An Evening with Douglas Crimp, Oct 6th, 2016.
Join the World Languages & Literatures Department for an evening celebrating Before Pictures, a new memoir by art historian and AIDS activist Douglas Crimp.
Renowned for his work with artists of the “Pictures” generation, such as Cindy Sherman and Robert Longo, Douglas Crimp has also been a crucial figure in the history of the gay movement and AIDS activism since the 1980s. His memoir Before Pictures looks to an earlier era, setting details from Crimp’s professional and personal life against the backdrop of New York City from the late 1960s through the 1970s. Escaping from his hometown in Idaho to study art history at Tulane University, Crimp soon finds himself writing criticism for ArtNews, working at the Guggenheim Museum, and partaking of the night life of New York, from drugs and late nights alongside the Warhol crowd at Max’s Kansas City to discos, roller-skating, and casual sex with famous (and not-so-famous) men. In Crimp’s words: “Through the book, I weave together stories of the two cultures that were most important in my life at the time—gay liberation and the art that came to be called post-modernist.”
Professor Crimp will read sections from the memoir
in conversation with BU faculty members:
Gregory Williams -History of Art & Architecture
Erin Murphy -English / WGS
Anthony Petro -Religion / WGS
Carrie Preston -English / WGS
j Keith Vincent -World Languages & Literatures / WGS
Where: Kenmore Classroom Building Room 101
When: Thursday, October 6th at 5pm