Target Free Thursday Nights in July Feature Contemporary Art in Conversation with Alec Soth and Andrei Codrescu and Sneak Peek at Upcoming Performing Arts Season

The Walker Art Center’s Target Free Thursday Nights in July feature the continuation of the Contemporary Art in Conversation series with Alec Soth and Andrei Codrescu (July 14), a new installment of the popular Better Looking series of gallery talks with a tour of Shadowland: An Exhibition as a Film (July 21), and a preview of the Walker’s 2005-2006 performing arts season with William and Nadine McGuire Senior Curator of Performing Arts Philip Bither (July 28). All events are free, but a ticket is required. Tickets are available at the lobby desk one hour before each program. On Target Free Thursday Nights, the Walker’s galleries are free from 5-9 pm.

Target Free Thursday Nights

July 7, 14, 21, and 28
Galleries open 5-–9 pm; special events follow.
Free

Thursday, July 14

Contemporary Art in Conversation
Alec Soth with Andrei Codrescu
William and Nadine McGuire Theater, 7 pm
Free, but a ticket is required. Tickets are available at the Hennepin Lobby desk at 6 pm on the day of the program.

Photographer Alec Soth’s lyric documentation of life along the Mississippi River leaves viewers feeling as though they have just paged through a strange yet beautiful dream. Of Soth’s book Sleeping by the Mississippi (Steidl, 2004), writer Andrei Codrescu says, “[He has] the decency (or affection) to disturb none of his subjects, though he disturbed me, a viewer, plenty.” From their respective posts at either end of the waterway, Minneapolis-based Soth and New Orleans–based Codrescu come together for an illustrated conversation on the narratives found along the banks of the Mississippi and other stories of America’s Great River Road. The evening concludes with a presentation of Soth’s current pictorial investigation of Niagara Falls.

Soth’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including the 2004 Whitney Biennial and a 2005 solo show at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. His book Sleeping by the Mississippi (Steidl, 2004) features two works in the Walker’s collection; New Orleans, LA (2002) is currently on view in the Bazinet Garden Lobby. Codrescu’s poetry, short stories, essays, and novels have been widely translated. He is a professor of English literature at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and edits Exquisite Corpse, a monthly review of books and ideas. His radio commentaries can be found online at npr.org, www.corpse.org, and www.codrescu.com.

Thursday, July 21

Better Looking: Shadowland: An Exhibition as a Film
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby, 7 pm
Featuring the work of such artists as Chantal Akerman, David Hammons, Bruce Nauman, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Jeff Wall, the exhibition Shadowland: An Exhibition as a Film considers contemporary art’s struggle between the flat surfaces of the canvas and the projection screen. Join Walker curator Douglas Fogle for a tour and discussion on the moving image and artists who ponder questions raised by the medium of film.

Thursday, July 28

Sneak Peek: The Walker’s 2005–2006 Performing Arts Season
Cinema, 7 pm
Every year Philip Bither, William and Nadine McGuire Senior Curator of Performing Arts (City Pages’ Best Curator 2004), travels the world seeking performances and performers for the Walker. This is your chance to preview the 20+ dance, music, and theater events he’s planned for the new season, including a puppet rock-opera, a Walker-specific dance installation, and a Spanish funk band as well as favorites such as Out There and Choreographers’ Evening—and everything in between. Come meet the man behind the Walker’s performing arts program and learn why every show he presents is his favorite.