SMFA at Tufts / Boston
Kate Costello: The Tip of the Tongue
January 16—April 4, 2020
Opening and public conversation: Thursday, January 16, 6—8pm
Aidekman Arts Center / Medford
Walls Turned Sideways: Artists Confront the Justice System
January 23—April 19, 2020
Opening and public conversation: Thursday, January 23, 6—8pm
At SMFA at Tufts, Boston, The Tip of the Tongue highlights Los Ageles-based artist Kate Costello’s ongoing interest in the shared abstraction of visual and spoken languages. If speech begins with and at the body—at the tip of the tongue—then Costello’s work lingers at this exact border, using figuration to explore the myriad ways in which communication flows and breaks down, on both the personal and societal levels. In her work, bold, simplified shapes engage with archetypes, ideas, and images that circulate through culture in narratives of gender and power. With a practice rooted in drawing and encompassing sculpture and photography, Costello orchestrates a poetic narrative that is deeply legible yet completely allusive—much like a phrase at the tip of one’s tongue. The Tip of the Tongue features work from the past 15 years and is organized by Dina Deitsch.
In Medford, Walls Turned Sideways: Artists Confront the Justice System is a comprehensive look at how contemporary artists over the past forty years have created work related to the criminal justice system. Representing a range of contemporary art made in both the studio and the social realm, Walls Turned Sideways includes artworks focused on social justice issues and that position the prison and court systems as structures for dismantling through institutional critique. Featuring over 30 artists including Andrea Fraser, Maria Gaspar, Deana Lawson, Shaun Leonardo, Dread Scott, Chris Burden, and Laurie Jo Reynolds.
The exhibition is organized by Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and curated by Risa Puleo. The presentation at Tufts University Art Galleries is organized by Abigail Satinsky and presented in partnership with Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University and the Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College.
Symposium
Bridge: Walls Turned Sideways
March 5—6, 2020
Bridges: Walls Turned Sideways, a symposium in partnership with the Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College, touches on issues of community impact, reentry, and the role of educational initiatives. Participating artists from Walls Turned Sideways will be in dialogue with scholars, advocates, and activists including Shaun Leonardo, Laurie Jo Reynolds, Hilary Binda, Kimberly Dong, Mary Patten, Risa Puleo, Reentry Think Tank, Sherrill Roland, Jeffrey Rafael, and more.
For a full listing of programs and events, visit our website.
Spring 2020 Visiting Artists
Each semester, Tufts University Art Galleries organize lectures and visits by leading voices in the field of contemporary art for the SMFA at Tufts community and greater publics. This spring, we’ll host:
Kameelah Janan Rasheed: February 19
Brooklyn-based artist, writer, and former public school social studies teacher.
Tsēmā Igharas: March 26
Presented in conjunction with the Indigenous Art, Theory, and Practice Symposium, Center for the Humanities at Tufts.
Shu Lea Cheang: April 2
Cheang is the 2020 Nagle Artist in Residence, a program designed to bring international artists into the SMFA at Tufts’ graduate community for short-term residencies.
Julie Mehretu: April 23
MacArthur award–winning painter Julie Mehretu will be the recipient of this year’s SMFA at Tufts Medal.
About Tufts University Art Galleries
Housed within a research university and an art school, the Tufts University Art Galleries engage with artists, scholars, and works of art to provoke discourse around cultural and social contexts. Through exhibitions, programming, research and collecting, we create a pedagogical platform for the Tufts community and wider publics.
