Eden Powell won’t forget seeing “real spaces where people create in the New York art world,” which she experienced last March on a field trip with her “Spring Break in New York” ART 408 class. The visit included a stop at SculptureCenter, which exposed the students to “a really current, cutting edge art scene [in] a multidimensional and dynamic space,” said Powell, an undergraduate art student.
Powell’s reaction is exactly what Rick Silva had in mind when he organized the spring break class.
“It is important to experience these art installations in person, to walk around them and see them in relation to the other works in the exhibition,” said Silva, assistant professor in the Department of Art in the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at UO.
Now, New York is coming to Oregon, when SculptureCenter curator Ruba Katrib—one of the 20 most influential young curators in the United States—discusses new materials in art during visits to Eugene and Portland in November. Katrib’s visit is part of the 2016 Curator and Critic Tours and Lectures program, presented by the UO Department of Art.
Her presentations will take place in Eugene on Thursday, November 10, at 6:00 p.m. in 177 Lawrence Hall. In Portland, she’ll speak on Sunday, November 13, at 2:00 p.m. at the White Stag Block, 70 NW Couch Street. The presentations are free and open to the public.
Katrib’s presentation, “Sculpture as Substance,” will discuss new materials in art, focusing on historical and contemporary artists who use living materials and sensory elements in their work.
Such elements, she says, “reflect a blurring of boundaries within the field of sculpture that challenges its definition in terms of site and scale, and focuses less on the subject depicted or content engaged and more on the potential of its material makeup.”
Katrib has curated group shows including The Eccentrics (2015), Better Homes (2013), and A Disagreeable Object (2012) and has contributed to publications including Art in America, Parkett, and cura. magazine. She has been recognized by The New York Times as an “internationally minded young curator” for the breadth of work from artists from around the world. In addition, her exhibition by artist Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook at the SculptureCenter garnered recognition by The Guardian as one of the “Best American Shows of 2015.”
The Connective Conversations | Inside Oregon Art series is a partnership between The Ford Family Foundation and the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts. In 2015, the program partnership was expanded to include the Oregon College of Art and Craft and Reed College.
More information is available at the Connective Conversations webpage.
Above: Rochelle Goldberg, Thirsty Bucket, 2016, Rochelle Goldberg: The Plastic Thirsty, SculptureCenter, 2016. Ceramic, crude oil, steel, latex. 12 x 12 x 31 inches (30.5 x 30.5 x 78.7 cm). Courtesy the artist. Photo by Kyle Knodell.