Last week I had the opportunity to see Charles Ray speak about his work at the University of Chicago. The invitational lecture was intimate in setting and instructional in contextualizing the sculptor’s work. Ray began his talk by framing his interests around personally significant sculptors and objects throughout history that carry great weight within his practice. Specifically around a series of objects that help define, as Ray puts it, a sculptural “embedment” in space. More specifically, Ray’s involvement with the cavity.
The talk then dived into some of the more familiar facets of his sculptural practice and even some of the less curatorialy favorable ink work. It was my first time hearing the sculptor speak in person, and as an individual who finds great importance in these particular objects, the discussion was even richer than I had anticipated.
Next up is Robert Morris, speaking tomorrow night at 7PM
http://dova.uchicago.edu/node/827