Art Fwd: Aruna D'Souza

Join writer and art critic Aruna D’Souza for a public talk at the Henry Art Gallery, co-presented with the UW School of Art + Art History + Design. Drawing from her forth-coming book, Pictures for a New World, D’Souza considers how art can offer vivid lessons for understanding the histories that brought us to our current socio-political moment: one of precariousness, uncertainty, and calamity. Through examinations of works by Lorraine O'Grady, Raven Chacon, Paul Chan, and exhibiting artist A.K. Burns, D’Souza explores the ways in which artists and artworks invite us to imagine new forms of living in the future.

About the Speaker

Aruna D'Souza writes about modern and contemporary art, intersectional feminisms, and diasporic aesthetics. Her work appears regularly in 4Columns, The New York Times, and in numerous artist’s monographs and exhibition catalogues. Whitewalling: Art, Race, and Protest in 3 Acts was named one of the best art books of 2018 by The New York Times. Recent editorial projects include Linda Nochlin’s Making It Modern: Essays on the Art of the Now and Lorraine O’Grady’s Writing in Space 1973-2018; she co-curated the retrospective Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And at the Brooklyn Museum in 2021. She is the recipient of the 2021 Rabkin Prize for art journalism and a 2019 Andy Warhol Foundation Art Writers Grant. She was appointed the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professor at the National Gallery of Art in 2022, and the W.W. Corcoran Professor of Social Engagement at the Corcoran School of Art, George Washington University, in 2022-2023. Her most recent book, Imperfect Solidarities, was published in 2024.

About Art Fwd

Art Fwd is a new public lecture series on contemporary art and ideas featuring field-defining artists, curators, and thinkers. In addition to the public talk, invited speakers engage with University of Washington students through studio visits and critiques. Art Fwd is co-presented by the Henry and the University of Washington School of Art + Art History + Design.

Generous support for this lecture series is provided by the Floyd and Delores Jones Endowed Fund for the Arts.

Accessibility

The Henry strives to be a welcoming and accessible space for all visitors. Assisted Listening Devices (ALDs) are available for this program. Live captioning will be available. This program will also be live-streamed with automated captions via YouTube. For additional accessibility information, please visit henryart.org/visit/accessibility or contact Museum Services at 206.221.3850 or [email protected] with questions or needs.

Host or Publisher Henry Art Gallery