Lectures with Art in America Editor Richard Vine and artist Mel Chin

The Contemporary Museum will host lectures with two distinguished figures in the world of contemporary art on back-to-back evenings as part of its New Art Dialogue Series on March 31 and April 1, 2010.

Art and Social Reform, a Discussion with Mel Chin

Wednesday, March 31, 2010   

7:00 p.m.

Falvey Hall

Maryland Institute College of Art

1300 Mount Royal Avenue

Baltimore, MD

The Contemporary Museum’s New Art Dialogue Series, a discourse on trends in contemporary art, will explore the relationship between art and activism with renowned artist Mel Chin on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 7 p.m. The lecture will be held at the Maryland Institute College of Art's (MICA) Falvey Hall.

Chin’s large-scale community-based works address current political and social issues, including environmental sustainability, the health implications of pollutants, and the planet’s endangered biodiversity. For his New Art Dialogue Series lecture, Chin will discuss his body of socially-conscious works, including The Fundred Dollar Bill Project, his current community-based campaign to increase awareness of lead poisoning in America’s inner cities and aid the ongoing restoration of New Orleans. The Contemporary Museum is an official production center of “Fundred Dollar Bills.”

Richard Vine, New China/New Art
Thursday, April 1, 2010
6:00 p.m.

Graham Auditorium
Walters Art Museum
600 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD

At the Walters Art Museum, Richard Vine, Managing Editor of Art in America, will examine the exponential growth of contemporary art in China and its cultural impact. This new era of Asian contemporary art will be illustrated by Vine’s firsthand accounts with installations, exhibitions, and encounters with emerging artists. He will also review movements that have shaped the rapidly-evolving contemporary art scene in post-Tiananmen China.

Admission to the lectures is $10 for the general public, $5 for students, and free for members of the Contemporary Museum. The lecture with Mel Chin is also free for MICA students; the Richard Vine lecture is free for members of the Walters. Tickets will be available at the door.

The Contemporary’s New Art Dialogue Series presents lectures and conversations by distinguished artists, critics, art historians, and curators whose work is defining the field of contemporary art. The series will cultivate critical discourse responsive to the cultural, social, and political issues of our time.

The New Art Dialogue Series is sponsored by the Louise D. and Morton J. Macks Family Foundation.

For additional information, visit www.contemporary.org.