her many convenings with individuals across a multitude of disciplines, Carrie Mae Weems has created a complex body of art that investigates family relationships, gender roles, racism, and the consequences of power. Recent exhibitions include “Carrie Mae Weems: The Evidence of Things Not Seen,” Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany (2022), “Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue,” Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, MI (2022), and her large-scale installation “The Shape of Things,” Park Avenue Armory, New York (2021). Weems is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery and is currently Artist in Residence at Syracuse University. She holds a BFA from the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, and an MFA in photography from the University of California, San Diego.
Accessibility
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Sponsors
Support for Education and Public Engagement programs is provided, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
We gratefully acknowledge the Bowery Council of the New Museum for its support of Education and Public Engagement Programs.
Endowment support is provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; the Skadden, Arps Education Programs Fund; and the William Randolph Hearst Endowed Fund for Education Programs at the New Museum.
Support for “Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott” can be viewed here.
