Event Date
Wangechi Mutu, whose works are all rooted in her investigations and advocacy around human representation, is this year’s Betty Jean and Wayne Thiebaud Lecture in the Theory, Practice and Criticism of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture. Mutu will give a public lecture on Thursday, May 12.
Mutu’s work explores the value systems that reinforce our modes of representation. The figure, always present in Mutu’s art, reiterates our human desire to be understood, treated with dignity and recognized. Known for creations of fantastical female characters, Mutu’s art – a broad showcase of collages, sculptures, performance and even film – celebrates her origins in Kenya even as it employs the language of Afrofuturism.
Mutu has been the subject of several major solo exhibitions, most recently “The Façade Commission: Wangechi Mutu, The NewOnes, will free Us” (2019-2020) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and “Wangechi Mutu: I Am Speaking, Are You listening?” (2021) at The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum.
Photo Credit: Randy Dodson / Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Read more about the Mutu and the upcoming event in the College of Letters and Science Arts Newsletter.
WHEN: May 12, 2022 at 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art
This event is supported by Art Studio, the UC Davis College of Letters and Science and the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.
The Betty Jean and Wayne Thiebaud Lecture in the Theory, Practice and Criticism of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture honors the Thiebauds’ long commitment to educating the eye and hand along with the mind. The endowment will complement the Art Studio’s Visiting Artist Lecture Series, a core component of the Art Studio MFA, increasing its ability to invite distinguished artists, critics and curators to the UC Davis campus.