Throughout 2022-23, a series of talks consider works from The Block’s collection that reckon with the history of slavery, white supremacy, symbols of nationhood, and social inequity. This online talk was held in connection with 2022–23 One Book One Northwestern (OBON) selection How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across […]
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In Spring 2023 The Block opened The Living Image of Sound: Notes on Jazz and Protest at Northwestern a concise exhibition exploring the intersections of visual art, music, and student-led social justice movements during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The exhibition features artwork and ephemera related to the trailblazing poet and musician Sun Ra and […]
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Throughout 2022-23 a series of talks considers works from the Block’s collection that reckon with the history of slavery, white supremacy, symbols of nationhood, and social inequity. This series is held in connection with 2022–23 One Book One Northwestern selection “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America” by Clint Smith. In […]
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How might one artwork be used as a point of connection for a deeper understanding of history, artmaking, collecting practices, identity, and more? The Block Museum of Art is proud to publish an interactive close looking project, the result of graduate research centered on the 1996 print Mother and Child by artist Margaret Burroughs (American, 1915 […]
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Who Says, Who Shows, What Counts: Thinking about History with The Block’s Collection considers our constantly changing understanding of the past through the lens of artistic practice. On September 29, 2021 the Block Museum hosed a keynote conversation with exhibition artists Andrea Carlson, Tonika Lewis Johnson, and Chris Pappan who discussed how artists, artworks, and museums shape and challenge […]
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Title: Untitled #17 (Forest) from the series Night Coming Tenderly, BlackArtist: Dawoud Bey (American, born 1953)Date: 2017Medium: Gelatin silver printEdition: Edition of 6Dimensions: 44 x 55 in.Credit Line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, purchase funds provided by Susan and Richard Rieser Dawoud Bey’s series Night Coming Tenderly, Black is a photographic […]
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Internationally acclaimed artist and MacArthur Fellow Fred Wilson addressed audiences at The Block on April 16, 2019. In his talk, Wilson shared insights into his work Afro Kismet— resonant with themes of migration and history explored in the exhibition Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa. Throughout his career, […]
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In July 2018 the Block Museum hosted “Films and Videos by David Wojnarowicz and Collaborators” a screening and conversation presented in partnership with Iceberg Projects in conjunction with the exhibition David Wojnarowicz: Flesh of My Flesh. (June 23 – August 4, 2018) David Wojnarowicz is arguably one of the most important artists to emerge from the New York art […]
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Prior to Thomas Edison’s groundbreaking invention of sound recording and playback technology in 1877, the ephemerality of sound meant that it only existed in the moment of its creation. To “record” sound before this time meant it appeared as oral or written descriptions or musical scores. In 2008, Patrick Feaster, a researcher and educator […]
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What does an image sound like? This is the question that Northwestern University students sought to answer in an experimental workshop earlier this month. Students in computer science, engineering, sound arts, and art theory and practice joined together for a day-long session with artist Dario Robleto and media historian Patrick Feaster to delve into the […]
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