In the Foreground: Conversations on Art & Writing

Latest Episodes:

“An Archive of Exchange”: C. Ondine Chavoya on Chicanx and Latinx Art History Sep 08, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of In the Foreground, Caro Fowler (Starr Director of the Research and Academic Program at the Clark Art Institute) speaks with C. Ondine Chavoya, Professor of Art History and Latina/o Studies at Williams College. They discuss what shaped Ondine’s interest in Chicanx art and his role in establishing the program in Latina/Latino Studies, the first of its kind at a liberal arts college in the United States. Ondine describes his work as a curator and advocates for the vital role of exhibitions and catalogues in the production of knowledge. He and Caro reflect on the immersive experience of researching from non-traditional archives, and the ways those processes shape the writing of history. Set against the backdrop of experiences of institutionalized racism within the discipline, Ondine shares some the ways in which he hopes to move the field forward.

“Surfaces of Projection”: Dell M. Hamilton on Performance Art and Black Embodiment Sep 01, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of In the Foreground, Caro Fowler (Starr Director of the Research and Academic Program at the Clark Art Institute) speaks with Dell M. Hamilton, an artist, scholar, writer, and independent curator. They discuss how Dell’s long affiliation with the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University shaped her perspective as an artist, and the impact of literature and architectural spaces on Dell’s performances, including Blues\Blank\Black, a piece she presented in the galleries of the Clark Art Institute in November 2019. Dell reflects on the possibilities of art to foment political change, and describes the potential for performance art to produce images of the experiences of Black women that otherwise go unseen.

“The Nature of All Our Forms”: María Magdalena Campos-Pons on Performance Art Aug 18, 2020

Show notes

In the inaugural episode of In the Foreground, Caro Fowler (Starr Director of the Research and Academic Program at the Clark Art Institute) speaks with María Magdalena Campos-Pons, a multidisciplinary artist and the Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair of Fine Arts at Vanderbilt University. Magda recounts her early progressive education and the importance of the exchange of ideas with her mentors and other women artists and describes how she carries that generosity forward in her own teaching. They discuss how performance art addresses transformations of the human body, whether through processes of aging or technological prosthetics, and Magda reflects on her decision to document her performances (or not). Throughout the interview, Magda returns to the long and elemental force of performance on the formation of human knowledge, including in our everyday experiences navigating Covid-19.