The new season of ART21’s flagship program, “Art in the Twenty-First Century”, debuts tonight, Friday, September 16, with two of the four one-hour episodes from 9 to 11pm ET on PBS (check local listings). The following two episodes will premiere on Friday, September 23.
For its eighth season, award-winning actress Claire Danes joins the Peabody Award-winning documentary television series as its broadcast host. For the first time in the show’s history, the episodes are not organized around an artistic theme. Instead the 16-featured artists are grouped by their unique and revealing relationships to the places where they live: Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Vancouver.
“Art is increasingly being defined and described in relationship to a sense of place. In our time of hyper-interconnectivity, where you choose to live and work matters like never before,” said ART21 Executive Director Tina Kukielski.
Season 8 artists include:
Chicago: Nick Cave, Theaster Gates, Barbara Kasten, Chris Ware
Mexico City: Natalia Almada, Minerva Cuevas, Damián Ortega, Pedro Reyes
Los Angeles: Edgar Arceneaux, Liz Larner, Tala Madani, Diana Thater
Vancouver: Stan Douglas, Brian Jungen, Liz Magor, Jeff Wall
To complement the premiere, ART21 is announcing its education and public programming initiatives. These programs aim to inspire a new generation of critical and creative thinkers across the United States and around the world, reaching over 2.5 million students each year through ART21’s programs, short films, and education resources, available free online for teachers, artists, and arts enthusiasts.
ART21 Screening Society encourages a wide variety of partners—schools, universities, libraries, museums, non-profit organizations, galleries, arts and cultural spaces, community centers, and more—to host free, public screenings of episodes from Season 8 of “Art in the Twenty-First Century” in their local communities. Screenings can take place between September 16 and December 31, 2016. Visit art21.org/screeningsociety to learn more about hosting or attending a screening.
ART21 events
Vancouver
Tuesday, September 27, 6:30pm (doors)
ART21, The Cinematheque, and The Contemporary Art Gallery co-host the Canadian premiere of the “Vancouver” hour. Includes a conversation with the filmmakers and featured artist Liz Magor. RSVP here.
Chicago
Thursday, September 15, 5–8pm
ART21 and DePaul Art Museum have partnered to exhibit the 16 artists featured in season 8 in On Space and Place. Join us for the opening reception! Free and open to the public.
Tuesday, September 27, 7–9:30pm
Black Cinema House and ART21 present the Chicago premiere of the “Chicago” episode. Followed by conversation with featured artists Chris Ware, Barbara Kasten and Theaster Gates, moderated by curator Yesomi Umolu. Free and open to the public; doors open at 6:30. More info.
Thursday, October 13, 5–8pm
Join ART21 Senior Education Advisor Joe Fusaro for an Educators Workshop at the DePaul Art Museum, including a guided tour of the On Space and Place exhibition. Open to educators only; registration information to come.
Friday, October 14, 6–7pm
ART21 and the Art Institute of Chicago invite Chris Ware to talk with artist Gary Panter, and comics expert Hillary Chute. Moderated by Tina Kukielski, Executive Director of ART21. Free; registration required. This event is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art.
About ART21
ART21 is a celebrated global leader in presenting thought-provoking and sophisticated content about contemporary art, and the go-to place to learn first-hand from the artists of our time. A nonprofit organization, ART21’s mission is to inspire a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists. Acclaimed for its Peabody Award-winning PBS series, “Art in the Twenty-First Century,” ART21 engages millions of people of all ages with contemporary artists and their creative processes. In addition to “Art in the Twenty-First Century,” ART21 produces the online film series “New York Close Up,” “Exclusive,” and “Artist to Artist”; special artist projects including the Peabody Award-winning feature “William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible”; extensive educational resources; and a comprehensive website at art21.org.
