Artist Book Talk: Whitfield Lovell

On the occasion of the AFA traveling exhibition and release of the accompanying exhibition catalogue, Whitfield Lovell: Passages, join us for a conversation with featured artist Whitfield Lovell as he sits down with Dr. Cheryl Finley to discuss his practice, the current exhibition, and recurring themes in his work. A brief reception and book signing will follow the talk.

Whitfield Lovell, a 2007 MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient and conceptual artist, creates exquisite drawings inspired by his own collection of vintage photographs of unidentified African Americans taken between the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968). He pairs his meticulously rendered drawings on paper or salvaged wooden boards with time-worn objects, creating enigmatic assemblages that are rich with symbolism and evoke personal memories, ancestral connections, and the collective American past.

Copies of the exhibition catalogue, published by Rizzoli Electa in association with the American Federation of Arts, will be onsite for purchase. Catalogues are available for pre-purchase here.

This program is free and open to the public with registration. For questions and additional information, please contact [email protected].

Featuring:

Whitfield Lovell is the recipient of a 2007 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the 2014 National Academy Award for Excellence. Lovell has had solo exhibitions at The Phillips Collection (2016) in Washington, DC, and the Smith College Museum of Art (2011) in Northampton, MA, and he was a featured artist at the opening exhibition of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. His works are included in the collections of major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, NY; the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, DC; the National Museum of African American History and Culture, DC; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, PA; the Yale University Art Gallery, CT; the Hunter Museum of American Art, TN; the Brooklyn Museum, NY; the Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; the Seattle Art Museum, WA; and many others.

Dr. Cheryl Finley is the Director of the Atlanta University Center Art History + Curatorial Studies Collective as well as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Art History at Spelman College. She holds a Ph.D. in African American Studies and the History of Art from Yale University.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Rizzoli Bookstore, 1133 Broadway, New York, United States