Artist Talk: Nayland Blake

Artist Talk: Nayland Blake

The Art Institute of Chicago, Rubloff Auditorium, 230 S. Columbus Dr.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Visiting Artists Program presents Nayland Blake. Nayland Blake is an artist, writer, educator, and curator. Heavily inspired by feminist and queer liberation movements, and subcultures ranging from punk to kink, Blake’s multidisciplinary practice considers the complexities of representation, particularly racial and gender identity, play and eroticism, and the subjective experience of desire, loss, and power. The artist’s sustained meditation on “passing” and duality as a queer, biracial (African American and White) person is grounded in post minimalist and conceptual approaches made personal through an idiosyncratic array of materials (such as leather, medical equipment, and food) and the tropes of fairy tales and fantasy.

Nayland Blake is the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s 2019-2020 Bill and Stephanie Sick Distinguished Visiting Professor. 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.

This lecture event is free, non-ticketed and open to the public. Doors will open at 5:45 p.m. For more information, visit saic.edu/vap

Persons with disabilities requesting accommodations for this lecture event should visit saic.edu/access

Image: Nayland Blake, Magic, 1990-91, puppet, steel, paper, wood, nylon straps, artificial flowers, and carrying case, 33 3/4 x 42 5/8 x 41 3/4 inches. ©Nayland Blake, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery