Summer conservation interns discuss the cleaning and preservation of outdoor sculpture.

Talks

Summer conservation interns discuss the cleaning and preservation of outdoor sculpture

Presented in collaboration with the National Museum of African Art, Ethiopian-born American artist Julie Mehretu speaks about her practice as part of the Hirshhorn’s ongoing Meet the Artist series.

Julie Mehretu: Meet the Artist

Curatorial research assistant and UMD doctoral candidate Michael Vetter discusses Kiepenkerl by Jeff Koons, now on display in the Hirshhorn Museum Lobby.

Michael Vetter on Kiepenkerl

As part of the Hirshhorn's ongoing 40th anniversary celebration, director Melissa Chiu welcomes former director Jim Demetrion for a discussion of the legacy and future of the museum.

Curators in Conversation: Melissa Chiu and James T. Demetrion

Curator Kelly Gordon leads a tour of Days of Endless Time. Groups meet at the Information Desk in the Hirshhorn Lobby.

Kelly Gordon on Days Of Endless Time

Kenjiro Okazaki has been exploring notions of time and region in the work of Ukrainian-born American artists John D. Graham and David Davidovich Burliuk. After examining their drawings in various Smithsonian collections, Okazaki conducts live-action gestural studies and uses digital technology to analyze and reproduce the characteristics unique to each artist.

Kenjiro Okazaki

Curatorial research assistant and UMD doctoral candidate Michael Vetter discusses Lucian Freud’s Nude with Leg Up (Leigh Bowery), 1992, on view in At the Hub of Things: New Views of the Collection.

Michael Vetter on Lucian Freud

Associate curator Melissa Ho discusses works by Cai Guo-Qiang, Jan Dibbets, Richard Long, and Brice Marden.

Melissa Ho discusses At the Hub of Things: New Views of the Collection

Curator Evelyn Hankins discusses Lawrence Weiner’s "A RUBBER BALL THROWN ON THE SEA, Cat. No. 146," 1969 on view in "At the Hub of Things: New Views of the Collection."

Evelyn Hankins discusses Lawrence Weiner

Spencer Finch works in a variety of media, including painting, photography, sculpture, and installation. Often recreating the experience of natural phenomena through artificial constructions, Finch’s work raises questions about perception, memory, experience, and time. The artist is known for his light-based installations, including "Cloud (H2O)," 2006, on view in the Hirshhorn’s 40th anniversary exhibition "At the Hub of Things: New Views of the Collection." Mimicking the molecular structure of water through an arrangement of suspended light bulbs, the sculpture is a glowing representation of water vapor that hovers between representation and abstraction. Join us as Finch speaks about his work as part of the Museum’s ongoing Meet the Artist series.

Spencer Finch: Meet the Artist

Over the past forty years, New York–based artist Charles Simonds has been creating an imaginative body of work investigating the relationship between humans and their environment. Combining sculpture, architecture, performance, and community planning, Simonds’s oeuvre centers on an exploration of the way people’s beliefs are reflected in the structures they build. His sculpture "Rock Flower" will be on view in "Speculative Forms." Join us as the artist discusses his inventive practice, from his miniature dwellings to his large-scale installations.

Charles Simonds: Meet the Artist

The Curators in Conversation series concentrates on creativity—what inspires curiosity, motivates imagination, and produces meaning. The newly inaugurated platform will continue with cultural sociologist and best-selling author Sarah Thornton. She will discuss the issues behind her new book, "33 Artists in 3 Acts," which examines the role of artists around the world today. Thornton interviewed 130 artists before settling on the ones who feature in her narratives, including Maurizio Cattelan, Damien Hirst, Rashid Johnson, Jeff Koons, Laurie Simmons, Martha Rosler, and Andrea Fraser. Sarah Thornton is the author of "Seven Days in the Art World," a witty behind-the-scenes account of the institutions that contribute to an artist’s place in art history. She has been the chief writer on contemporary art for "The Economist" and has contributed to many publications, television programs, and radio broadcasts. Thornton holds a BA in art history and a PhD in sociology.

Curators in Conversation: "33 Artists in 3 Acts"

Artist Jae Ko discusses her abstract sculpture "Untitled (JK 103)," made from rolled paper and sumi ink.

Artist Jae Ko discusses her abstract sculpture "Untitled (JK 103)"

Assistant curator Melissa Ho leads a tour of "Salvatore Scarpitta: Traveler," providing an overview of the artist’s career.

Exhibition Tour of "Salvatore Scarpitta: Traveler"

In conjunction with the 40th anniversary exhibition "Days of Endless Time," the Hirshhorn is pleased to collaborate with "Lapham’s Quarterly" on its Fall 2014 issue, Time. The magazine, which serves as the companion publication to the Hirshhorn’s exhibition, includes a broad range of writing related to the focus of the exhibition, as well as images from many of the time-based installations on view at the Museum. Join us for an engaging conversation moderated by "Lapham’s Quarterly" founder and editor Lewis H. Lapham, who will be joined by Jay Griffiths, author of "A Sideways Look at Time," and Jim Holt, author of "Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story."

"Days of Endless Time:" In Conversation with Lapham’s Quarterly

The Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is a leading voice for contemporary art and culture and provides a national platform for the art and artists of our time. We seek to share the transformative power of modern and contemporary art with audiences at all levels of awareness and understanding by creating meaningful, personal experiences in which art, artists, audiences and ideas converge. We enhance public understanding and appreciation of contemporary art through acquisition, exhibitions, education and public programs, conservation, and research.

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