Berkeley Professor Anne Middleton Wagner To Speak At SFMOMA As 2002 Phyllis Wattis Distinguished Lecturer

Since its inception in 1995, the Phyllis Wattis Distinguished Lecture Series at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) has brought scholarship and art commentary of the highest caliber to the Bay Area This year, SFMOMA’s Phyllis Wattis Distinguished Lecture Series will feature Anne Middleton Wagner, professor of art history at the University of California, Berkeley, who will be speaking in conjunction with the exhibition Eva Hesse, on view at the Museum February 2 through May 19, 2002. The 2002 Phyllis Wattis Distinguished Lecture Series, Eva Hesse: Augment, Contingent, Schema and Sequel, will comprise three separate events: a lecture by Wagner on Thursday, April 25; a screening of Wagner’s lecture followed by a panel discussion on Friday, April 26; and a daylong symposium featuring exhibition curator Elizabeth Sussman and Wagner on Saturday, April 27.

Tickets for the series may be purchased (without a surcharge) at the admissions desk in advance and on the event date (subject to availability). Tickets may also be purchased at www.ticketweb.com or by phone at 415/478-2277 or 510/762-2277 (a surcharge will be applied). Event tickets include Museum admission. For more information, the public can call the Public Programs Hotline at 415/947-1292.

The 2002 Phyllis Wattis Distinguished Lecture Series

Eva Hesse: Augment, Contingent, Schema and Sequel

Thursday, April 25, 2002

Reception • 6 p.m. • The Schwab Room

Wattis Distinguished Lecture • 7–9 p.m. • Phyllis Wattis Theater

The Life of Language: Why Words Matter to Hesse’s Art

Professor Anne Middleton Wagner will examine the special connection between the titles Hesse gave her sculptures such as Augment, Contingent, Schema and Sequel and the constructed objects themselves. The lecture will be followed by responses by Brigid Doherty, assistant professor of art history at Johns Hopkins University, and Helen Molesworth, curator at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

$12 general admission; $8 SFMOMA members, students with ID and seniors (includes admission to cocktail reception).

Friday, April 26, 2002

Lecture Screening – 10:30 a.m. – Phyllis Wattis Theater

Discussion – Noon – Phyllis Wattis Theater

Contingent: Art and Conversation Review and Response

A video of Wagner’s lecture will be screened for Bay Area college students and faculty, followed by a discussion led by Wagner, Doherty and Molesworth.

Free to college students and faculty with ID and SFMOMA members. The discussion is free to Museum visitors with admission.

Saturday, April 27, 2002

Symposium – 10 a.m.-5 p.m. – Phyllis Wattis Theater

Eva Hesse: Schema and Sequel

Participants include exhibition curator Elisabeth Sussman, catalogue essayist Briony Fer, Anne Middleton Wagner, Brigid Doherty, Helen Molesworth and others to be announced.

Noted artists, scholars, curators and conservators will consider Hesse and her work. The morning session, Schema: Materiality and Making, will look at Hesse’s studio methods, her ideas about making art and the art world of her time. In the afternoon, Sequel: Legacies of Eva Hesse Today will focus on how the viewer experiences Hesse’s work, the fragility of the objects and their influence on other artists.

$15 general admission; $8 SFMOMA members, students with ID and seniors. For a detailed schedule of the symposium’s proceedings and speakers, please check the SFMOMA Web site at https://www.sfmoma.org.