Adam Lerner

Why Does Fred Sandback’s Work Make Me Want to Be Ridiculous?

Sandback was willing to risk his sculptures being nothing at all, and so he was able to create works of art that feel relevant to everything. Adam Lerner on Fred Sandback

Adam Lerner, Director and Chief Animator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, opens this Tuesday Evenings season with “Why Does Fred Sandback’s Work Make Me Want to Be Ridiculous?” Believing that institutions can easily lose their connection to the soul of art, Lerner discusses his unconventional approach to keeping the sacred impulse alive. His talk addresses why he brings magicians, go-go dancers, assorted livestock, and other unexpected elements into the walls of the museum alongside serious exhibitions of contemporary art.

Throughout his career, Lerner has curated numerous exhibitions and projects with contemporary artists, such as Barnaby Furnas, Liam Gillick, and Christian Marclay, as well as showcasing the nontraditional talents of astrobiologists, shamans, and pigeoneers, among others. In her 2012 New York Times article “Puppies, Paintings and Philosophers,” Carol Kino states that Lerner’s work to engage audiences is “reshaping what has become a stale model for a contemporary art museum.” Included in Lerner’s many projects is the exhibition Fred Sandback, co-curated with Nora Burnett Abrams at the MCA Denver, which becomes a point of reference for this Tuesday Evenings presentation.

A video recording of this lectures will be available on the Modern's Youtube.

Tuesday Evenings