Gallery Events

Jeanette May is a photo-based artist using a critical, sometimes playful, approach to investigate representation. Early training as a painter is evident in her carefully arranged compositions and rich color palette. May’s photographs are constructed, staged, lit, and carefully considered. Her recent still life projects confront the anxiety surrounding technological obsolescence. May received her MFA in Photography from CalArts and her BFA in Painting from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has been awarded grants, fellowships, and residencies from the NEA Regional Artists’ Projects Fund, Brooklyn Arts Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Illinois Arts Council, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, and Ms. Foundation. Her work is exhibited in galleries and museums internationally, including New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, Milan, Athens, Barcelona, and Shanghai. May lives in Brooklyn, NY. Visit her website at www.jeanettemay.com. To attend this Zoom lecture, register here

Christiane Feser works in ongoing series of unique three-dimensional photo objects that are assemblages of repeated forms and shadows represented through photography and construction. Simultaneously representational constructions and optical experiments, they lead us to question what has form and what is a representation of that form. The repeated forms are assembled in dense patterns and collectively evoke an abstract work that seems filled with an organic energy. Ultimately the work is sculptural, expanding our visual vocabulary and our perception of dimensions. Feser was born in Würzburg, Germany in 1977. She studied photography at the Offenbach University of Art and Design in Germany. Feser recently had a retrospective of her career to date at the Opelvillen, Rüsselheim, Germany and was included in the 2018 exhibition Cut! Paper Play in Contemporary Photography at The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Brown University, Rhode Island, Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, DZ Bank Kunstsammlung, Frankfurt, Mönchehaus Museum, Goslar, Sentrum für Kunst and Medien, Karlsruhe, Fundacion Juan March, Madrid, CCPC-Cisnero Collection, New York and Fotografische Sammlung Schloss Kummerow, among others. The artist lives and works in Frankfurt, Germany. Visit her website at www.christianefeser.de. To attend this Zoom lecture, register here

Ryan Mendoza (b. 1971, New York City) is an American artist who lives and works between Berlin, Germany, and Sicily, Italy. Ryan’s work has been exhibited widely in numerous exhibitions throughout The United States,England,Germany,Belgium,the Netherlands, Italy,The Czech Republic,and Japan.In 2016 Ryan was ranked as one of the 500 Most Successful US artists born after 1966 by Artnet. Visit his website at ryan-mendoza.com. To attend this Zoom lecture, register here.

Filsoofi is a multi-disciplinary artist. Her work utilizes ancient and contemporary art media: ceramics, poetry, ambient sound, and video to address issues regarding the human condition to provide a holistic sensory experience for viewers. Filsoofi is an Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Vanderbilt University in the Department of Art. Visit her website at rahelehfilsoofi.com. To attend this Zoom lecture, please pre-register here.

Examining works featured in the exhibition as well as a number of others, this talk traces the interrelated development of an infrastructure for art in the United States during the nineteenth century and the social and political character of the artistic production it facilitated. Considering how and where Americans encountered art and how they saw themselves and their historical past in paintings and other images, the talk raises questions both about the subjects that found representation in the nineteenth-century visual field and those that were only alluded to or excluded altogether.

The histories Americans love to tell ourselves about the nation look very different from the perspectives of African Americans lashed by racist violence.

This lecture uses critical whiteness theory to analyze the portrayal of African Americans in the hit Showtime drama Shameless. I argue that the show gives visibility to poor urban whites while only casting a familiar, stereotypical view of Blacks that ultimately renders them unseen.

JooHee Noon is an illustrator and printmaker who creates drawings with bold colors and laters of textures to tell stories. Her work has been featured in the The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post. Her impressive client roster also includes Warby Parker, Topic Media, Mailchimp, Lincoln Motors, and Groundwood books. In addition to her editorial work, JooHee creates her own books, and gives talked and workshops around the world. The talk is sponsored by the Judd Family Endowed Fund.

How can a painting illustrate historical change? This talk explores the problem of painting in the age of emancipation, when American artists tested the aesthetic form and social role of their art in response to the unfinished revolution for African American freedom.

The era of American history, 1850-1940, represented in the Nancy and Sean Cotton Collection was an especially turbulent time. Yet, there are major gaps in who or what are portrayed in these works of art. Notably absent are people of color, immigrants, the Civil War, and the “dark side” of a rising industrial America.

The senior thesis exhibition features the graduating studio art and graphic design students.

This exhibition is organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts and made possible by the Nancy and Sean Cotton Collection. This is one in a series of American art exhibitions created through a multi-year, multi-institutional partnership formed by the Detroit Institute of Arts as part of the Art Bridges + Terra Foundation Initiative. Generous support is provided by the Richard and Jane Manoogian Foundation.

The senior thesis exhibition features the graduating studio art and graphic design students.

What if paradise is right here and right now? Proponents of mindfulness meditation believe so. Drawing on a so- ciological perspective, George Sanders explores whether the faddishness of mindful living is diluted by self-help gurus and corporate managers. Or, is mindfulness a reasonable strategy for coping with a highly rationalized and frenzied society?

The Problem of Heaven: How to Get from Here to Eternity is a lecture by Mark Rigstad, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of Department of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Ethics.

All religions have some concept of a paradise; one from which we came, one to which we return. How are these concepts of paradise the same, and how do they differ? Dr. Engle will take us on a theological and artistic trek “behind the scenes.”

Nicole Killian's work uses graphic design, publishing, video, objects and installation to investigate how the structures of the internet, mobile messaging, and shared online platforms affect contemporary interaction and shape cultural identity from a queer perspective. They are interested in the repetition, looping, and dissemination of content.

In the late 1960s to 1970s, the United States was in the midst of social turmoil. Despite the number of social movements seeking equal rights and opportunities, women who identified as lesbian found themselves shut out of the movements they thought would accept them. Making music the core of their community, this is the story of how lesbian separatists used song in an attempt to create a utopia.

What individuals perceive to be the threats in need of most urgent attention can in fact be stand-ins for deeper, less manageable dangers. This presentation outlines four strategies individuals often use to attempt to manage perceived (substitute) threats. While these efforts may be partially satisfying, insofar as they allow individuals to feel a sense of control, I argue that the four strategies are ultimately disappointing and often morally and politically damaging.