2005 Christo Symposium
THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ART CRITICS (AICA/USA) is pleased to announce a day-long symposium in connection with the installation of "The Gates: Central Park, New York" by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. ART, DEMOCRACY AND PUBLIC SPACE: THE CHRISTO AND JEANNE-CLAUDE EFFECT Guggenheim Museum February 25, 9:15 AM to 5 PM (Enter Auditorium at 88th Street and Fifth Avenue)
This will be the first symposium to offer a critical analysis of the work and impact of the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Their democratic art is as often belittled by the mainstream art world as it is devoutly embraced by viewers who have never responded to contemporary art of any other kind. It is art that needs to be viewed in the moment it is made, but that has an afterlife of documentation which museums seek to collect. What are the social, political, economic, and artistic issues at work? What are the roots of their art and what is its influence?
CONFERENCE AGENDA
9:15 - 9:45 Check in
9:45 Welcome remarks
Tom Krens, director Guggenheim Museum
AICA co-presidents Carey Lovelace and Eleanor Heartney
Symposium Moderator: Amei Wallach, whose most recent article on Christo and Jeanne-Claude s projects appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, February 2005
10:15 - 11:45 Panel: It's a Bird, It's a Plane: Art, Politics and the Public
CHAIR:
Amei Wallach
PANELISTS
Michael Kimmelman, chief art critic New York Times
Jonathan Fineberg, art historian, author of Metropolitan Museum catalogue "Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates, Central Park, New York."
Tom McDonough, art historian and critic, Binghamton University
Paula Harper, Art Historian and critic, University of Miami
RESPONDENT:
Katy Siegel, critic and author "Art and Money"
11: 45 - 12:15 Screening
Scenes from film-in-process on The Gates by Albert Maysles filmmaker who has chronicled "Running Fence" "Wrapped Pont Neuf," "Umbrellas," among other Christo and Jeanne-Claude Projects.
Conversation, Albert Maysles and Chrissie Iles, curator of Film and Video, Whitney Museum of American Art
12:15 - 1:15 Lunch
1:15 - 2:30 Panel: Artists Consider the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Effect
CHAIR Tom Eccles, director Public Art Fund
PANELISTS
Jeff Koons, artist
Tony Oursler, artist
Janet Cardiff, artist
Luchezar Boyadjiev, artist, art historian and critic, Bulgaria
2:30 - 3:45 Panel: Christo and Jeanne-Claude: An Architectural View
CHAIR Joseph Giovannini, architectural critic
PANELISTS
Michael Van Valkenburg, landscape architect
Lebbeus Woods, visionary architect
Steven Holl, architect
Max Protetch, architectural historian and gallerist
3:45 - 4:30 Discussion: Art for the Ages vs Art of the Moment
CHAIR Carol Diehl , artist and critic
DISCUSSANTS
Arthur Danto, philosopher and art critic for the Nation
Irving Sandler, dean of art critics
4:30 If possible, Christo and Jeanne-Claude will make brief remarks
AICA/USA is the nation's largest critics organization, its membership numbering over 400. It is a branch of the Paris-based International Association of Art Critics (Association International des Critiques d'Art or AICA), founded in 1949 as a non-governmental affiliate of UNESCO, which is comprised of 4,000 members in seventy-four national sections around the world. AICA members include distinguished critics, scholars, curators, and art historians. AICA aims to further and to protect the field of art criticism, to facilitate international communication among critics, to promote the values of art criticism as a discipline and emphasize its contribution to society, and to act on behalf of the physical preservation and moral defense of works of art. AICA/USA is the organization's largest national section.
Reservation information: As we expect a full house for this exciting symposium, we are asking participants to send checks by Feb 17. Tickets are $25 for the general public, $20 for students and AICA members. Checks should be made out to AICA/USA and can be sent to Carey Lovelace, AICA/USA, 105 Duane Street, Suite 40E, New York, NY 10007. Questions can be directed to AICA/USA at board@aicausa.org.
You will be emailed a confirmation statement, which will be your ticket. If you don't receive a confirm statement, we have not received your check, let us know immediately.
Please check our website, www.aicausa.org, for updates on the symposium.