Hirshhorn Plaza

Monday, February 7, 2011

Programs

The Hirshhorn’s new spring exhibitions include the East Coast premiere of the first U.S. retrospective of work by influential postwar painter Blinky Palermo and “Directions: Grazia Toderi”, featuring video projections by the Italian artist, who likens her work to “frescoes of light.” An extensive slate of programs augments the exhibitions with gallery walk-throughs, scholarly lectures, conversations with artists and our annual James T. Demetrion Lecture. All Hirshhorn programs are free except for After Hours.

Friday Gallery Talks
Fridays at 12:30 p.m.
Drop by the Hirshhorn during your lunch break for half-hour gallery talks focused on special exhibitions or works from the collection, led by curators, educators, artists, writers and scholars from a variety of fields. Visit hirshhorn.si.edu for current listings of upcoming talks.

Lynne Cooke on “Blinky Palermo: Retrospective 1964–1977”
Thursday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m.
Second Level Galleries
On opening night, exhibition curator Lynne Cooke leads visitors on a walk-through of the Hirshhorn installation, exploring the evolution of Palermo’s aesthetic and the significance of his contributions to postwar painting.

Meet the Artist: Hans Op de Beeck
Wednesday, March 16, 7 p.m.
Ring Auditorium
Belgian artist Hans Op de Beeck explores our problematic relationships with time, space and each other through a wide variety of artistic media, including sculpture, painting, drawing, installation, photography, video, animated film and short story writing. He talks about his recent work, including his video “Staging Silence” (2009), which is on view in Black Box through March 27.

James T. Demetrion Lecture: Marina Abramović
Tuesday, April 5, 7 p.m.
Please visit hirshhorn.si.edu for location and ticketing information
Following up on her groundbreaking retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art last year, performance art pioneer Marina Abramović discusses how the medium is entering the history of art. After presenting an overview of the field, from seminal pieces of the 1970s to the work of today’s foremost practitioners, she will address questions about the historicization and continued growth of performance art: How is performance art preserved? Can it be re-performed? If so, under what conditions? Can it be taught and how? Can it be collected? Is it part of our mainstream culture or not? Who is performing now and why?

Meet the Artist: Grazia Toderi
Thursday, April 21, 6:45 p.m.
Lerner Room
On the opening night of “Directions: Grazia Toderi,” the Italian artist introduces her recent projections and drawings, which transform the artifacts of a culture obsessed with technology and surveillance into celestial meditations both poetic and chilling. The exhibition will be open prior to the program.

After Hours
Friday, April 29; 8 p.m. to midnight
Tickets go on sale March 29 at hirshhorn.si.edu
Washington’s premier contemporary art event is back! Stay up late and enjoy extended Museum hours, gallery tours of “Blinky Palermo: Retrospective 1964–1977,” music and live performances on the Plaza.

Lecture: Suzanne Hudson on Blinky Palermo
Tuesday, May 3, 7 p.m.
Lerner Room
A German artist with an American moniker and a longtime interest in the New York art world, Blinky Palermo made the city his home from 1973 until 1976. Suzanne Hudson, art historian and contributor to the catalogue for “Blinky Palermo: Retrospective 1964–1977,” examines the artist’s time in the United States and the context it provided for his work.

Meet the Artist: Julian Schnabel
NEW DATE: Friday, May 13, 7 p.m.
Ring Auditorium
Artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel discusses recent projects in light of his early artistic influences, including his friendship with Blinky Palermo, whom he met in New York in 1974.

Films

This spring, the Hirshhorn provides the opportunity to view some of the best in contemporary film and the chance to meet celebrated filmmakers and animators as they introduce screenings of their award-winning work and provide glimpses into projects in the making. All screenings are free.

“Bill Cunningham New York” (2009)
Thursday, March 10, 8 p.m.
Ring Auditorium
Twice weekly, there are photo essays in The New York Times that double as cultural anthropology. “On the Street” makes a case for the fashion trend of the moment, and “Evening Hours” covers power brokers, swells and celebs out on the town. Richard Press’s first feature is a portrait of Bill Cunningham, the photographer who produces these eye-popping chronicles. The octogenarian bikes to his assignments on his Schwinn, attired as always in a stylish yet utilitarian outfit: oversize lab coat, pinwale cords, black shoes and thick socks.

Under the Volcano: An Evening with Semiconductor
Thursday, March 24, 8 p.m.
Ring Auditorium
As Smithsonian Artist Research Fellows, Semiconductor (UK-based Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt) spent three months at the Smithsonian Mineral Sciences Lab. Their insights into volcanoes, meteorites, and those who study them are at the core of a three-screen work-in-progress, “Worlds in the Making.” The artists, who recently performed at After Hours and whose “Magnetic Movie” (2007) entered the museum’s collection from Black Box, screen and talk about their latest projects. This event is presented in conjunction with the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital.

DJ Spooky with Selections from the Washington Project for the Arts 2011 Experimental Media Series
Thursday, March 31, 8 p.m.
Ring Auditorium
Filmmaker, musician and writer Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid) is this year’s judge for the WPA’s international competition. He shows his favorites and tells you how he selected them from hundreds of submissions.

“My Dog Tulip” (2009) 
Thursday, April 28, 7 p.m.
Ring Auditorium
This is a rare opportunity to see Paul Fierlinger’s animated(but not-for-children) feature about loneliness, isolation and devotion. Based on the book by J.R. Ackerly and narrated by Christopher Plummer, this quirky and endearing story about canine companionship garnered many awards on the international festival circuit. 

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” [Le scaphandre et le papillon] (2007)
NEW DATE AND TIME: Thursday, May 12, 8:30 p.m.
Ring Auditorium
Julian Schnabel introduces his celebrated feature based on the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby. At the age of 42, the editor of the French fashion magazine Elle is stricken with locked-in syndrome, which leaves him mentally alert but unable to speak or move. When his eyes are also compromised, doctors determine that one must be sewn shut. With blinks of the remaining eye, Bauby communicates his thoughts letter by letter to dictate his book. Schnabel’s inventive and unsentimental film vividly relates Bauby’s will to live, work and connect. In French with English subtitles.

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