Nine artists will be presenting Hixson-Lied visiting artist and scholar lectures this spring in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s School of Art, Art History and Design. Opening the spring series is sculptor Bassem Yousri, who will present his lecture on Jan. 22.
The School of Art, Art History and Design’s Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture Series brings notable artists, scholars and designers to Nebraska each semester to enhance the education of students. Each lecture takes place at 5:30 p.m. in Richards Hall Rm. 15. The lectures are free and open to the public.
Yousri is a visual artist, filmmaker and art educator. He relies on humor and sarcasm as a tool that can reach different audiences from diverse cultures, which allows him to criticize common stereotypes and taboos.
Yousri’s work investigates issues related to the relationship between form and representation in the context of the exhibition space and public space. Some of the venues that featured his work include the Museum of the Moving Image in New York; Centre Pompidou in Paris; Sharjah Art Foundation, United Arab Emirates; Mathaf: the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar; l’Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris; the State Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich, Germany; and Institut Valencià d’Art Modern in Valencia, Spain.
Additional lectures in the series are:
• Jan. 29: Jeff Oestreich, ceramics. Oestreich is a studio potter and pottery instructor based in Taylors Falls, Minnesota.
• Feb. 4: Rebecca Morse, photography. Morse is a curator in the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
• Feb. 5: Sergei Isupov, ceramics. Isupov works in porcelain using traditional hand building and sculpting techniques to combine surface and form with narrative painting using stains and clear glaze.
• Feb. 12: David Gracie, painting. Gracie is a painter who addresses both the abstractness and specificity of daily life. He is associate professor of art at Nebraska Wesleyan University and director of Elder Gallery.
• March 4: Josh Winkler, printmaking. Winkler focuses on environmental issues connected to history and place. He is currently completing his second Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board and was recently selected for an artist residency at the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum of Natural History.
• March 18: Kristian Bjørnard, foundations. Bjørnard is professor of graphic design at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
• March 30: Sabine Ladstätter, art history. Ladstätter is currently director of the Ephesus excavations in Turkey. She is involved with economic and landscape archaeology, as well as with the documentation and preservation of archaeological cultural heritage.
• April 8: Brad Kahlhamer, painting. Kahlhamer lives and works in New York City. He is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City and Andréhn-Schiptjenko in Stockholm.
Underwritten by the Hixson-Lied Endowment with additional support from other sources, the series enriches the culture of the state by providing a way for Nebraskans to interact with luminaries in the fields of art, art history and design. Each visiting artist or scholar spends one to three days on campus to meet with classes, participate in critiques and give demonstrations.
For more information on the series, contact the School of Art, Art History and Design at 402-472-5522.
