As part of The Conditions of Being Art, a series of public programs will extend the exhibition research, through screenings, talks and conversations. On Saturday October 13, at 2pm artist Andrea Fraser will speak to her work in the exhibition, addressing her exhibitions at American Fine Arts, Co. during the 1980s and 1990s. The exhibition also includes Ana Mendieta’s Ñáñigo Burial (1976), an important work in her Silueta series, that was previously presented at Pat Hearn Gallery. Ñáñigo Burial consists of 47 black candles arranged in a silhouette of the artist’s body. As part of the recreation of Mendieta’s work in the Hessel Museum of Art exhibition, the candles will be lit on Saturday October 13, during the museum’s open hours, between 11am to 5pm.
Andrea Fraser is an artist whose work investigates the social, financial, and affective economies of cultural institutions, fields, and groups. She is Professor, Interdisciplinary Studio Area Head, and Chair of the UCLA Department of Art. Retrospectives of her work have been presented by the Museum Ludwig Cologne (2013), the Museum der Moderne Salzburg (2015), the Museum of Contemporary Art Barcelona and MUAC UNAM Mexico City (both 2016). Her most recent book, 2016 in Museums, Money, and Politics (2018)—co-published by the CCA Wattis Institute, Westreich/Wagner Publications, and MIT Press—documents the political contributions of the board members of over 125 major US art organizations in the 2016 election cycle and its aftermath, examining the intersection of cultural philanthropy and political finance in the age of plutocracy.
