Marketing & Communications: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago Announces Fall Visiting Artists Line-Up

CHICAGO—This fall, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), a global leader in art and design education, will host a distinguished lineup of visiting artists who exemplify the boundary-blurring nature of contemporary art. Beginning in September, SAIC’s Visiting Artists Program lecture series will feature a diverse group of artists including: visual artist Amanda Williams, whose work with art and architecture draws attention to the political complexities of race, place and value in cities; SAIC alum Sumakshi Singh, who traverses the lines between metaphor, reality and illusion through interactive installations, paintings, drawings and sculptures; and Ibrahim Mahama, who uses the transformation of materials to explore themes of commodity, migration, globalization and economic exchange. The fall season kicks off on September 10.

This fall, SAIC will present the following visiting artists:

• Amanda Williams’ practice blurs the distinction between art and architecture through works that employ color as a way to draw attention to the political complexities of race, place and value in cities.
• Cassils has achieved international recognition for a rigorous engagement with the body as a form of social sculpture. Featuring a series of bodies transformed by strict physical training regimes, Cassils’ artworks offer shared experiences for contemplating histories of violence, representation, struggle and survival.
• Danh Vo is a Vietnamese-born Danish artist who often employs seemingly mundane objects to meld personal biographical narratives with global political histories.
• Sumakshi Singh’s (MFA 2003) interactive installations, paintings, drawings and sculptures traverse lines between metaphor, reality and illusion.
• Jeremy Deller is a conceptual artist who is known for his political and social work that takes the form of interventions, performances, videos and installations.
• Eyal Weizman is the founding director of Forensic Architecture, a research agency that undertakes advanced architectural and media investigations on behalf of international prosecutors, human rights and civil society groups, as well as political and environmental justice organizations.
• Ibrahim Mahama uses the transformation of materials to explore themes of commodity, migration, globalization and economic exchange.

“The artists coming to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago this fall all use their artistic voices to address the important topics facing the world today,” said Andrea Pierro, Director of the Visiting Artists Program. “We are pleased to have such a diverse group of artists visit SAIC to share their global perspectives with the Chicago art community.”

The Visiting Artists Program, founded in 1868, is the oldest public program at SAIC. In addition to bringing some of the leading artistic voices to SAIC, the program plays a critical role in informing the curriculum by arranging studio critiques and roundtable discussions with students, providing them with direct access to world-renowned speakers working across disciplines.

Visiting Artists Program Lecture Schedule

All presentations are free and open to the public, begin promptly at 6:00 p.m. and take place in Rubloff Auditorium at The Art Institute of Chicago, 230 S. Columbus Drive, unless noted otherwise. All seating is first come, first served and reservations are not required. For more information, visit saic.edu/vap.

Amanda Williams: Bill and Stephanie Sick Distinguished Visiting Professor
Monday, September 10, 6:00 p.m.
Established in 2006 by a generous gift from Bill and Stephanie Sick, this distinguished visiting professorship enables internationally renowned artists and designers to visit and teach at SAIC.

Cassils
Monday, September 17, 6:00 p.m.

Danh Vo
in Conversation with Hendrik Folkerts
Wednesday, October 3, 6:00 p.m.

Sumakshi Singh: Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series
Monday, October 8, 6:00 p.m.
Presented in partnership with SAIC’s Office of Alumni Relations.

Jeremy Deller
Monday, October 15, 6:00 p.m.

Eyal Weizman
Tuesday, October 23, 6:00 p.m.
Presented in partnership with the William Bronson and Grayce Slovet Mitchell Lecture Series in SAIC’s Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects.

Ibrahim Mahama
Monday, November 5, 6:00 p.m.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Fullerton Hall, 111 S. Michigan Ave.
Presented in partnership with SAIC’s Institute for Curatorial Research and Practice.

About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

For more than 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program consistently ranking among the top programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, Jeff Koons and LeRoy Neiman.