Skip to this page's content

Press Releases

Renowned Art Critic Donald Kuspit at Simmons College, Nov. 14

BOSTON (October 19, 2007) — Simmons College presents "The Ethics of Transgression: Is it Still Possible?" a lecture by renowned art critic Donald Kuspit, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be in the Linda K. Paresky Center, Main College Building, 300 The Fenway, in Boston. A reception will follow.

Kuspit's lecture will respond to issues in contemporary art as seen through the three-exhibition series "Spinning Straw into Gold: The Ethics of Production," on view throughout the fall in the Trustman Gallery at Simmons College. The series, curated by Trustman Gallery Director Barbara O'Brien, features artists Chantal Zakari; Two Girls Working: Tiffany Ludwig and Renee Piechocki; Deborah Bohnert; and Rachel Dayson-Levy. It focuses on the inspiration for, and production of, contemporary art in a post-appropriation age where the "hunt and gather" model has expanded from art historical images to pop culture and now includes the cyber arena.

Kuspit is a prolific and widely published author, essayist and curator. His book The End of Art, published in 2004, is a wry, sometimes caustic assessment of contemporary art from his point of view, privileged by his decades in the field. In 2005, Barry Gewen of the New York Times called Kuspit, "a New York critic at the red-hot center of the contemporary art scene." He is the editor of Art Criticism, a contributing editor of Artforum, and a regular contributor to Art New England magazine and Artnet, an online journal.

Currently, Kuspit is a professor of art history and philosophy at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. He earned an M.A. in philosophy from Yale University, and an M.A. in art history from Pennsylvania State University. He earned a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Michigan, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Frankfurt, Germany.

The lecture is sponsored by Simmons College's Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences as part of the series, "Careers in the Liberal Arts."

The exhibition series, "Spinning Straw into Gold: The Ethics of Production," was funded by the LEF Foundation and by the Catherine Hannah Behrend Class of '70 Fund.

For more information, contact Marcia Lomedico at 617-521-2268 or visit the Trustman Gallery website. Due to construction, parking is limited. For alternative options, please visit the parking website.