Conference

Art today often involves the use of nontraditional materials, everything from used chewing gum to dust to latex. Often, these materials are difficult if not impossible to preserve in their original condition, and present a conservation challenge that threatens the work's long-term viability.

This one-day symposium, presented by Contemporary Conservation and hosted by MA Curatorial Practice, explores the codes and ethics of market forces that rule the decisions on conservation in the world of private art collecting. A selection of artists, art historians, collectors, conservators, dealers, insurers and lawyers discuss what, short of perfection, is acceptable in the changing condition of artworks, and who makes the decisions regarding refabrication, devaluation and total loss.

Speakers include artist Matthew Barney; Reinhard Bek, conservator and partner, bek&frohnert LLC; Ted Bonin, partner, Alexander and Bonin Gallery; Martha Buskirk, professor of art history and criticism at Montserrat College of Art; John R. Cahill, attorney and partner, Cahill Partners LLP; Dana Cranmer, art conservator in private practice; John Hogan, installations director, Sol LeWitt Estate, and Mary Jo and Ted Shen Installations Director for Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings at the Yale University Art Gallery; Ingrid Schaffner, writer and chief curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Debbie Taylor, widow of artist Al Taylor and the manager of his estate; and Renée Vara, art advisor and private curator. 

For more information, visit thefirstcrack.com.