Chat About

Please join us for the fourth session of Chat About, which will be held in person at Promontory Point next Saturday, May 1st from 7-8:30 pm! You are welcome to bring your own drinks and food. Please note the unusual date and location. There will be extra precautions to keep things safe. 

Topics may include: Taste, Self, Dupe, Drag, Alice, Mother, Milieu, Trust, Thresholds, and Returns. 

Queer Archives: The Work of Critical Cataloging and Queer Archival Labor

In collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Sichel, the Visual Resources Center is excited to host a panel discussion on critical cataloging, queer archives, and queer archival labor, featuring the following speakers presenting their work on research, publication, and practice: Marika Cifor, Assistant Professor in the Information School and an adjunct faculty member in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington.

The Apocalyptic Renaissance with Ada Palmer

Renaissance historian Ada Palmer explores the relationship between war, strife, and artistic production reflecting on objects in Lust, Love, and Loss in Renaissance Europe as well as other examples of art, music, and literature. Palmer examines how the artistic splendor of the Renaissance—and the willingness of patrons to invest their fortunes in it—was a reaction to crisis and violence, rather than a sign of peace. 

Gender and Sexuality in Early-Modern European Art with Patricia Simons and Jill Burke

Join Patricia Simons and Jill Burke for a nuanced investigation into the construction of gender-based narratives and power dynamics in early modern European art. Many of the works in Lust, Love, and Loss in Renaissance Europe feature dramatic stories of feminine exemplars drawn from biblical texts, mythology, and ancient history.

Smart Museum: Part II - Drawing Workshop

This lunchtime series with the Poetry Foundation and Smart Museum of Art takes us into the wild world of human relationships in ancient Rome and Renaissance Europe that is both strange and oddly familiar. Together, we’ll investigate themes of trauma, transformation, and love during our current Pandemic epoch through the lens of Ovid’s poetry.

In Part 2 on April 29th at high noon, Erik Peterson will lead a session that includes live readings from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a drawing workshop, and a hands-on art project that celebrates the transformations of Spring.

Smart Museum: Part I - Poetry Workshop

This lunchtime series with the Poetry Foundation and Smart Museum of Art takes us into the wild world of human relationships in ancient Rome and Renaissance Europe that is both strange and oddly familiar. Together, we’ll investigate themes of trauma, transformation, and love during our current Pandemic epoch through the lens of Ovid’s poetry.

Jennifer L. Roberts - Printing on Air: Rauschenberg’s Hoarfrosts and the Paradox of Print

In 1974, Robert Rauschenberg made a series of prints called the Hoarfrosts with the legendary Los Angeles print studio Gemini G.E.L. The works featured ghostly images printed by solvent transfer onto gauzy, floating fabrics, hung so that they moved with the air.

SOLITUDE: A Dialogue on Today’s Architecture

SOLITUDE: A Dialogue on Today’s Architecture

Billie Tsien (Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects) & Anthony Vidler (The Cooper Union/Princeton University) chaired by Sean Keller (IIT College of Architecture)

RAVE: Kirk Nickel

Kirk Nickel (scholar and curator of Renaissance art) will present a paper entitled "Moses and the Limits of Papal Vision: The Case for Conciliarism as Pictured in Renaissance Brescia." Christine Zapella (Ph.D. Candidate, Art History) will offer a response.

RAVE: Roko Rumora

Roko Rumora (Ph.D. Candidate, Art History) will present a paper entitled “Putting Down Memories: Roman Mnemonics and Statue Display in Quintilian, Cicero and the Rhetorica ad Herennium”. Professor Seth Estrin (Art History) will offer a response.