Currents--University of Rochester

November 22
1999

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In Brief

Currents--University of Rochester newspaper

Artist Mary Kelly to be visiting scholar

O ne of the most influential artists of the last three decades, Mary Kelly, will be in Rochester next month as a visiting scholar at the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women's Studies. Kelly--a feminist who is renowned as an activist, theorist, and cultural critic--also will present a lecture at the Memorial Art Gallery on Thursday, December 2, at 7 p.m. Her talk and slide show, a look at her 30-year art career, is free and open to the public.

"Sarajevo 1992," Section No. 2, from Mea Culpa, 1999

"Kelly is a conceptual artist whose work was at the forefront of a wave of intellectually and politically engaged critical feminist artwork and art theory," said Lisa Cartwright, associate professor of English and of visual and cultural studies, and one of the organizers of Kelly's visit. "Her commitment has set the standard for politically engaged art practice for three generations of artists."

Kelly's 1976 exhibition Post-Partum Document vaulted her to world attention and is now a classic work of art. It is a series of wall-mounted mixed-media works that used psychoanalytic theory to analyze her child's development and her relationship as a mother to her son.

The artist's most recent project, Mea Culpa, similarly incorporates narrative and visual materials, combining compacted lint from domestic laundry chores with a woman's account of military atrocities and the everyday experiences of wars, including those in Beirut and Sarajevo.

Kelly also is an accomplished writer and critic. In addition to numerous books and catalog essays and interviews, she has written art criticism and theory for various journals. She is the recipient of a visual-arts fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and served as director of studios for the independent-study program of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Currently professor and chair of the Department of Art at UCLA, Kelly has taught and exhibited her works throughout the world, including Sweden, Canada, and England. A 1997 monograph of her works includes an interview conducted by Douglas Crimp, professor of art history/visual and cultural studies and acting chair of the Department of Art and Art History at the College.

Kelly's lecture is co-sponsored by the Susan B. Anthony Institute, the Susan B. Anthony University Center, and MAG. As a visiting scholar, she also will hold a seminar for faculty and students and will conduct critiques with studio art undergraduates.

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