Menil Collection Chief Conservator Brad Epley will discuss how the museum’s conservation department engages in dialogues with contemporary artists, or their close associates, to better understand an artwork’s creation, gain insight into working techniques and materials, and learn firsthand what artists’ attitudes are toward the conservation of their work.
The Menil has spearheaded these efforts since the founding of the Artists Documentation Program in 1990, and since then, more than 48 recorded interviews have been conducted. These candid interviews, always held in the presence of the artwork at hand, provide incredible insight into an artists’ processes and their wishes for the future preservation and exhibition of their work. A selection of clips from interviews with various artists in the Menil’s collection will be shown. Artists Documentation Program Fellow Christina McLean will also share her recent research including interviews that were conducted to better understand the complexities of conserving and exhibiting the instruction-based installations of conceptual artist Sol LeWitt.
The Artists Documentation Program (ADP) is a collaboration of the Menil Collection and the Whitney Museum of American Art. It is generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The ADP interview collection is available online.
This program is free and open to the public. Seating is available on a first-come first-serve basis. Further information regarding accessibility and parking can be found here.