What makes a work of art queer? How can queerness be read in visual art? How can we make queer stories more visible in the museum?
Join artist Erin Johnson, along with museum staff and Colby students, for a night of queer readings of art in the museum galleries. Participants will discuss paintings by Thomas Hart Benton and George Caleb Bingham on loan from the Terra Foundation for American Art and view Johnson’s short film, To be Sound is to be Solid (2022). A meal will be provided along with vibrant conversation. This event is free and open to all, but registration is required here.
Contemporary artist Erin Johnson’s research-driven practice utilizes documentary and experimental filmmaking, installation, and performance. In To be Sound is to be Solid, the artist’s non-linear storytelling explores queer identity, memory, and environmental analysis. The film, which was shot on-site at the Surf Point Foundation in York, Maine, examines the relationship of the site’s founders as a departure point for questions about desire, visibility, and the limitations of archives.
The Art & series brings together visiting artists, scholars, museum staff, and community experts for conversations about exhibitions, collections, and projects at the Colby College Museum of Art and its Lunder Institute for American Art. A mix of in-person, virtual, and hybrid programs, this series is designed for those interested in learning more about art and engaging with the key issues of our time.
This program is supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
George Caleb Bingham, The Jolly Flatboatmen, 1877–78, Oil on canvas, Image: 26 1/16 x 36 3/8 in. (66.2 x 92.4 cm), Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1992.15. Photography © Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago.