Ilana Harris-
Babou + Jessica
Lynne
2020-2021
Invited Guest - Public ProgrammingWhat happens when we think about artists and critics as co-thinkers? As collaborators? How can the Black artist-critic relationship generate more ethical, just ways of producing knowledge in academic and arts institutions?
In this Zoom-based conversation, artist Ilana Harris-Babou and critic Jessica Lynne reflect on the early stages of their work together, as Harris-Babou develops new material and Lynne begins writing on it. They invite us to consider the technical and conceptual labor of coming together around Black art, and the labor of not only imagining but producing environments where Black makers can feel the most critically and creatively expansive and supported.
About the ProgramAbout Ilana Harris-Babou
Ilana Harris-Babou’s work is interdisciplinary; spanning sculpture and installation, and grounded in video. She speaks the aspirational language of consumer culture and uses humor as a means to digest painful realities. Her work confronts the contradictions of the American Dream: the ever unreliable notion that hard work will lead to upward mobility and economic freedom.
About Jessica Lynne
Jessica Lynne is a writer and art critic. She is a founding editor of ARTS.BLACK, an online journal of art criticism from Black perspectives. Her writing has been featured in publications such as Art in America, The Believer, BOMB Magazine, The Nation, Frieze, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of a 2020 Graham Foundation Research and Development award and is currently at work on a collection of essays about love, faith, art, and the U.S. South.
BiographyPast Programs