March 2008
Monday, March 24, 6-9 PM: Lecture at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Hill University Center Alumni Auditorium, reception follows at Space One Eleven
Wednesday, March 26, 7-9 PM: Lecture at University of Montevallo, LeBaron Recital Hall
Friday, March 28, 11 AM – 1 PM: Coleman Center for the Arts, Seminar on Public Art (Seating limited, must register in advance, call 205-392-2005 for more info)
Alfredo Jaar is a Chilean born artist, architect, and filmmaker who lives and works in New York City. Over the last four decades his projects and public interventions have been realized all over the globe ranging in topic from the Rwandan genocide, the AIDS epidemic in Africa, the plight of homeless persons, and the role of the image in contemporary society, among others.
Some of Jaar’s projects have included A Logo for America (1987), which was displayed in Times Square, The Cloud (2000), a public intervention staged in the US – Mexico border, Bunka no Hako (Culture Box), (2000,) a project that established a series of small museums in Niigata, Japan, and The Lament of Images (2002), an installation first shown at Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany.
In 1999 Jaar spoke of his work Playground, which was commissioned as a monument in memory of Chilean president Salvador Allende by the City of Barcelona. “This work does not foster the cult of one person, (Salvador Allende) but rather creates a public service as a tribute to the idea of a better society.” This sentiment runs throughout Jaar’s work, urging the audience to accept a broader view of humanity and the world.
Jaar’s work has been widely exhibited in the United States and abroad, including at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, and at Documenta 11. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1985 and in 2000 received the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. Jaar was recently featured on the PBS documentary series on contemporary art, Art: 21.
Dr. Kelly A. Wacker holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Louisville. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Montevallo. Dr. Wacker’s past research has focused on specific types of public art, as well as contemporary art in general. Her work has been widely published, including in the upcoming book, Baroque Tendencies in Contemporary Art.
This program is made possible by support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Alabama Humanities Foundation – a program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the University of Montevallo Concert and Lecture Series, the University of Montevallo Art Department – Martha Allen Lecture Series, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Art and Art History, Space One Eleven, and the Coleman Center for the Arts.
For more information please contact the Coleman Center for the Arts, 205-392-2005, info@colemanarts.org.