Sunday, October 24, 4:00pm EST
Virtual event, hosted via Zoom
Free and open to the public
RSVP to: aicainternational.webinar@gmail.com

Hosted in partnership with AICA International, Art Writing Futures: A View from the United States will address the multifaceted possibilities and diverse perspectives at the forefront of art criticism in the US today. Publications that are less visible, independent, internet-based, and regionally focused, as well as those focusing on gender-specific issues, compete for our attention with mainstream, legacy forums. The proliferation of novel publications and audiences presents possibilities for expanding the scope of critical discourse and championing artists and movements that subvert traditional boundaries. Art writing in the United States encompasses a multitude of voices working both traditionally and in more experimental forms, from a variety of perspectives. Today’s art critics come from cities and towns that are not the typical centers of intellectual discourses and cultural production. They are trained in regional writing workshops and small colleges, and inspired by local activism. And most importantly, they come to the table prepared and zealously interested in engaging the public with their writing and thinking about art, the ways in which life and art are profoundly interrelated, and how criticism can give us greater purchase with both. With this in mind, this discussion addresses the question: What do the futures of art criticism look like in the United States? Speakers will illuminate the varied approaches and contemporary issues that will bring new insight to art criticism—vanguard visions that are yet to be fully realized.

Moderator

Hrag Vartanian
The editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic, Hrag Vartanian is an art critic, curator, artist, and lecturer on contemporary art with an expertise on the intersection of art and politics. Some of his notable essays from the past few years include the forward to The Artist as Culture Producer, which is titled “Imagining the Future Before Us,” his keynote at the American Craft Council’s 2019 national conference, and his criticism of “Tribute in Light.”

Speakers

Jasmine Amussen
Jasmine Amussen is the editor of Burnaway. Born in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, she has lived in the South for most of her working life. She is a 2020 MacDowell Calderwood Fellow of Journalism.

Jongwoo Jeremy Kim
Jongwoo Jeremy Kim is an Associate Professor of Art History and Critical Theory at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art. As a specialist of modernism and contemporary art, Kim explores the transdisciplinary intersections of art history, queer studies, and Asian-American decolonial theory. Kim's publications include Painted Men in Britain, Queer Difficulty in Art and Poetry, and "Filming the Queerness of Comfort women." As a critic, Kim contributed articles to ASAP/Journal, The Brooklyn Rail, and CAA Reviews.

Greg Tate
Greg Tate is a writer, cultural provocateur and musician who has lived in Harlem since 1984. He was a Staff Writer at The Village Voice from 1987–2004. His books include Flyboy in The Buttermilk, Flyboy 2:The Greg Tate Reader, Everything But The Burden—What White People Are Taking From Black Culture and Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix And The Black Experience. Forthcoming from Duke University Press in 2022 is a collection of his writings on visual culture entitled White Cube Fever: Writings and Conjurings On The Dark Arts. As a Visiting Professor, Tate has taught at San Francisco State University, Brown University, Yale School of Art, New York University, Williams College and Princeton's College of Humanities.

In 1985 Tate helped co-found the Black Rock Coalition with Vernon Reid and other firebrands of the era. Since 1999 he has led the Conducted Improv ensemble, Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber, who've released 16 albums on their own Avant Groidd Musica imprint—most recently the critically acclaimed recording, Angels Over Oakanda.

Kaelen Wilson-Goldie
Kaelen Wilson-Goldie is a writer and critic based in New York and Beirut. A contributing editor for Bidoun, she writes regularly for Artforum, Aperture, and Afterall, among other publications. She spent a decade working as a reporter and editor for newspapers in the Middle East and continues to cover the intersections of art, culture, and politics in the Arab world. She was a 2007 fellow in the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship Program and won a grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation Art Writers Grant Program in 2013. Her first book, Etel Adnan, on the paintings of the Lebanese-American poet Etel Adnan, was published in 2018.