The New Social Environment#173
Monuments Now: Jeffrey Gibson, Paul Ramírez Jonas, and Xaviera Simmons
1 p.m. Eastern / 10 a.m. Pacific
This talk is produced by The Brooklyn Rail. Learn how you can donate ✨🌈
Artists in the Socrates Sculpture Park exhibition Xaviera Simmons, Jeffrey Gibson, and Paul Ramírez Jonas will join curator Jess Wilcox to discuss the role of monuments in society and commemorate underrepresented narratives such as diasporic, Indigenous, and queer histories. We’ll conclude with a poetry reading from writer, organizer, and educator Jive Poetic.
In this turbulent moment when we find ourselves reevaluating American identity and values, the MONUMENTS NOW exhibition at Socrates Sculpture Park seeks to address the role of monuments in society and commemorate underrepresented narratives such as diasporic, Indigenous, and queer histories.
MONUMENTS NOW evolves over three cumulative parts. Part I opens opens summer 2020 with major new commissions for contemporary monuments by acclaimed artists Jeffrey Gibson, Paul Ramírez Jonas, and Xaviera Simmons. Then Part II and Part III of the exhibition open together on October 10, 2020. Part II encompasses ten monument sculptures by the Park’s 2020 Artist Fellows and Part III features a multi-faceted monument project collectively realized by high school students. All three parts of the exhibition remain on view through March 2021.
In response to MONUMENTS NOW, the Park’s Broadway Billboard will also feature a monuments-related artwork by artist Nona Faustine. Furthermore, in acknowledgment of how monuments are shaped by society as well as by artists, the public is invited to share their reactions on-site and online over the course of the exhibition.
The exhibition will be documented in an artist-focused publication made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation.
MONUMENTS NOW is organized by Socrates Sculpture Park and curated by Jess Wilcox, Socrates Curator & Director of Exhibitions.
Find out more or plan a visit: https://socratessculpturepark.org/monuments-now/
In this talk
Jeffrey Gibson
![Jeffrey Gibson portrait drawing Jeffrey Gibson portrait drawing](/web/20210226153909im_/https://brooklynrail.org/media/files/gibson_jeffrey.jpg?nf_resize=fit&w=250)
Jeffrey Gibson’s multimedia practice synthesizes the cultural and artistic traditions of his Cherokee and Choctaw heritage with the visual languages of Modernism and themes from contemporary popular and queer culture. His work is a vibrant call for queer and Indigenous empowerment, envisioning a celebration of strength and joy within these communities.
Jeffrey Gibson (b. 1972, Colorado Springs, CO) grew up in major urban centers in the United States, Germany, Korea, and England. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995 and Master of Arts in painting at the Royal College of Art, London, in 1998. He is a citizen of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and is half Cherokee. He is currently an artist-in-residence at Bard College and lives and works near Hudson, New York.
Paul Ramírez Jonas
![Paul Ramírez Jonas Paul Ramírez Jonas](/web/20210226153909im_/https://brooklynrail.org/media/files/jonas_paul_ramirez.jpg?nf_resize=fit&w=250)
Xaviera Simmons
![Xaviera Simmons Xaviera Simmons](/web/20210226153909im_/https://brooklynrail.org/media/files/xaviera-simmons.jpg?nf_resize=fit&w=250)
Jess Wilcox
![Jess Wilcox Jess Wilcox](/web/20210226153909im_/https://brooklynrail.org/media/files/mg4682.jpg?nf_resize=fit&w=250)
The Rail has a tradition of ending our conversations with a poem, and we’re fortunate to have Jive Poetic reading.
Jive Poetic
![A photograph of Jive Poetic, wearing a read sweater. A photograph of Jive Poetic, wearing a read sweater.](/web/20210226153909im_/https://brooklynrail.org/media/files/jiveheadshot.jpg?nf_resize=smartcrop&w=130&h=130)