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Denver Artposium October 4, 2008

What's So Funny About Art?

Speakers Biographies

Bill Amundson is a Denver based artist who works in the "Suburban Regionalist" mode, a style devoted to capturing and celebrating the true American scene rather than the idealized version so often pictured in the art of our time. His work reflects an interest in the contemporary landscape, particularly as reflected through such distinct American staples as the subdivision, the chain restaurant, retail franchises, interstate travel, SUV's and the ubiquitous cell phone. His work has been described in various publications as "ironic, compulsive, sweet, irreverent, whimsical, fanatical, hysterical and banal," which leads one to question the veracity of the publishing world.  www.amundart.com

Roz Chast is internationally recognized as a pioneer of a new type of cartoon making which emerged in the 1970s, when she became a regular contributor to the New Yorker Magazine. Since then, nine collections have been published of Chast's work, most recently Theories of Everything, a twenty five year survey . Roz Chast is known for her cast of recurring characters- generally hapless but relatively cheerful "everyfolk". In her cartoons, she addresses the issues of our time: guilt, anxiety, aging, families, friends, money, real estate, and as she would say, "much, much more!" The editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, has called her "the magazine's only certifiable genius." Chast grew up in Brooklyn, where her parents (a high school teacher and an assistant principal) still live. She received a BFA in 1977 from Rhode Island School of Design with studies in graphic design and painting, but returned to the cartooning which she had begun in high school. Roz Chast lives in Connecticut with her family and several parrots. www.saulgallery.com/chast/statement.html

Adam Lerner is Executive Director of The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar. He was the Master Teacher for Modern and Contemporary Art at the Denver Art Museum from 2001 to 2003, and he was the Curator of the Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, before coming to Colorado. He received his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University and his Masters from Cambridge University. Since the early 1990s, Lerner’s scholarship has focused on the relationship between art and the public. Lerner co-edited the book Reimagining the Nation, published by Open University Press (1993), including his own essay on nineteenth century sculpture and French nationalism. He wrote his dissertation on early twentieth century American monuments, emphasizing the career of Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore. His contribution to the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s 2002-03 biennial exhibition catalogue “The Museum and the Multiplex” was the subject of a symposium by the same name at the Corcoran in Spring 2003. www.belmarlab.org

Patricia Marx writes comedy because she is too shallow to do anything else. She writes for film and television; she also writes books and magazine pieces. Her television credits include Saturday Night Live and Rugrats. Her latest book is Him Her Him Again The End of Him. Among her previous books are How To Regain Your Virginity, Blockbuster, and several children’s books illustrated by cartoonist Roz Chast, including Now Everybody Really Hates Me and Meet My Staff, winner of the Friedrich Medal (an award made up by Patricia Marx and named after her air-conditioner). Patricia Marx’s writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Vogue, and the Atlantic Monthly. Patricia teaches sketch comedy at New York University. She was the first girl on the Harvard Lampoon. She is able to take a baked potato out of the oven with her bare hand. www.thevillager.com/villager_193/funnygirlpatricia.html

Libby Rowe teaches in the Fine Arts program in photography at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. She received her BFA from the University of Northern Iowa and her MFA from Syracuse University.  She has taught photography and digital imaging for a number of different institutions in different capacities including department head of Photography at Oregon College of Art and Craft, summer workshops and courses at Miami University and University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Libby exhibits her photographs and mixed media objects and installations across the country.  She has shown at Fotocircle Gallery in Seattle, the Sol Mendick Gallery at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Zone Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri, and most recently at the 310 Chestnut Gallery in Nashville. www.libbyrowe.com  www.vanderbilt.edu

Jon Spayde is a writer, journalist, poet and performance artist from St. Paul, Minnesota. His first book, How to Believe, was published by Random House in February 2008. A former editor of the Utne Reader, Jon co-authored Visionaries: People and Ideas to Change Your Life and Salons: The Joy of Conversation. www.randomhouse.com

Brady Udall grew up in northeastern Arizona. He attended Brigham Young University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He has published a highly praised story collection, Letting Loose the Hounds, and a novel, The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint. Brady’s stories have been published in GQ, The Paris Review and Story, among other publications. He currently lives with his family in Boise, Idaho, and teaches at the Boise State University. www.bookbrowse.com

Denver Artposium: What's so Funny About Art?
October 4, 2008
Registration $200

We have secure online registration, but if you don't like that you can call Grant Pound (executive director) at 303.279.5198 or send a check to:

Colorado Art Ranch
6878 Taft Court
Arvada, CO 80004

Click here to Register for the Denver Artposium

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