SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (August 22, 2018) — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College announces its fall exhibitions and events. From the groundbreaking work of the Chicago Imagists to the latest by artist, musician, and writer Tim Davis, the Tang’s fall programming features influential artists and artworks, talks on today’s most urgent issues, screenings of experimental films, tours, dance, concerts, and more.
Highlights include:
3-D Doings: The Imagist Object in Chicago Art, 1964–1980, the first exhibition devoted to the three-dimensional work of the Chicago Imagists. The show opens September 8 with a talk by the show’s curators: Dayton Director Ian Berry and Chicago-based scholars John Corbett and Jim Dempsey. A two-day 3-D Doings Symposium on October 25 and 26 will feature public events with many of the artists in the show.
Tim Davis—When We Are Dancing (I Get Ideas) features new work by artist Tim Davis. He leads a gallery talk on October 20, hosts a storytelling event on October 30, leads a lunchtime discussion on November 16 with the scholars Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder, and performs with his band on December 6.
Tang’s Accelerator Series, moderated by Curator-at-Large Isolde Brielmaier, will tackle citizenship and its rights and responsibilities on September 24 with artists Sam Durant and Eric Gottesman, and Skidmore Professor Minita Sangvi; and cultural appropriation on October 15, with artist Renee Cox, NYU professor Matthew Morrison, and Teen Vogue Digital Fashion Editor Jessica Andrews.
The artist Kamau Amu Patton presents two listening-based events in his long-term installation, Tel_. SSSSHHHH #4 / SoundMind on September 6 and SSSSHHHH #5 / SoundMind on November 8 will combine listening and sonic meditation.
In conjunction with Give a damn., the Tang presents Investigation of a Flame on September 13 with filmmaker Lynne Sachs; a new dance piece, Metamorphosis, on September 20 choreographed by Jason Ohlberg, a Skidmore dance professor; and a voter registration drive and lawn-sign-making event on September 25 that will launch a new exhibition, For Freedoms.
All events are free and open to the public. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays from Noon to 5 p.m., and until 9 pm on Thursdays. The museum is open later hours for special events, as noted below. Reservations required for some events (noted below). For more information, call 518-580-8080 or visit http://tang.skidmore.edu.
FALL 2018 EXHIBITIONS
3-D Doings: The Imagist Object in Chicago Art, 1964–1980
September 8, 2018–January 6, 2019
3-D Doings explores the sculptural work and dimensional paintings of a group of artists collectively known as the Chicago Imagists.
Elevator Music 37: David Mancuso — The Loft
Through September 30
Elevator Music 37 invites visitors to experience the soundscape of the Loft, the legendary New York City dance party hosted by David Mancuso (1944–2016) that set the stage for the underground dance parties and gay nightlife of the 1970s and 1980s.
For Freedoms
September 25—November 11, 2018
This community art exhibition begins with a voter registration drive and lawn-sign event, in which participants can display their own definition of freedom.
Give a damn.
Through September 30
Give a damn. features work from the Tang collection by artists who, through their art and its interpretations, have become advocates for freedom, equality, tolerance, justice, and understanding.
Tel_
Through September 2019
Artist Kamau Amu Patton reimagines the Tang’s mezzanine as a community space for conversation and contemplation.
Tim Davis—When We Are Dancing (I Get Ideas)
October 20, 2018–January 6, 2019
Tim Davis is an artist, musician, and writer whose visual art riffs heavily on his initial start as a poet. In his projects, Davis explores the intersections of humor and longing, the ridiculous and the sublime, the abject and the beautiful.
They’re, Their, There
Through September 30
Organized by Rachel Rosenfeld ‘18, this show explores various means of expression through a queer lens.
When and Where I Enter
October 20, 2018–January 6, 2019
Organized by Skidmore Professor Beck Krefting and students from her spring 2018 “Critical Whiteness” course, this show presents art that explores the social construction of race.
FALL 2018 EVENTS
Thursday, September 6, 5-9 pm
SSSSHHHH #4 / SoundMind
Kamau Amu Patton hosts a listening event that focuses on text-sound and acoustic works, which will incorporate Skidmore Professor Adam Tinkle’s SoundMind, a sonic meditation workshop.
Saturday, September 8, 4 to 6:30 pm
3-D Doings Curators’ Talk and Opening Reception
Tang Teaching Museum Dayton Director Ian Berry and his fellow curators, the Chicago-based curators and scholars John Corbett and Jim Dempsey, will discuss the new exhibition 3-D Doings: The Imagist Object in Chicago Art, 1964–1980 at 4 p.m., with a reception to follow.
Tuesday, September 11, Noon
Curator’s Tour with Rebecca McNamara
Mellon Collections Curator Rebecca McNamara leads a tour of Give a damn.
Thursday, September 13, 7:00 PM
Whole Grain: Experiments in Film and Video presents
Investigation of a Flame Screening and Q&A with director Lynne Sachs
The Tang’s experimental video series launches its fall season with a screening of Investigation of a Flame: A Portrait of the Catonsville Nine, followed by a discussion with filmmaker Lynne Sachs. The 2001 experimental documentary follows nine Vietnam War protesters led by Daniel and Philip Berrigan, who, on May 17, 1968, walked into a Catonsville, Maryland, draft board office, grabbed hundreds of selective service records, and burned them with homemade napalm. This screening is shown in conjunction with the exhibition Give a damn.
Tuesday, September 18, Noon
Curator’s Tour with Ian Berry
Dayton Director Ian Berry leads a tour of 3-D Doings: The Imagist Object in Chicago Art, 1964–1980.
Wednesday, September 19, 7:00 PM
Whole Grain: Experiments in Film and Video presents
Looking for Langston
Isaac Julien’s Looking for Langston (1989, US, 60 min., 16 mm) is a lyrical exploration and recreation of the private world of poet, novelist, and playwright Langston Hughes (1902-1967) and his fellow black artists from the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s. Looking for Langston is a landmark in the exploration of artistic expression, the nature of desire and the reciprocity of the gaze, and would become the hallmark of what B. Ruby Rich named New Queer Cinema. This event is held in conjunction with the exhibition They’re, Their, There, which explores queer identity and expression.
Thursday, September 20, 6:00 and 6:30 PM
Metamorphosis by Jason Ohlberg
The Tang presents a new dance inspired by Lari Pittman’s Once a Noun, Now a Verb #1, on view in Give a damn. The dance, choreographed by Skidmore Assistant Professor of Dance Jason Ohlberg, will be performed at 6:00 PM and at 6:30 PM, with a Q&A following the second performance. Featuring a newly commissioned score from Skidmore Music Director Carl Landa and costumes by Eric Rudy, Metamorphosis will be performed by Ohlberg and Skidmore Lecturers in Dance Erika Pujič and Christin Williams. The free event has limited seating. Please call the Visitor Service Desk at 518-580-8080 to reserve a ticket. Five minutes before the performance, any unclaimed reservations will be released to those on the waiting list.
Monday, September 24, 6:30 PM
Accelerator Series: Get Up, Stand Up: Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
The Tang’s dynamic conversation series returns. Tang Curator-at-Large Isolde Brielmaier moderates a discussion about the varied ways in which we conceive of citizenship and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Panelists include artist Sam Durant, whose work is on view in the exhibition Give a damn.; artist and For Freedoms cofounder Eric Gottesman; and Skidmore Assistant Professor of Marketing, Management, and Business Minita Sanghvi.
Tuesday, September 25, 5:00 to 7:00 PM
For Freedoms Sign Project and Voter Registration Drive
The Tang Teaching Museum, Student Government Association, and For Freedoms will be registering Saratoga Springs residents to vote at this non-partisan, artist-led voter registration drive on Tuesday, September 25, which is also National Voter Registration Day. The Skidmore SGA will also be registering people to vote. The event, held in conjunction with the art and activism exhibition Give a damn., also gives visitors the opportunity to create a free yard sign on which they can write what they give a damn about. The lawn signs are a collaboration with For Freedoms, which was founded by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, and begin with one of four phrases that you can complete:
Freedom Of _____
Freedom From _____
Freedom For _____
Freedom To _____
Visitors will be invited to have their signs installed outside the Tang, where they will stay on view as part of a public art project through the November election. Those who wish to display their signs at their own homes are encouraged to share images of their signs on social media with the hashtags #ForFreedoms and #TangMuseum.
All materials will be provided. The event is free and open to the public. For more information on For Freedoms, please visit: https://www.forfreedoms.org/
Wednesday, September 26, 6:00 PM
Zine-Making Workshop: Social Activism and Expression through DIY Zines!
This workshop, organized by the Skidmore Zine Club and the Tang’s Student Advisory Council, will include craft, collage, and discussions about zines and activism. This event is held in conjunction with the exhibition They’re, Their, There, which explores queer identity and expression through zines, artwork, and ephemera that challenge the dominant forms and voices in mass media.
Thursday, September 27, 6:00 PM
Hairy Who and the Chicago Imagists documentary film screening
Learn more about the artists in the exhibition 3-D Doings: The Imagist Object in Chicago Art, 1964-1980 at a screening of the documentary Hairy Who and the Chicago Imagists (2014, US, 105 min., HD), directed by Leslie Buchbinder.
Saturday, September 29, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Family Saturdays
A family-friendly program that fosters creative cooperation through looking, talking, and making. For ages 5+, accompanied by an adult. Reservations required: call 518-580-8080
Thursday, October 4, 6:00 PM
Dunkerley Dialogue with Jane Irish and Jamie Parra
Artist Jane Irish, whose work is in the Tang collection and was on view in the exhibition Give a damn., will speak about her work in conversation with a Skidmore College Assistant Professor of English Jamie Parra. The Dunkerley Dialogues are made possible by a generous gift from Michele Dunkerley ’80.
Saturday, October 6, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Family Saturdays
A family-friendly program that fosters creative cooperation through looking, talking, and making. For ages 5+, accompanied by an adult. Reservations required: call 518-580-8080
Thursday, October 11, 6:00 PM
Whole Grain Experiments in Film & Video
Ruckus Shorts: The short films of Red Grooms
Whole Grain series continues with a selection of short films by artist Red Grooms, in conjunction with the exhibition 3-D Doings: The Imagist Object in Chicago Art, 1964-1980. The films include:
- Shoot the Moon (1962, US, 24 min., 16 mm)
- Fat Feet (1966, US, 19 min., 16 mm)
- Ruckus Shorts (1966, US, 4.5 min, 16 mm)
- Hippodrome Hardware (1973, US, 43 min., 16 mm)
Saturday, October 13, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Family Saturdays
A family-friendly program that fosters creative cooperation through looking, talking, and making. For ages 5+, accompanied by an adult. Reservations required: call 518-580-8080
Monday, October 15, 6:00 PM
Accelerator Series: CULTURE NOW: Appreciate | Appropriate
The Tang’s dynamic conversation series returns with a panel discussion on the urgent issue of cultural appropriation in a time when images, sounds and ideas are widely accessible. Tang Curator-at-Large Isolde Brielmaier will moderate a discussion with the artist Renee Cox, whose work is in the Tang collection; Matthew Morrison, Assistant Professor in the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts; and Jessica Andrews, Teen Vogue Digital Fashion Editor.
Saturday, October 20, 12:00 to 1:30 PM
Family Saturdays: Drop-in Art Making Activity
A family-friendly program that fosters creativity through an art-making activity. For ages 5+, accompanied by an adult. No reservation required.
Saturday, October 20, 4:00 PM
Tim Davis — When We Are Dancing (I Get Ideas) Gallery Talk and Opening Reception
The artist Tim Davis opens the exhibition Tim Davis — When We Are Dancing (I Get Ideas) with a gallery talk, followed by a public reception.
Tuesday, October 23, 12:00 PM
Curator’s tour with Molly Channon
Curatorial Assistant Molly Channon leads a tour of 3-D Doings: The Imagist Object in Chicago Art, 1964–1980.
Thursday-Friday, October 25-26
3-D Doings Symposium
A two-day event that brings many of the exhibiting artists together in conversation with one another and audiences to record oral histories about their work and Chicago in the 1960s and ’70s. Transcripts will form part of the forthcoming exhibition catalogue.
Thursday, October 25
- 6 pm: Dunkerley Dialogue with artist Art Green and a Skidmore College faculty member
Friday, October 26
3 pm: Gallery talk with Sarah Canright, Art Green, Lorri Gunn, Phil Hanson, Gladys Nilsson, and Suellen Rocca, as artist walk through the exhibition and talk about the works on view
5 pm: Panel discussion with the artists moderated by exhibition co-curator Ian Berry Dunkerley Dialogues are made possible by a generous gift from Michele Dunkerley ’80. The 3-D Doings Symposium, October 25-26, is funded by the generous support of The Alfred Z. Solomon Residency, which brings notable scholars, artists, and critics to Skidmore to address a wide range of issues in the visual arts.
Saturday, October 27, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Family Saturdays
A family-friendly program that fosters creative cooperation through looking, talking, and making. For ages 5+, accompanied by an adult. Reservations required: call 518-580-8080
Tuesday, October 30, 6:00 PM
You Are a Collector
Artist Tim Davis hosts an evening of storytelling about how and why people collect things.
Saturday, November 3, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Family Saturdays
A family-friendly program that fosters creative cooperation through looking, talking, and making. For ages 5+, accompanied by an adult. Reservations required: call 518-580-8080
Thursday, November 8, 5:00 PM
SSSSHHHH #5 / SoundMind
Kamau Amu Patton hosts a listening event that focuses on text-sound and acoustic works, which will incorporate Skidmore Professor Adam Tinkle’s SoundMind, a sonic meditation workshop.
Saturday, November 10, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Family Saturdays
A family-friendly program that fosters creative cooperation through looking, talking, and making. For ages 5+, accompanied by an adult. Reservations required: call 518-580-8080
Tuesday, November 13, 12:00 PM
Curators’ Tour with Beck Krefiting and Students
Skidmore Professor Beck Krefting and students from her spring 2018 course “Critical Whiteness” lead a tour of the exhibition they organized, When and Where I Enter.
Friday, November 16, 12:00 PM
Hi-Fi Living and Uneasy Listening
A brown-bag lunchtime conversation with artist Tim Davis and the scholars Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder, who are the authors of Designed for HI-Fi Living: The Vinyl LP in Midcentury America (MIT Press).
Saturday, November 17, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Family Saturdays: Annual Make a Turkey out of a Potato Extravaganza
The Tang’s annual Thanksgiving-related Family Saturday event returns. You bring your creativity, we’ll bring the potatoes (and art-making materials). For ages 5+, accompanied by an adult. Reservations required: call 518-580-8080
Friday, November 30, 5:30 PM
I, Too, Sing America
Performances from Leonard Bernstein’s song cycle Songfest will be followed by a dialogue on race. The event features guest soprano Victoria Botero performing “A Julia de Burgos” (Julia de Burgos) and guest mezzo-soprano Christin-Marie Hill and guest baritone Eric McKeever singing the duet “I, Too, Sing America” (Langston Hughes)/"Okay Negros” (June Jordan) in collaboration with pianist Michael Clement. Skidmore Professor of Sociology Kristie Ford will then moderate a discussion with the singers on issues of race in the song cycle. The event is organized by Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins, Artist-in-Residence in Skidmore’s Music Department as part of the department’s celebration of Leonard Bernstein at 100 Centennial.
Saturday, December 1, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Family Saturdays
A family-friendly program that fosters creative cooperation through looking, talking, and making. For ages 5+, accompanied by an adult. Reservations required: call 518-580-8080
Tuesday, December 4, 12:00 PM
Curator’s Tour with Rachel Seligman
Assistant Director for Curatorial Affairs and Malloy Curator Rachel Seligman leads a tour of Tim Davis—When We Are Dancing (I Get Ideas).
Thursday, December 6, 7:00 PM
Severely Brothers in Concert
Tim Davis’s band sings songs about photography that are written concurrently with the making of photographs. A slide show of Davis’s work will accompany the performance.
Saturday, December 8, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Family Saturdays
A family-friendly program that fosters creative cooperation through looking, talking, and making. For ages 5+, accompanied by an adult. Reservations required: call 518-580-8080
About the Tang Teaching Museum
The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. A cultural anchor of New York’s Capital Region, the institution’s approach has become a model for university art museums across the country—with exhibition programs and series that bring together the visual and performing arts with fields of study as disparate as history, astronomy, and physics. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, the Mellon Seminar, and robust publication and touring exhibition initiatives that extend the institution’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of ideas and exchange the institution catalyzes. The Tang is open Tuesday through Sunday, from noon to 5 pm, with extended hours until 9 pm on Thursday. More information at http://tang.skidmore.edu.