Insider Focus: Methods and Materials from Rivera to Pollock

“We want to produce art which will be physically capable of serving the public through its material form. True art forms which will reach far and wide”

—David Alfaro Siqueiros, 1934

What form does a work of art take? How is it made and with what materials? For the Mexican muralists, these were important questions. In this talk, artist and educator Mark Joshua Epstein will explore the methods and materials used by artists featured in the upcoming exhibition Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945. We’ll demystify fresco, the exacting mural technique with a centuries-long history that was used by artists from Mexico, including José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera, as well as from the United States, such as Grace Greenwood. The talk will also consider Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros, whose experiments with industrial paints and “controlled accidents” became an important touchstone for artists who worked and studied with him, including Jackson Pollock.

Option 1: Thursday, January 23
7–8 pm

Option 2: Friday, February 7 
6:30–7:30 pm

Option 3: Sunday, February 9*
3:30–4:30 pm

Mark Joshua Epstein is a visual artist, educator, and independent curator based in New York and Ann Arbor, Michigan. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at the Des Moines Art Center, the NARS Foundation Project Spaces (Brooklyn, NY), Vane Gallery (Newcastle, UK), and Biquini Wax (Mexico City), among other venues. Epstein holds an MFA from The Slade School of Fine Art in London and a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Tufts University.

Individual, Dual, and Friend members are invited to this event. For Individual members, the invitation is for one; for Dual and Friend members the invitation is for two.

*This session has reached ticketing capacity.