Learning Series Lecture: Utopian Aesthetics from Andy Warhol to Laura Owens

Floor Three, Susan and John Hess Family Theater

For Learning Series members in the Curate Your Own Membership program

“From shared critical dissatisfaction we arrive at collective potentiality.”
–José Esteban Muñoz, Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity (2009)

In both art and philosophy, utopia has functioned as a tool of critique—a method of resisting, refusing, and reimagining social and political dynamics. Utopia never arrives, is never achieved; rather, it is a place always in the making. In this talk, teaching fellow Aliza Shvarts tracks a critical utopian imagination through several case studies in contemporary art.  Looking at works by artists including Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, Jimmie Durham, and Laura Owens, she invites audiences to consider how art practice can be a space to stage new forms of resistance or refusal, as well as rehearse new political realities. 

Option 1: Wednesday, November 29, 2017, 5:30–6:30 pm
Option 2: Saturday, December 2, 2017, 11:30 am–12:30 pm
Option 3: Saturday, January 20, 2018, 6–7 pm

Individual and Dual Learning Series members are invited to this event: For Individual members, the invitation is for one; for Dual members, the invitation is for two. Registration instructions will be provided by email.

To join or upgrade, call (212) 570-3641.

If you have questions about accessibility, please contact us at memberinfo@whitney.org. Learn more about access services.