SJMA's Lunchtime Lectures Resume September 4

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SAN JOSE, California (August 16, 2013) — The San Jose Museum of Art’s fall Lunchtime Lecture series will begin on Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 12 noon. The first speaker of the series will be Brian Taylor, photographer, as well as professor in the art and art history department at San Jose State University.  Taylor will speak about the award-winning artwork of photographer Annie Leibovitz and examine her bodies of work to look beyond the celebrity in her famed portraits. A special emphasis will be placed on her latest series, Pilgrimage, which is on view through September 8 at the Museum.  Pilgrimage comprises seventy photographs that Annie Leibovitz took on a journey through the United States and Great Britain between 2009 and 2011. Included are photographs of homes and personal possessions of iconic historical figures as well as landmarks of American history. 

The second speaker, on October 2, will be Doug Hall, the artist behind Timelapse: Doug Hall and the Western Landscape, which features a dual-screen video portrait of the Golden Gate Bridge as well as photographs of attractions in the American West. Hall will discuss the idea of time, an abstract concept, and how we experience time, as it appears in his video and images. He will discuss what happens—in our bodies, minds, and imaginations—when we intersect time with images.  After a 30-minute talk in the Wendel Education Center, Hall will lead visitors to the gallery for a special walk-through of the exhibition Timelapse: Doug Hall and the Western Landscape, which is on view through October 20, 2013.  

On November 6, the speaker will be Scott Doorley, creative director of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University and co-author of Make Space: How to Set the Stage for Creative Collaboration. In connection with the exhibition Hidden Heroes: The Genius of Everyday Things, Doorley will discuss the ingenuity behind seemingly simple, everyday objects and examine how current design trends are connected with these items.  Hidden Heroes is SJMA’s first exhibition devoted to industrial design and tells the story of how thirty-six common objects were invented and became ubiquitous tools of modern life.

The fall lecture series concludes on December 4 with Julie Guthman, professor in social sciences at University of California, Santa Cruz.  Her topic will be “Agrarian Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California”. Guthman will discuss whether the debate over “big” vs. “small” organics is an aesthetic or ethical choice. Julie Guthman teaches several courses related to the politics of food, agriculture, and the body.  Her publications include two multiple award-winning books, Agrarian Dreams: the Paradox of Organic Farming in California, (University of California, 2004) and Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism (University of California, 2011). Her lecture is offered in connection with Around the Table: food, creativity, community, a suite of exhibitions and programs that explore the role that food plays in our lives.

Lunchtime Lectures take place on the first Wednesday of the month at noon in the Museum’s Charlotte Wendel Education Center. Visitors are welcome to bring food and beverages or purchase their lunch at Café Too. The lectures are included with Museum admission of $8 ($5 for seniors and students, free to members).