SAN JOSÉ, California (August 22, 2017) — The San José Museum of Art’s fall Lunchtime Lecture series will begin on Wednesday, September 6, 2017 at 12 PM with a talk by Derek Conrad Murray, associate professor of the History of Art and Visual Culture at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Lunchtime Lectures takes place on the first Wednesday of each month at 12 PM noon in the museum’s Charlotte Wendel Education Center. Visitors are welcome to bring food and beverages to the program. Food and beverages are available for purchase onsite at Café Too. Tickets for the lecture program are included with museum admission.
For the first lecture, “Notes to Self: The Portrait in the Age of Social Media,” Murray will look into the ubiquity of self-portraits on social media platforms in conjunction with the exhibition, This Is Not a Selfie: Photographic Self-Portraits from the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Collection. His lecture will explore the recent debate about the selfie and its relation to the photographic self-portrait. Dr. Derek Conrad Murray is the author of Queering Post-Black Art: Artists Transforming African-American Identity after Civil Rights and has contributed to publications such as American Art, Art in America and Art Journal.
On Wednesday, October 4, Ann Murphy will speak about “Movement, Memory, and Feminist Defiance.” Murphy is associate professor of dance at Mills College in Oakland, California. In conjunction with the exhibition, Louise Nevelson: The Fourth Dimension, Murphy will explore the role of gender, memory, flight, and narrative abstraction in the artist’s work in relation to modern dance in the post-WWII era. Murphy’s research explores the multicultural roots of American modern dance and the role of place in dance innovation. Recently, she has written about the career of Molissa Fenley and the defiance of Jim Crow norms by Bill Robinson and Shirley Temple. Murphy is also a long-time dance critic and currently covers dance for the Mercury News and other BANG media.
On Wednesday, November 1, internationally renowned artist El Mac (Miles MacGregor) will discuss his collaborations with artist collective The Propeller Group and his new mural in downtown San José. This lecture will be in conjunction with the exhibition, The Propeller Group, the first major survey exhibition for the art collective. El Mac’s large scale wall murals blur the lines between fine art and graffiti. He has been commissioned to paint murals across the United States, as well as in Mexico, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, South Korea, Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Spain, France, Singapore, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Cuba.
On Wednesday, December 6, author and historian Robert W. Cherny will speak about “The New Deal Art in San Francisco.” In conjunction with the exhibition Crossroads American Scene Prints from Thomas Hart Benton to Grant Wood, Robert W. Cherny will discuss the public art produced during the New Deal era, including examples that are still on view in San Francisco. Robert W. Cherny is professor emeritus of History at San Francisco State University and the author of Victor Arnautoff and the Politics of Art, a biography of the prolific San Francisco muralist.
SAN JOSÉ MUSEUM OF ART
The San José Museum of Art celebrates new ideas, stimulates creativity, and inspires connection with every visit. Welcoming and thought-provoking, the Museum rejects stuffiness and delights visitors with its surprising and playful perspective on the art and artists of our time. SJMA is located at 110 South Market Street in downtown San José, California. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM and until 8 PM or later on the third Thursday of each month. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $6 for students, and $5 for youth ages 7 – 18. Members and children ages 6 and under are admitted free. For more information, call 408-271-6840 or visit www.SanJoseMuseumofArt.org.