Walker Art Center's Target Free Thursday Nights in May Highlighted by Zine-printing Workshop, Faustin Linyekula Performance, and Artist Talk by David Choe
The Walker Art Center’s Target Free Thursday Nights in May are highlighted by Zine-printing Workshops taught by local printmaker Aaron Johnson-Ortiz that focuses on how printmaking is both political and artistic (May 10 and 24, 6–9 pm). Other highlights in May include a Free Verse with poet Kevin Young, who will discuss his work and how it relates to themes in the exhibition Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love (May 3, 7 pm); the talk Ashbery on the Bridge: Poetry in Public Space, during which poet/critic Eric Lorberer offers a “guided tour” of the John Ashbery poem that adorns the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge connecting the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and Loring Park (May 10, 7 pm); a performance by dancer/choreographer and Walker artist-in-residence Faustin Linyekula, one of the foremost figures in contemporary African dance (May 17, 7 pm); and an Artist Talk with David Choe, who has been featured in Giant Robot, Juxtapoz, and Vice Magazine, published comic journals (Bruised Fruit, Cursiv, and Slow Jams), and is the subject of Dirty Hands: The Art and Life of David Choe, a film by Harry Kim (May 24, 7 pm).
Target Free Thursday Nights are made possible by Target. Additional support provided by The Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Target Free Thursday Nights
May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
Galleries open 5–9 pm; special events follow.
Free
Thursday, May 3
Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love Gallery Tour, 6 pm
Free Verse: Kevin Young, 7 pm
Cinema
Free tickets available at the Bazinet Garden Lobby desk from 6 pm.
Join us for a reading and discussion by acclaimed poet Kevin Young in conjunction with the exhibition Kara Walker: My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love. Although Walker is known best for her visually arresting silhouettes, her text-based work is as directly striking and conceptually integrated. As Young wrote in the exhibition catalogue, Walker’s writing serves to both connect and contrast the other elements of her work: history, race and form. Young is the author of five acclaimed poetry collections, most recently For the Confederate Dead, and the editor of several anthologies. Young will speak about Walker’s use of written language as well as read from his own poems.
Free Verse is co-presented by Rain Taxi Review of Books.
Thursday, May 10
Gallery Tour, 6 pm
Art Lab Activity: Zine-printing Workshop, 6–9 pm
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
Artists in the exhibition Paper Trail: A Decade of Acquisitions have found innovative ways to narrate experience through their works on paper. They challenge viewers to recognize the importance of technique and concept in printmaking. Using these works as inspiration, take part in this inventive zine-making art lab taught by local printmaker Aaron Johnson-Ortiz that focuses on how printmaking is both political and artistic. Carve printing blocks and use stencils to construct your own unique narrative on paper.
Ashbery on the Bridge: Poetry in Public Space, 7 pm
Lecture Room
Free tickets available at the Bazinet Garden Lobby desk from 6 pm.
One of John Ashbery’s finest poems is strung across the pedestrian footbridge that connects the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden with neighboring Loring Park. Designed by architect and sculptor Siah Armajani, this artwork dramatically inserts poetry into the public sphere. In this talk, poet/critic Eric Lorberer offers a visual “guided tour” of the bridge, elucidating not only how the poem and the architecture work together as public art, but also examining how the specially commissioned text informs Ashbery’s poetics. Lorberer has published poems in numerous journals and edits the Rain Taxi Review of Books.
Thursday, May 17
Gallery Tour, 6 pm
AfricaNOW: Faustin Linyekula in Performance, 7 pm
Gallery 4
“An ethereal figure with a spirit of steel . . . an intellectual and practical force to be reckoned with.” —The Star, South Africa
Dancer/choreographer Faustin Linyekula of Kinshasa, Congo, is one of the foremost figures in contemporary African dance, acknowledged not only for the power and artistry of his work, but also for his commitment to connecting art to African communities. His 30-minute solo installation/performance piece deals with themes of displacement and circulation that reference the dark part of his heritage and the commerce of colonization, decolonization, and organized tourism.
Linyekula returns to the Twin Cities this fall with his ensemble cast Les Studios Kabako to present Festival of Lies. To learn more about this residency, call 612.375.7624.
Thursday, May 24
Body Politics: Figurative Prints and Drawings from Schiele to de Kooning Gallery Tour, 6 pm
Art Lab Activity: Zine-printing Workshop, 6–9 pm
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
(See description above.)
Artist Talk: David Choe, 7 pm
Cinema
Free tickets available at the Bazinet Garden Lobby desk from 6 pm.
Between freight hopping from San Jose to Miami, various trips to the jungles of the Congo, and stints in Vietnam and the Gaza Strip, artist David Choe combines painting, sculpture, and graffiti in what he dubs “dirty art.” Choe has been featured in Giant Robot, Juxtapoz, and Vice Magazine, published comic journals (Bruised Fruit, Cursiv, and Slow Jams), and is the subject of Dirty Hands: The Art and Life of David Choe, a film by Harry Kim. For this talk, Choe will show and discuss past and current work and field questions from the audience.
Thursday, May 31
Body Politics: Figurative Prints and Drawings from Schiele to de Kooning Gallery Tour, 6 pm