Target Free Thursday Nights in December Offer In-Depth Looks at Eero Saarinen and Tetsumi Kudo
The Walker Art Center’s Target Free Thursday Nights in December focus on the work of Eero Saarinen and Tetsumi Kudo—artists celebrated in two currently running exhibitions.
Tetsumi Kudo: Garden of Metamorphosis, the first solo U.S. museum exhibition devoted to this provocative Japanese artist, includes more than 100 works of diverse media and scale—objects, sculpture, installation, drawing, and painting—covering the entire trajectory of his career, from the late 1950s through the late 1980s. A special gallery talk (December 11, 7 pm) led by University of Minnesota cultural studies and comparative literature instructor Andrew Opitz will examine Kudo’s conception of a “new ecology” and its influence on the artist’s creative vision.
Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future, presented jointly by the Walker and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and closing January 4, represents the first major museum retrospective of the architect’s short but prolific career. University of Wisconsin design instructor Jada Schumacher will lead two hands-on workshops (December 4 and 11, 6–9 pm) in which participants will produce pendant lamps inspired by Saarinen’s innovative design techniques.
Sound Bites gallery talks are also offered throughout the month on select Thursday evenings at 6:30 and 7 pm. Sound Bites illuminate an artist or work of art from the Walker’s world-class collection or one of its special exhibitions.
Target Free Thursday Nights
December 4, 11, 18 (closed on December 25 for Christmas Day)
Galleries open 5–9; special events follow.
Free
Thursday, December 4
Workshop: Light Manipulators, 6–9 pm
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
Influenced by years of travel, Eero Saarinen envisioned specific light/color qualities when creating ethereal church spaces or sleek furniture designs. In this art lab workshop, participants are invited to make pendant lamps inspired by Saarinen’s techniques of manipulating color for dramatic effect, led by University of Wisconsin design instructor Jada Schumacher.
Sound Bites: Charles Ray, 6:30 and 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Take an in-depth look at artist Charles Ray and his work with an informed guide.
Thursday, December 11
Workshop: Light Manipulators, 6–9 pm
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
See December 4 description.
Sound Bites: Art and Performance, 6:30 and 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Discover ways that art informs performance and performance informs art in this talk led by a dynamic Walker tour guide.
Gallery Talk: Electronic Kudo, 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
In his 1972 manifesto, artist Tetsumi Kudo proclaims a theory for a “new ecology” wherein he critiques the antagonistic relationship of man versus machine and offers a vision for a combined existence of the two. To contextualize these ideas, Andrew Opitz from the cultural studies and comparative literature department at the University of Minnesota will lead a talk on the basic theories of cybernetics—which greatly influenced and inspired Kudo—and developments in the ecology movement of the late 20th century using the artist’s work and writing as a reference.
Thursday, December 18
Sound Bites: Unexpected Materials, 6:30 and 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
An artist’s choice of materials can be mind-boggling and unexpected at times. Let a tour guide offer a theory (or two) about the creative impulse.
Thursday, December 25
Christmas Day – Walker closed