Lenhardt Lecture: Charles Gaines
February 5, 2025 | Lecture @ 6 pm
Special Performance of Manifestos 3 @ 7pm
Presented in Whiteman Hall. Limited capacity.
TICKETS: Free for Members | $5 for the general public
The Spring Lenhardt Lecture features multimedia artist Charles Gaines in conversation with Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem.
Following Gaines and Golden’s conversation, visitors will experience Gaines’ multi-sensory work Manifestos 3 (2018). The multimedia performance functions as a systematic transliteration of three revolutionary manifestos into musical notation: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech from 1967, Terry Adkins's Visionary Recital (1993), and James Baldwin's essay Princes and Powers (1957). The musical notations, as written and arranged for piano by Gaines, will be produced by Mads Falcone and performed by pianist Richard Valitutto.
About Charles Gaines
A preeminent figure in conceptual art, Charles Gaines is widely known for converting images and text-based documents into numerical structures, musical notations, and other sign systems through rigorous translation mechanisms. In 1992, Gaines’s practice underwent a pivotal shift when he began to replace non-descript images with critical theory frameworks, ranging from the writings of Franz Kafka and Frantz Fanon to the manifestos of the Black Panthers and the American Indian Movement. By doing so, Gaines has channeled decolonial discourses into complex formal and conceptual works, in addition to combining different media such as video and sound.
About Thelma Golden
Thelma Golden is the Director and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, the world’s leading institution devoted to visual arts by artists of African descent. She began her career in 1987 as an intern at the Studio Museum, then joined the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1988. While at the Whitney, she organized numerous innovative exhibitions, including the groundbreaking 1993 Whitney Biennial and landmark exhibition Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in American Art in 1994. Golden returned to the Studio Museum in 2000 as the Deputy Director for exhibitions and programs and was named the Director and Chief Curator in 2005, succeeding Dr. Lowery Stokes Sims. Golden’s curation at the Studio Museum includes the inauguration of the five-part “F” series that began with Freestyle in 2001, which highlighted emerging Black artists. Other exhibitions include Chris Ofili: Afro Muses 1995–2005 and Black Romantic: The Figurative in Contemporary African-American Art. Under her leadership, the Museum has gained increased recognition as a global leader in the exhibition of contemporary art, a center for innovative education, and a cultural anchor in the Harlem community.
About the Lenhardt Lectures
The Lenhardt Lectures are a key component of the Dawn and David Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative. The annual events engage Valley audiences with some of the most acclaimed contemporary artists in the world. Previous Lenhardt Lectures have featured artists including Shara Hughes, Jim Hodges, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Arcmanoro Niles, Teresita Fernández, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Derek Fordjour, Rashid Johnson, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Larry Ossei-Mensah, Leonardo Drew, and Eamon Ore-Giron.
The Lenhardt Lecture is made possible through the generosity of The Dawn and David Lenhardt Contemporary Art Initiative.