School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) Visiting Artists Program

02/24/2021

In Conversation With Conceptual Artist Pedro Reyes — anniversary magazine

Interdisciplinary artist Pedro Reyes is an artist, architect, activist, engineer, and stone mason. Reyes discusses the various facets of his practice in an interview for Anniversary Magazine.
Join us live this Tuesday, March 2 for a virtual lecture by Reyes followed by an audience Q&A. More info: saic.edu/vap

Contemporary conceptual artist and traditional stonemason; architect and activist; engineer and craftsman. The cross-disciplinary nature of Pedro Reyes' work - which encompasses performance, installation, video, sculpture, and activism - makes a strong case for multiplicity.

02/23/2021

Happening soon! Please join us today at 12:00pm CT for a conversation between artist Yinka Shonibare CBE and Delinda Collier, associate professor of art history, theory, and criticism and interim dean of graduate studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. More info: https://www.saic.edu/events/yinka-shonibare

02/22/2021

A look back! Artist Pedro Reyes presented Amnesia Atómica almost one year ago today.
Join us live Tuesday, March 2 for a virtual lecture by Pedro Reyes followed by an audience Q&A. Free, non-ticketed and open to the public. More info: https://www.saic.edu/events/pedro-reyes

Pedro Reyes presentó la obra Amnesia Atómica junto a Nohbords, en la Plaza de las 3 Culturas, Tlatelolco. Curada por Pedro Alonzo, esta pieza es una campaña por el desarme nuclear que recuerda la eminente amenaza y cómo los expertos y líderes han fallado en contenerla, celebración del 53 aniversario del Tratado de Tlatelolco. Diego Mur es el creador intervención coreográfica en colaboración con la diseñadora Carla Fernández.

Pedro Reyes presented the work Amnesia Atómica with Nohbords in the Plaza de las 3 Culturas, Tlatelolco. Curated by Pedro Alonzo, this work is a campaign for nuclear disarmament by remembering the eminent danger and how experts and leaders have failed to contain it, celebrating the 53rd anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco. Diego Mur is the creator of the choreographic intervention in collaboration with the designer Carla Fernández.

#LatinAmericanArt #ArteLatinoamericano #Art #Arte

02/19/2021

Yinka Shonibare, MBE (RA)

Yinka Shonibare CBE's The American Library (2018) is comprised of six thousand books that each feature the name of a first or second generation immigrant to the U.S. who has contributed significantly to a particular field of art, science or American culture, or the name of an immigration dissenter who opposed such ideas. Shonibare has also created The British Library (2014) and The African Library (2018).
Please join us live this Tuesday, February 23 for a virtual conversation with the artist! More info: saic.edu/vap

Cleveland Public Library 325 Superior Ave. Cleveland, OH 44114 Mon–Sat: 10–6 The American Library The American Library is a timely sequel to the Yinka Shonibare’s 2014 installation, The British Library. Both works are dedicated to the ideas supporting open borders, freedom of speech, educat

02/18/2021

Artist Pedro Reyes explores the power of individual and collective organization to incite change through communication, creativity, happiness, and humor. Join us live March 2 for a virtual lecture by the artist followed by an audience Q&A.
Learn more: https://www.saic.edu/events/pedro-reyes
Image: Pedro Reyes. Photo by Marina Denisova.

02/16/2021

A Tale of Today: Yinka Shonibare CBE

Watch Spring 2021 visiting artist Yinka Shonibare, MBE discuss his 2019 exhibition at the The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, A Tale of Today.
Join us live February 23 for a virtual conversation with artist Yinka Shonibare CBE followed by an audience Q&A.

The inaugural exhibition in the Driehaus Museum’s new contemporary art series focuses on Yinka Shonibare CBE, a British-Nigerian artist who draws on history,...

02/15/2021

Our Spring 2021 series will kick off on February 23! Please join us live for virtual a conversation with artist Yinka Shonibare, MBE and Delinda Collier, associate professor of art history, theory, and criticism and interim dean of graduate studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

02/11/2021

Y.S.F.

Visiting artist Yinka Shonibare, MBE established the Yinka Shonibare Foundation in 2019 to provide fundraising and strategic support for the Guest Artists Space Foundation in Nigeria, among other initiatives. Learn more about the organization at the link below.
Tune in live February 23 for a virtual conversation with Shonibare followed by an audience Q&A. More info: https://www.saic.edu/events/yinka-shonibare

“The Yinka Shonibare Foundation’s vision is to foster cultural exchange between Africa and the rest of the world by facilitating and engaging in multi-disciplinary dialogue and research.”Yinka Shonibare CBE Featured Phillips’ 15th Dec ‘New Now’ Auction Features 10 Works to Benefit Y.S.F....

02/09/2021

The Bulletin and Pedro Reyes present Amnesia Atomica - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Spring 2021 visiting artist Pedro Reyes's Amnesia Atómica, a three story inflatable mushroom cloud, is a continuation of the artist's work on disarmament. With this project, the artist aims to raise public awareness, revitalize the anti-nuclear community, and put pressure of leaders, policymakers and citizens by reminding them of the consequences of inaction.
Join us live March 2 for a virtual lecture by Pedro Reyes followed by an audience Q&A. More info: https://www.saic.edu/events/pedro-reyes

Bulletin president and CEO Rachel Bronson traveled to Mexico City February 13-15 to join renowned artist Pedro Reyes and the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs in unveiling Amnesia Atomica, a three story inflatable mushroom cloud commissioned to “…raise public awareness, revitalize the once vib...

02/08/2021

Yinka Shonibare CBE: Earth Kids

Spring 2021 visiting Artist Yinka Shonibare CBE's most recent exhibition at James Cohan, Earth Kids, makes a connection between the history of colonial domination and humankind’s domination of the natural world and exploitation of its limited resources.
Join us live February 23 for a virtual conversation between Yinka Shonibare CBE and Delinda Collier, associate professor of art history, theory, and criticism and interim dean of graduate studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, followed by an audience Q&A.

In this video, Yinka Shonibare CBE discusses the connection between the history of colonial domination and humankind’s domination of the natural world and…

02/05/2021

Ian Cheng :: Foundation for Contemporary Arts

Congratulations to Spring 2021 visiting artist Ian Cheng on receiving a 2021 Foundation for Contemporary Arts award in visual arts! Cheng produces computer-generated simulations and draws on principles of video game design, improvisation, and cognitive science.
Please join us live April 6 for a virtual lecture by Cheng followed by an audience Q&A. More info: https://www.saic.edu/events/ian-cheng

Encourages, sponsors, and promotes innovative work in the arts

02/03/2021

Tune in to artist Pedro Reyes's Visiting Artists Program lecture and Q&A on March 2 at 6:30pm CT. Reyes designs projects that propose playful solutions to social problems, often enlisting viewers as participants through individual conversations, therapeutic acts, or as creators of objects. Learn more: https://www.saic.edu/events/pedro-reyes

01/28/2021

Our Spring 2021 series will kick off on February 23 with a conversation with London-based interdisciplinary artist Yinka Shonibare CBE. Through examining race, class, and the construction of cultural identity, his works comment on the tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe and their respective economic and political histories. Learn more: https://www.saic.edu/events/yinka-shonibare

01/26/2021

We are excited to announce our Spring 2021 lecture series! Join us online for one of the city’s leading public forums on the presentation and contemplation of contemporary art, design, and scholarship. All events are free and open to the public, and registration is not required. Visit our website to learn more: saic.edu/vap

February 23: Yinka Shonibare CBE in Conversation with Delinda Collier
March 2: Pedro Reyes
March 16: Meg Onli: Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series
March 30: Miranda July in Conversation with Jennifer Reeder
April 6: Ian Cheng

01/25/2021

Fronda table and upholstered seating by Industrial Facility for Mattiazzi

Spring 2020 visiting designers Industrial Facility have launched new products for Mattiazzi.

London studio Industrial Facility has updated its Fronda family of seating for Mattiazzi with the addition of upholstery and a matching desk cm dining table.

01/22/2021

Let There Be Light, and Art, in the Moynihan Train Hall

An expansion at New York City's Penn Station features a ceiling installation by Spring 2019 visiting artists Elmgreen & Dragset and giant photographic panels by Spring 1999 visiting artist Stan Douglas. Take a look!

The expansion of Penn Station’s concourse has an acre of glass that lets the sun pour down, and installations by Kehinde Wiley, Stan Douglas and Elmgreen & Dragset. Here’s a first look.

01/21/2021

A brush with... Tal R

In a recent interview with The Art Newspaper's A brush with... podcast, painter Tal R discusses his influences and cultural experiences.

We enjoyed having Tal R as a visiting artist in Fall 2016. Watch his lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GCY2Wl2GJI.

This week, Ben Luke interviews the Danish artist Tal R about his influences and cultural experiences. In this in-depth conversation, the painter and sculptor...

01/15/2021

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Artist Sonya Clark (BFA 1993) was a Distinguished Alumni Lecturer in Spring 2017. Her first survey exhibition, "Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend" will be on view March 3 to May 31.

For the first time, alum Sonya Clark’s (BFA 1993) practice will receive a full-scale survey at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, spanning 25 years and nearly 100 artworks.

01/12/2021

Nyugen E. Smith, 11/10/20 - SAIC's Visiting Artists Program Lecture

We were honored to have artist Nyugen E. Smith (MFA 2016) as our fall 2020 Distinguished Alumni Lecturer. Smith is a first-generation Caribbean-American (USA, Haiti, Trinidad, and Tobago) interdisciplinary artist based in Jersey City, New Jersey. Through performance, found object sculpture, mixed media drawing, painting, video, photo, and writing, Smith deepens his knowledge of historical and present-day conditions of Black African descendants in the diaspora.

Nyugen E. Smith (MFA 2016) is a first-generation Caribbean-American (USA, Haiti, Trinidad, and Tobago) interdisciplinary artist based in Jersey City, New Jer...

01/07/2021

Raqs Media Collective, 11/17/20 - SAIC's Visiting Artists Program Lecture

Did you tune into Raqs Media Collective's Visiting Artists Program program on November 17th? In case you missed it or would like to revisit, a recording is available on our Youtube channel.
Raqs Media Collective, formed in 1992 by Monica Narula, Jeebesh Bagchi, and Shuddhabrata Sengupta, argues for a mode of “kinetic contemplation” that rides a restless entanglement with the world. This translates into working with moving images to unsettle ways of ordering space and time through timelines, life-lines, latitudes, and longitudes.

Raqs Media Collective, formed in 1992 by Monica Narula, Jeebesh Bagchi, and Shuddhabrata Sengupta, argues for a mode of “kinetic contemplation” that rides a ...

01/05/2021

Ebony G. Patterson, 10/27/20 - SAIC's Visiting Artist Program Lecture

Catch artist Ebony G. Patterson's Fall 2020 lecture on Youtube! Patterson’s multilayered practice—in painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and video—uses beauty as a tool to address global, social, and political injustices.

Ebony G. Patterson’s multilayered practice—in painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and video—uses beauty as a tool to address global, social, and ...

12/16/2020

Fall 2020 Distinguished Alumni Lecturer Nyugen E. Smith is exhibiting in PRIZM Art Fair, on view now through December 21! View his work at the link below.

Nyugen Smith (@bundlehouse) is a first-generation Caribbean-American interdisciplinary artist who uses sculpture, mixed media drawing, painting, video, photography, sculpture, and writing to explore the experiences of African descendants in the diaspora. His work often explores themes such as memory, trauma, spiritual practices, language, violence, and the built and natural space around us.

View his work and others at #PrizmArtFair2020 using the link below
https://www.prizmartfair.com/

12/15/2020

Irma Boom, 10/13/20 - SAIC's Visiting Artists Program Lecture

In case you missed designer Irma Boom's Visiting Artists Program on October 13th, it is available on our Youtube page!

In this virtual studio visit, Alison Fisher, Harold and Margot Schiff Associate Curator of Architecture and Design at the The Art Institute of Chicago, and acclaimed graphic designer Irma Boom discuss SHV Think Book 1996–1896, Sheila Hicks: Weaving as Metaphor, and other exciting projects by Boom.

Irma Boom is an acclaimed graphic designer and bookmaker based in Amsterdam. Boom studied fine art and graphic design at the AKI Academy of Art & Design in E...

12/10/2020

Raqs Media Collective: Why do they call the answer to a question, a solution?

Have you checked out fall 2020 visiting artists Raqs Media Collective's new video works? The works are part of the Pandemic Circle, a trilogy of poetic videos that grapple with the lockdown's impact on daily routines and relationships.

Why do they call the answer to a question, a solution? (12 mins, video, spoken word), 2020 by Raqs Media CollectiveThe third video in the pandemic circle tur...

12/08/2020

Nasher Public: Nyugen E. Smith - at the Nasher

Opening soon! Fall 2020 Distinguished Alumni Speaker Nyugen E. Smith (MFA 2016) will present fourteen Spirit Carriers, a series of found object constructions that the artist began in 2016 at the Nasher Sculpture Center. Accompanying the installation is a musical composition that is part of ongoing, multi-part project called Masta My Language. Listen to Smith discuss the Spirit Carriers and the impact of the pandemic and the movement for social and racial justice at the link.

The work of artist Nyugen E. Smith examines the universal human experiences of memory, trauma, and spirituality through the multifarious impacts of colonialism on the African diaspora.  A first-generation Caribbean-American born in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Haitian and Trinidadia...

12/04/2020

SAIC's Visiting Artists Program

Thank you for tuning in to our first virtual lecture series this fall! We were thrilled to host Fred Wilson, Ocean Vuong, Irma Boom, Ebony G. Patterson, Nyugen E. Smith, and Raqs Media Collective. Please enjoy a selection of SAIC Visiting Artists Program recordings on Youtube at the link below.

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

11/30/2020

The Pandemic Circle by Raqs Media Collective

Premiering tomorrow! Two new video works by fall 2020 visiting artists Raqs Media Collective will premiere December 1 on the Stamps School of Art & Design Youtube Channel and EXPO CHICAGO programming microsite. "twentyfourbyseven" and "Why do they call the answer to a question, a solution?" will complete The Pandemic Circle, a trilogy than began with the video work "31 Days."

An online exhibition and screening of new videos commissioned by Stamps Gallery and presented in partnership with EXPO CHICAGO. Dec. 1, 2020 - Jan 31, 2021.

11/17/2020

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

TONIGHT: Tune in to view a virtual presentation by Raqs Media Collective followed by a Q&A with Srimoyee Mitra, director of the Stamps Gallery at Stamps School of Art and Design.

Raqs Media Collective, formed in 1992 by Monica Narula, Jeebesh Bagchi, and Shuddhabrata Sengupta, argues for a mode of “kinetic contemplation” that rides a restless entanglement with the world. This translates into working with moving images to unsettle ways of ordering space and time through timelines, life-lines, latitudes, and longitudes.

For more information on how to join tonight's event via Zoom please visit saic.edu/vap

All events are free and open to the public, and registration is not required. Closed captions available.

11/10/2020

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

TONIGHT: Virtual presentation by artist Nyugen E. Smith. Join us ‪at 6:30 p.m.‬ for a lecture followed by an audience Q&A.

Nyugen E. Smith (MFA 2016) is a first-generation Caribbean-American (USA, Haiti, Trinidad, and Tobago) interdisciplinary artist based in Jersey City, New Jersey. Through performance, found object sculpture, mixed media drawing, painting, video, photo, and writing, Smith deepens his knowledge of historical and present-day conditions of Black African descendants in the diaspora.

For more information on how to join tonight's event via Zoom please visit saic.edu/vap

All events are free and open to the public, and registration is not required. Closed captions available.

Photo credits:
Nyugen E. Smith. Courtesy of the Artist.

Nyugen E. Smith, Bundlehouse: FS Mini No.2, 2019, mixed media and found object sculpture, 31 x 18 ½ x 18 ½ inches. Courtesy of the Artist.

Nyugen E. Smith, Bundlehouse Borderlines No.3 (Isle de Tribamartica), 2017, pen and ink, watercolor, thread, colored pencil, acrylic, graphite, gesso, metallic marker, colored pencil, tea, Trinidadian and Zambian soil on paper, 60 x 48 inches. Courtesy of the Artist.