Sam Richards Memorial Lecture: Nneka Kai
Thursday, March 30, 2023, 5:30 - 6:30 PM
Join KMAC for an evening with artist Nneka Kai, whose exhibition Holding Pattern is currently on view at KMAC.
Nneka Kai is an interdisciplinary artist from Atlanta, GA, whose practice is rooted in the exploration of personal and archival narratives through the material of hair. She received her MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago, where she was a research assistant at the Textile Resource Center. There she explored the history and conservation aspects of textiles within the Fiber & Material Studies collection. Not seeing herself represented in the objects, she decided to research the peripherals of textiles, in hopes of uncovering Black women’s material sensibilities throughout the diaspora. She also received her BFA from Georgia State University, where her material studies sparked her curiosity for hair. Currently, Nneka’s studio practice explores these findings through fiber, sculpture, and performance works, emphasizing methods of abstraction and opacity. She has performed her works in Chicago, Atlanta, and North Carolina. In 2021, Nneka exhibited in the Hair Stories Exhibition at The Newport Art Museum in Rhode Island. She is currently working as an art teacher while exploring her home in Atlanta, Georgia as a site of Black presence and preservation.
This program is free and open to the public, but we ask anyone interested in attending to register by emailing KMAC’s Assistant Curator, Anna Blake, at anna@kmacmuseum.org.
This artist lecture is made possible by support from the Hite Institute of Art & Design Sam Richards Memorial Lecture Fund.
Gestures of Searching: Panel Discussion with Liora Kaplan, Kia Celeste, Denise Furnish, Bette Levy, and Josh Sachs
Saturday, April 8, 2023, 2:30 - 5:00 PM
Join artists Liora Kaplan, Kia Celeste, Denise Furnish, Bette Levy, and Josh Sachs for a discussion about how the core use of found objects and materials functions within their respective art practices. The Lighthouse is Dark Between Flashes is a solo exhibition of sculptures from Tel Aviv-Yafo based artist Liora Kaplan. Combining found ceramic vessels from her home region in Israel with new elements made from materials including wood, leather, metal, glass, and stone, Kaplan crafts towering totems for human ingenuity and craft. Celeste, Furnish, Levy, and Sachs are the Louisville-based artists featured in the concurrent exhibition Search and Rescue that examines artists who likewise transform found everyday materials into contemporary art objects.
This artist talk is held in conjunction with a closing ceremony with light bites and refreshments. The closing ceremony will celebrate the shows The Lighthouse is Dark Between Flashes, Search and Rescue, Holding Pattern, and Korea Fiber Art 2023 Louisville.
This program is free and open to the public, but we ask anyone interested in attending to register by emailing KMAC’s Assistant Curator, Anna Blake, at anna@kmacmuseum.org.