Contemporary artist Chakaia Booker will present a free lecture at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia in conjunction with the exhibition “Defiant Beauty: The Work of Chakaia Booker” Nov. 8 at 6:30 p.m. The event is part of the UGA Spotlight on the Arts Festival.
Booker is known for using discarded tires as her primary material in constructing large-scale sculptures. To create such towering and intricate forms, she first rips the tires apart, cutting through bands of steel with industrial-strength tools. She then slices, twists, folds and mounts the strips of rubber onto stainless steel or wood armatures, transforming them into highly textured objects.
“Visitors will learn more about her inspiration, background and process for creating her works of art, and they will get to know her as an artist,” said Carissa DiCindio, curator of education at GMOA.
Born in Newark, N.J., Booker received a bachelor of arts in sociology from Rutgers University in 1976 and a master of fine arts from City College of New York in 1993. She has studied a variety of subjects, including African dance, ceramics and weaving, and her work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration museum, among many others.
Booker currently lives in New York City. She also designs clothing and accessories from rubber and creates headpieces from unconventional materials.
The exhibition, featuring four of Booker’s assemblages of steel and rubber, is on view in the GMOA Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden through April 30.
A reception will precede the lecture at 5:30 p.m., and Student Night will follow at 8 p.m.
UGA Spotlight on the Arts
The Spotlight on the Arts Festival is presented by the UGA Arts Council, of which GMOA is a participating unit. More than 50 events are scheduled during the nine-day festival Nov. 3-11. For more information, see arts.uga.edu.
Museum Information
Partial support for the exhibitions and programs at the Georgia Museum of Art is provided by the Georgia Council for the Arts through appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. The council is a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Individuals, foundations and corporations provide additional museum support through their gifts to the University of Georgia Foundation. The Georgia Museum of Art is located in the Performing and Visual Arts Complex on UGA’s East Campus. The address is 90 Carlton Street, Athens, Ga., 30602-6719. For more information, including hours, see www.georgiamuseum.org or call 706/542-GMOA (4662).