Two artists and one critic who have been influential figures in the contemporary art world will talk about their work at a day-long symposium being held on Saturday, April 26, in the lecture hall of the Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St.
"On Their Work: Frank Stella, Chuck Close and Michael Kimmelman" is sponsored by the Members of the Yale Art Museums.
A talk titled "The Perfect Arc" by Frank Stella will open the symposium at 10:30 a.m. The artist attracted both recognition and controversy in 1960 for both his black paintings, which were included in the exhibit "Sixteen Americans" at the Museum of Modern Art, and the shaped canvases in his first solo show at the Leo Castelli Gallery. Mr. Stella's wide-ranging body of work since then includes named series of paintings, metal reliefs and prints, as well as site-specific sculptures and murals in many countries. His works can be found in private and public collections throughout the world. In 1979, Mr. Stella's enthusiasm for auto racing inspired him to create a design for a BMW race car.
Chuck Close, who will present a talk on a topic to be announced at 11:30 a.m., is a Yale alumnus, having earned a B.F.A. and M.F.A. from the School of Art in 1963 and 1964, respectively. Although he began by producing richly hued abstract works, since 1967 the artist has restricted himself to portraiture, specifically monumental head- and-shoulder frontal views. One of the first artists to use photographs as a source of imagery, Mr. Close created his first work in this format -- a nine-foot-by-seven-foot self-portrait -- from a passport-like photo using the grid technique devised by Renaissance masters. He has since employed a wide variety of processes and techniques to produce black-and-white and color portraits studying the "topography of the human face." His works are in the collections of virtually every major public museum in the world.
Michael Kimmelman will discuss his work as chief art critic of The New York Times in a 2 p.m. talk titled "Artists Muse: Talking with Artists about Art." The lecture will be based on the series of conversations with artists during visits to museums that Mr. Kimmelman is currently writing about for the Times and that will eventually be published as a book. Mr. Kimmelman is also a Yale alumnus, having earned his B.A. in 1980. He taught courses at Harvard, where he earned his master's degree in art history, until 1984, when he began writing reviews and essays for The New York Times, The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal and Rolling Stone magazine. He has lectured at art museums and universities throughout the country and is working on a book about the origins of museums and the promotion of modern art in America.
The symposium will end with a discussion among the speakers, followed by a reception at the Yale Center for British Art.
The fee for "On Their Work" is $30 for Members of the Yale Art Museums and $40 for non-members. For more information, or to make a reservation, call 432-9658.