Panel Discussion - Books as Art and Artist Books: R. B. Kitaj's In Our Time and Tom Phillips' A Humument In-Person

Join us in the Steinberg Room on Sunday, October 18 at 2 PM for a panel discussion with artists Michael Oatman and Buzz Spector, moderated by Reva Wolf, Professor of Art History at SUNY New Paltz. This program is presented in partnership with the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art and Unison Arts Center.

On the occasion of the exhibition In Our Time: R. B. Kitaj and Books, currently on view at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, Oatman and Spector will discuss connections between R. B. Kitaj’s varied uses of books in his visual art and A Humument, an influential artist book project by Kitaj’s friend, British artist and writer Tom Phillips.

Registration is preferred and saves you a seat. Register to receive an email reminder the day before the program.

Michael Oatman is associate professor in the School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. His collage-based art has been exhibited at Mass MoCA, the Tang Museum at Skidmore College, and the Williams College Museum of Art, among other venues. His interest in Tom Phillips’ A Humument goes back to his student days at Rhode Island School of Design. He has collected each edition of Phillips’ book.

Buzz Spector is an emeritus professor at Washington University in St. Louis, an artist, and a writer. He frequently uses the book in his art, as both subject and object, and focuses on relationships between public history, individual memory, and perception. His work has been exhibited widely, including at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Saint Louis Museum of Art.

Reva Wolf is Professor of Art History at SUNY New Paltz. She has published widely on the history of modern art, with expertise in the art of Goya and Warhol. She has also written on the history of the artist interview, Freemasonry and art, and the translation of artists’ words. She is curator of the current Dorsky Museum exhibition In Our Time: R. B. Kitaj and Books and editor of the accompanying catalog.