In Practice: Fall 2021

From Executive Director Johanna Burton:

Recently one of our curators noted, “exhibitions are made through a series of conversations.” That idea of creative, thoughtful exchange struck home as we assembled this issue and our fall programs, and in the following pages you’ll discover how those conversations spark the work we do at the Wex every day.

Curator Daniel Marcus speaks with painter Jacqueline Humphries about how her new exhibition jHΩ1:) emerged from a series of discussions with guest curator Mark Godfrey and inquiries surrounding art, technology, and the Wex building itself.

You’ll also hear from interdisciplinary artist Hope Ginsburg about Meditation Ocean, an Artist Residency Award–supported project made in response to the impacts of climate change on our daily lives. It too emerges from a robust, ongoing series of conversations, in this case between Ginsburg, our Learning & Public Practice Director Dionne Custer Edwards, and Film/Video Studio Curator Jennifer Lange, among many others.

While Humphries and Ginsburg are engaged with our current moment, art is often created in deep dialogue with the past. In that spirit, film scholar Keith Corson examines the underappreciated influence of director Michael Schultz—the focus of an October retrospective—on American cinema. We also spend a moment with legendary guitarist Marc Ribot, who discusses his own remarkable history (with collaborators that include Tom Waits and The Black Keys) in advance of a new album and performance here in November.

Crucially, you’ll also gain insight into how the ways we hope to engage with you—as learners, members, and donors—are being reshaped by conversations we’re having centerwide about diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and of course, care.

I hope you find these conversations as meaningful as I do.