EVENTS

Monday, February 3, 7:00 – 8:00pm | Visiting Artist Lecture: Kon Trubkovich | 335 West 16th Street

BFA Fine Arts presents Moscow-born, New York City-based artist Kon Trubkovich, who investigates how personal and collective memories routinely contradict one another, their inherent divergence complicating ideas of “truthful” documentation. Drawing on recorded history and the story of his family’s 1990 emigration from the USSR to the United States, he marks time by emulating the visual distortion of degraded electronic media in paint.

Tuesday, February 4, 3:00 – 5:00pm | Melissa Joseph | 133/141 West 21st Street, Room 101C, and online

MFA Fine Arts presents a talk with New York-based artist Melissa Joseph. Joseph’s work considers themes of memory, family history, and the politics of how we occupy spaces. She intentionally alludes to the labors of women, her experiences as a second-generation American, and the unique juxtapositions of diasporic life.

Wednesday, February 5, 9:00 – 10:00am | The Curatorial Roundtable: Niels Van Tomme (Brussels) | Online

MA Curatorial Practice presents a talk with independent curator and lecturer Niels Van Tomme, who playfully navigates the limitless possibilities of curating with the institutional limits of curatorial labor, which, for him, define the creative and critical potential of curatorial practice. Transforming rigid notions of exhibition-making, these dynamics shape new territories that question—and sometimes even bend—the very structures that allow it to be. Van Tomme renders these concepts concrete by drawing upon projects he’s been involved in, discussing methodologies, strategies, situations, and crises to propose personal yet pragmatic approaches to curatorial (im)possibilities.

Thursday, February 6, 5:30 – 7:30pm | Joey Zeledón | 136 West 21st Street, 7th floor

MFA Products of Design presents a talk with Joey Zeledón, an award-winning designer with nearly two decades of experience working with top industry names like HP, Steelcase, Smart Design, Continuum, and Clarks. Their work, from everyday items to thoughtfully reimagined furniture, blends emotional depth with practicality, always with an eye on comfort and connection. They’re also the author of the Print op-ed “Design is Trans” and Touchy/Feely, which explores the idea of emotional ergonomics, reminding us that design isn’t just about how something looks or works but about how it feels.

Monday, February 10, 6:30 – 8:00pm | Malynne Sternstein on Love without Hope: Walter Benjamin’s Trials with Surrealism | 133/141 West 21st Street, Room 101C

BFA Visual and Critical Studies and the SVA Honors Program presents a talk with cultural theorist and University of Chicago professor Malynne Sternstein that weaves Czech surrealism into the urgency of Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project.

Tuesday, February 11, 3:00 – 5:00pm | Mary Mattingly | 133/141 West 21st Street, Room 101C, and online

MFA Fine Arts presents a talk by artist Mary Mattingly. Mattingly’s work, which is often public and collaborative, is driven by a commitment to co-building ecological systems that provide access to water, food, and shelter during the climate crisis. She builds sculptural ecosystems prioritizing access to food, shelter, and clean water, as well as maps and photographs of the supply chains of her photographic tools. In 2016, supported by a large community, Mattingly led Swale, a floating food forest in New York’s harbor, providing public access to foraging perennial plants and challenging the city’s ban on public land harvesting. This initiative led to NYC Parks’ first edible park, the Foodway in the Bronx, in 2017. In 2021, in collaboration with +MoreArt and watershed communities, Mattingly launched the Public Water campaign, spotlighting New York City’s drinking watershed and disparities in clean water access, particularly for those living within the watershed.

Features

This month’s events—all free and open to the public—at the School of Visual Arts.