Faces and Powers

Building on his influential 1988 essay FACE(T)S: Notes on Faciality, art historian and theorist John C. Welchman traces the shifting significance of the face across epochs, regimes, artistic movements, and philosophical frameworks. Arguing that the face is not merely a symbol or sign but also territory and a projective fiction—a surface or imagination saturated with religious, political, and aesthetic meaning—Welchman offers a longform reading of faciality as a site of ideological and representational conflict.

In a present shaped by biometric surveillance, FaceTune filters, deepfakes, and hyperreal digital avatars, this conversation asks how we might revisit and repurpose Welchman’s thinking in relation to contemporary technologies and identity formations. Following Welchman’s keynote, the artist Mimosa Echard will lead a tour to her exhibition Facial, bringing informal perspectives to the conversation as we explore the evolving meanings of the face—its cultural functions, political charges, and aesthetic mutations—in the context of today’s mediated subjectivities. Copies of Mimosa Echard’s monograph Lies (2025), published by Mousse and featuring contributions from Daphné B., Quinn Latimer, Devrim Bayar, Amelia Groom, and a conversation between the artist and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster will be available for purchase.

Amant programs are always free. RSVPs are strongly encouraged. Seating is first come, first served with some standing room available. Doors for this program will open at 5:45 on Friday, September 19 in Géza, located at 306 Maujer.

Host or Publisher Amant Foundation