ThoughtGallery.org > Old in Art School: Nell Painter with Sarah Lewis

Old in Art School: Nell Painter with Sarah Lewis

“I was used to juggling my self-perception and other people’s views of me as a black person and as a woman, from within and without. But now what I took as me seemed almost inconsequential as my essence shriveled into my age.”

How are women, and artists, “seen” and judged by their age, race, and looks? And how does this seeing change, depending upon what is asked of the viewer? In her new memoir, Old in Art School, best-selling historian and visual artist Nell Painter explores these questions with curiosity, openness, and joy—the joy of embracing creativity, dreams, the importance of hard work, and the stubborn determination of your own value.

Painter’s journey is filled with surprises, even as she brings to bear the incisiveness of her insights from two careers, which combine in new ways even as they take very different approaches—one searching for facts and cohesion, the other seeking the opposite. Traveling from her home in Newark to the Rhode Island School of Design, Painter discovers deeper meaning in the artists she loves, such as Alice Neel, Faith Ringgold, or Maira Kalman, even as she comes to understand how they are undervalued; and struggles with the ever-changing balance between the pursuit of art and the inevitable, sometimes painful demands of a life fully lived. She will be joined in conversation to discuss this and more with Sarah Lewis, esteemed scholar, curator, and author of The Rise.











When: Tue., Jun. 19, 2018 at 6:30 pm
Where: New York Public Library—Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library
476 Fifth Ave. (42nd St. Entrance)
212-340-0863
Price: Free
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“I was used to juggling my self-perception and other people’s views of me as a black person and as a woman, from within and without. But now what I took as me seemed almost inconsequential as my essence shriveled into my age.”

How are women, and artists, “seen” and judged by their age, race, and looks? And how does this seeing change, depending upon what is asked of the viewer? In her new memoir, Old in Art School, best-selling historian and visual artist Nell Painter explores these questions with curiosity, openness, and joy—the joy of embracing creativity, dreams, the importance of hard work, and the stubborn determination of your own value.

Painter’s journey is filled with surprises, even as she brings to bear the incisiveness of her insights from two careers, which combine in new ways even as they take very different approaches—one searching for facts and cohesion, the other seeking the opposite. Traveling from her home in Newark to the Rhode Island School of Design, Painter discovers deeper meaning in the artists she loves, such as Alice Neel, Faith Ringgold, or Maira Kalman, even as she comes to understand how they are undervalued; and struggles with the ever-changing balance between the pursuit of art and the inevitable, sometimes painful demands of a life fully lived. She will be joined in conversation to discuss this and more with Sarah Lewis, esteemed scholar, curator, and author of The Rise.

Buy tickets/get more info now