Critical Walk-Through: Teju Cole on Self-Taught Genius

Critic, novelist, and photographer Teju Cole will read from his critically acclaimed novel Open City and discuss works on view in the exhibition Highlights from Self-Taught Genius. A Critical Walk-through is a 40-minute guided tour that is meant to offer an alternative perspective to the works on view. It includes conversations with artists, scholars, and curators, providing an intimate opportunity to engage with the central themes and histories found in the artwork. The program is limited to 45 individuals.

This program is being held in conjunction with the exhibition Highlights from Self-Taught Genius (co-curated by Stacy C. Hollander and Dr. Valérie Rousseau). The exhibition traces the enduring notion of self-taught genius from its roots in the eighteenth century to its iterations in the present through highlights from the American Folk Art Museum’s collection of artists who create outside traditional frames of reference and canonical art history.

Note: This discussion will be held at the newly opened Self-Taught Genius Gallery in Long Island City, Queens.

$20