TRACTION: Art Talks, a new artist lecture series launched this fall by the UC Santa Cruz Institute of the Arts and Sciences, continues on November 28 with influential British filmmaker, photographer, and installation artist Isaac Julien.
Julien has been a central figure in British visual culture, black British cultural studies, and queer independent cinema for the last two decades. For TRACTION, Isaac Julien will be joined in conversation by feminist writer, film critic, LGBT activist, and UC Santa Cruz professor of film and digital media B. Ruby Rich.
Julien first gained international attention in the 1980s for his provocative feature films, documentaries, and experimental video works exploring black and gay identities. His multiscreen installations blend elements from dance, painting, sculpture, theater, and music and include Ten Thousand Waves, Vagabondia, Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask, and Long Road to Mazatlan.
“We are thrilled to be bringing Isaac Julien back to UC Santa Cruz again, thanks to the efforts of our faculty colleague Ruby Rich,” noted John Weber, director of the Institute of the Arts and Sciences. “Julien is a renowned artist whose work is a consistently shown in international exhibitions and biennials. In fact, Kapital, the film he made for the 2015 Venice Biennale, was one of my favorite works in that massive exhibition.”
Julien’s work can be found in museum and private collections throughout the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Tate, the UK Government Art Collection, Centre Pompidou, the Guggenheim Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and the Brandhorst Museum.
He has held a number of professorial, teaching and research positions in the field of visual arts and cultural theory over the course of his career, including Chair of Global Art at University of Arts, London, and Professor of Media Art at Staatliche Hoscschule fur Gestaltung, Karlsruhe.
“Julien’s influence means his films and installation works are taught across the Arts Division and in other departments as well,” said Weber. “This will be an amazing chance for students and faculty to learn from the artist about works many of them study.”
Prior to the TRACTION event, the Institute of the Arts and Sciences will also present a free marathon film screening of Julien’s extensive body of work on November 27-28, on campus at the Digital Arts Research Center (DARC 108).
“It’s great to bring Julien to campus just as he prepares to open two major installations in San Francisco at Fort Mason,” said Weber. “The IAS is sponsoring a student bus trip to see that exhibition early in the winter quarter. Students should check our website for details and reserve seats after the holidays.”
The TRACTION art talk with Isaac Julien takes place on Tuesday, November 28, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Digital Arts Research Center (DARC 108) on the UC Santa Cruz campus. Admission is free and open to the public.
