Zoom Panel Discussion and Artist Talks

ZOOM Panel Discussion and Artist Talks
Anina Major, Becci Davis, Jason Patterson, and Marisa Williamson

LCVA and HSC announce a series of Zoom symposiums for the exhibition Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History The Longwood Center for the Visual Arts (LCVA) and Hampden-Sydney College (HSC) are excited to announce a series of Zoom symposiums presented in conjunction with the exhibition Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History, an intimate yet ambitious exhibition that spans two university/college galleries. Curated by Jay Simple and Emma Steinkraus, this exhibition addresses relevant questions about how artists interrogate history, and what kinds of new historical records artists can create. The artists on view use diverse strategies to resist and remake historical narratives in pursuit of a more just world. In their curation of this work, Simple and Steinkraus were influenced by Saidiya Hartman’s theory of recombinant narratives that “‘loop the strands’ of incommensurate accounts” to weave together the past, present, and future. As in Hartman’s work, these artists draw on a variety of sources, from pop culture to family photos to government archives, to illuminate the ways individual stories and historical forces are intertwined. The symposiums will take place on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. on February 18, February 25, and March 11, 2021.

Many of the works in this exhibition, like those by Jason Patterson and Becci Davis, defamiliarize well-known historical moments through cropping or shifts in scale. Archival imagery is handled inventively by artists like Kieran Myles-Andrés Tverbakk, Zora J Murff, and Richard-Jonathan Nelson, who cut, weave, and collage photographic source material together into something wholly new. Installation, sound, and video work by Anina Major, Amir George, and Marisa Williamson engage our bodies and senses.

Simple and Steinkraus note that “the histories and stories recounted here are not hidden counter-narratives but are always present to those who are willing to hear and observe. The artists in Asterisks in the Grand Narrative of History are mediums for communication with the past, but their work also creates new archives that leave messages for our future.” Seen together, their work proposes visual representations that help us figure out how we got here, how we belong, and why we want - or find troubling - the lives we are told to live.

The first Zoom symposium will be held on February 18 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. and includes artists, Zora J Murff, Richard-Jonathan Nelson, and Kieran Myles-Andrés Tverbakk. The second symposium on February 26 features a film screening and artist talk by Amir George. The final symposium on March 11 showcases artist talks by Anina Major, Becci Davis, Jason Patterson, and Marisa Williamson. All Zoom symposiums will be held on Thursday evenings from 7-8:30 p.m.

All events are free and open to the public. Please register in advance through https://lcva.longwood.edu/. For questions about the symposiums, please email lcvainfo@longwood.edu. To view Amir George’s video installation, please visit The Gallery at Brinkley Hall, at Hampden-Sydney College.