Untitled, 2002, by Lorna Simpson (American, born 1960) © Lorna Simpson
In this lecture, art historian Huey Copeland provides an overview of his work on, and approach to, modern and contemporary art, with a focus on his forthcoming collection of essays, interviews, and reviews entitled, "Touched by the Mother": On Black Men, Artistic Practice, and Other Feminist Horizons, 1966–2016. This volume encompasses a range of unique practices, from the assemblages of Noah Purifoy to the paintings of Sam Gilliam, all united by their engagement with American art and culture of the 1960s and '70s. Just as important, in "Touched by the Mother"—a title borrowed from the work of renowned cultural theorist Hortense Spillers—Copeland articulates how his black queer feminist method draws from various discourses in thinking at the intersections of race and gender, history and memory, subjectivity and sexuality, art and culture. This approach, he argues, productively expands our understanding of both art-historical practice and the aesthetic itself.
Dr. Huey Copeland
Arthur Andersen Teaching and Research Professor
Interim Director, Black Arts Initiative
Associate Professor of Art History
Northwestern University
Click here for more information about Associate Professor Copeland
Co-sponsored by the Snite Museum of Art, and the University of Notre Dame Departments of Art, Art History & Design; American Studies, Gender Studies; and the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts.