Upcoming Lectures

All events are held at the SVA Theatre
333 West 23rd Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues),
New York, NY 10011
Click here for a map

Our Spring 2013 Lectures:

Cinema was the universal culture of the 20th century. But that was then, before Jurassic Park and The Matrix, not to mention videogames, digitally projected gallery installations, and YouTube. Is the cinema, as we knew it (or thought we did) over, or has it only suffered a narcissistic wound? Film critic and author J. Hoberman discusses some of the issues raised in his new book Film After Film: Or, What Became of 21st Century Cinema?

A conversation between Cynthia Carr and Lynne Tillman about Carr’s acclaimed biography and cultural history, Fire in the Belly. Novelist, short story writer, and critic Lynne Tillman says: “Fire in the Belly is a richly researched, thorough investigation of David Wojnarowicz’s life and times. It is also a cultural memoir, a history of an important subculture during the devastating AIDS years in New York City. Carr’s intimate knowledge of the period makes her fascinating, beautifully written narrative not only exceptional, but also groundbreaking.”

As a writer, you meet a subject that challenges preconceptions you didn’t know you had and raises emotions you didn’t expect to feel. Confusion. Paralysis. How do you start? Then where do you go? Is where you go “art criticism?” Is “art criticism” a bigger thing than you thought? Reflections on writing about Africa by Holland Cotter, co-chief art critic and senior writer at the New York Times, and winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

For most of 2012, Shelley Rice was the “Invited Blogger” for the online magazine of Paris’ contemporary art museum Jeu de Paume. Pronounced with a funky American accent, the museum’s name sounds like jus de pomme: apple juice. Since the blog was based in New York City but published in Paris, “Apple Juice” became its in-house nickname. A veteran of the Downtown NY Scene of the 1970s and 1980s, Rice wrote columns for the Village Voice, the Soho Weekly News, and Artforum. She’ll discuss the similarities and differences, pros and cons, high points and low of her various forays into arts journalism.

Sponsored by:
MFA Art Criticism & Writing Department
David Levi Strauss, Chair