June 22, 2022 | 5:00 pm
The James Howell Foundation and ArtTable present a special curator’s talk with Cecilia Alemani, Artistic Director of the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, on this edition’s theme: “The Milk of Dreams.” Alemani will be in conversation with Laura Bardier, Executive Director of the James Howell Foundation.
Organized around Leonora Carrington’s The Milk of Dreams, the exhibition reflects on what it means to be human today. It focuses on three thematic areas in particular: the representation of bodies and their metamorphoses; the relationship between individuals and technologies; and the connection between bodies and the Earth.
This program is free and open to ArtTable Circle, Board, and Executive level members only. Registration is required. ArtTable Circle and Board members receive priority registration. Registration for Executive level members will open on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.
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Please review the below before registering:
Health & Safety
Face masks are optional though recommended inside the gallery.
Please note that by registering for this event you consent to have your contact information shared with the James Howell Foundation and ArtTable to be used in the event that contact tracing is needed.
Accessibility
The James Howell Foundation is wheelchair accessible.
If you would like more information about accessibility or need particular accommodations for this program, please email Haley at programs@arttable.org.
Getting There
The James Howell Foundation is located in the West Village neighborhood of New York City. The nearest subway station is Christopher Street (1 and 2 trains). The exact address will be shared with attendees upon registration.
About the Cecilia Alemani
Cecilia Alemani is an Italian curator based in New York. Currently, she is the Artistic Director of the upcoming 59th International Art Exhibition (2022) in Venice. Since 2011, she has been the Director & Chief Curator of High Line Art, the public art program presented by the High Line in New York. In 2018, Alemani served as Artistic Director of the inaugural edition of Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires. In 2017, she curated the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
About the James Howell Foundation
The James Howell Foundation is a proud sponsor of the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia “The Milk of Dreams.” The James Howell Foundation supports Howell’s vision of committed investigation of like-minded endeavors through a variety of professional programs and projects. The Foundation creates and furthers philanthropic initiatives that empower art professionals, curators and artists, as a contribution to cultural and humanistic advancement.
About The Milk of Dreams
“The Milk of Dreams” takes its title from a book by Leonora Carrington (1917–2011) in which the Surrealist artist describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination. The exhibition The Milk of Dreams takes Leonora Carrington’s otherworldly creatures, along with other figures of transformation, as companions on an imaginary journey through the metamorphoses of bodies and definitions of the human.
This exhibition is grounded in many conversations with artists held in the last few years. The questions that kept emerging from these dialogues seem to capture this moment in history when the very survival of the species is threatened, but also to sum up many other inquiries that pervade the sciences, arts, and myths of our time. How is the definition of the human changing? What constitutes life, and what differentiates plant and animal, human and non-human? What are our responsibilities towards the planet, other people, and other life forms? And what would life look like without us?
Thank you to ArtTable Board member Laura Bardier for organizing this program.
Image: Cecilia Alemani; Cover art for the 59th Venice Biennale Catalog
Born and raised in Florence, Italy, Anna Bottinelli earned her B.A. in History of Art from John Cabot University (JCU) in Rome, graduating Magna Cum Laude. There, she was also the recipient of numerous accolades including the 2010 JCU Excellence in Art History Award and JCU Leadership Award. In 2011, she received her M.A. in Art History at The Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She specialized in the Franciscan and Dominican Art of 13th century Italy. At the same time, Ms. Bottinelli began work as the lead Italian research assistant to #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Robert Edsel on his project to write about the Monuments Men and their preservation work in Italy during World War II. Her work contributed greatly to the success of Mr. Edsel’s acclaimed bestseller, “Saving Italy: The Race to Save a Nation’s Treasure from the Nazi.”
Marcela Guerrero is the Jennifer Rubio Associate Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Recently, she was part of the curatorial team that organized Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945. In summer 2018, Guerrero curated the exhibition Pacha, Llaqta, Wasichay: Indigenous Space, Modern Architecture, New Art. From 2014 to 2017 she worked as Curatorial Fellow at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, where she was involved in the much-lauded exhibition Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985, organized as part of the Getty Foundation’s Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative and guest-curated by Cecilia Fajardo-Hill and Andrea Giunta. Prior to her position at the Hammer, she worked in the Latin American and Latino Art Curatorial department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) where she served as Research Coordinator for the International Center for the Arts of the Americas (ICAA). Guerrero’s writing has appeared in a variety of publications and has contributed articles to numerous exhibition catalogues. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Guerrero received her BA from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, and holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Daisy Nam is the curator at Ballroom Marfa, a contemporary art space located at the borderlands of Far West Texas. She recently co-edited a publication, Best! Letters from Asian Americans in the arts with Paper Monument. Previously from 2015–19, she was the assistant director at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University where she organized exhibitions, publications, and public programs working closely with artists to engage with the campus community and public at large. Prior, she curated and produced seven seasons of talks, screenings, performances, and workshops from 2008–2015 as the assistant director of public programs at the School of the Arts, Columbia University. Curatorial residencies and fellowships include: Marcia Tucker Senior Research Fellow at the New Museum, New York (2020); Bellas Artes, Bataan, Philippines (2020); Surf Point in York, Maine (2019); Gwangju Biennale Foundation, Korea (2018). She holds a master’s degree in Curatorial and Critical Studies from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in Art History and Cinema Studies from New York University. She has taught at RISD, and lectured at Lesley University, Northeastern, SMFA/Tufts, SVA as a visiting critic.
Elaine Y. Yau is Associate Curator of the Eli Leon Living Trust Collection of African American Quilts at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA); where she is curating an exhibition from Leon’s historic bequest of approximately 3,000 quilts. Along with Larry Rinder, she served as co-curator of Rosie Lee Tompkins: A Retrospective in 2020. The Smithsonian American Art Museum has supported her research, as well as the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art; and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Dr. Yau later earned her doctoral degree at the University of California, Berkeley in History of Art with an emphasis in Folklore in 2015.