Artists on the Future

Stanford University is the home of interdisciplinary thinking that catalyzes innovation. Artists on the Future, The Komal Shah and Gaurav Garg Artist Conversation Series pairs renowned artists with cultural thought leaders to talk about issues vital to our society. The latest installment is a conversation between artist Catherine Opie and writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit, who probe the cultural and geographic identities of contemporary America and present bold visions of possible futures. This free, virtual event will premiere on Monday, January 31 at 5pm (PT). Registration is required to receive a link. Catherine Opie is an artist working with photography, film, collage, and ceramics. She was a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow recipient and the Robert Mapplethorpe Resident in Photography at the American Academy in Rome for 2021. Opie’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and abroad and is held in over 50 major collections throughout the world. Her firs

Stanford University is the home of interdisciplinary thinking that catalyzes innovation. Artists on the Future, The Komal Shah and Gaurav Garg Artist Conversation Series pairs renowned artists with cultural thought leaders to talk about issues vital to our society. Teresita Fernández is a conceptual artist whose immersive, large-scale works are inspired by a rethinking of landscape and place, as well as by diverse historical and cultural references. Often using images from the natural world, Fernández’s work emphasizes the stacked connections between place, people, and materials–using gold, graphite, iron-ore, and other minerals that reveal loaded historical ties to colonization and the violence embedded in the landscape. Recent solo exhibitions of her work have been organized at the Phoenix Art Museum and the Pérez Art Museum Miami, and her work is featured in numerous international public and private collections. Sir David Adjaye OBE is a Ghanaian-British architect who has received i

Artist Lorna Simpson and Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, engaged in a discussion at Stanford in May 2019 as part of the Artists on the Future conversation series. Artists on the Future is a conversation series that pairs world-famous artists with cultural thought leaders from various fields to talk about issues vital to our society.

Stanford University is the home of interdisciplinary thinking that catalyzes innovation. Artists on the Future, the Komal Shah and Gaurav Garg Artist Conversation Series pairs world-famous artists with cultural thought leaders to talk about issues vital to our society. One of the most acclaimed painters working today and recipient of a MacArthur “Genius Grant,” artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby creates densely layered figurative compositions that, precise in style, nonetheless conjure the complexity of contemporary experience. Thelma Golden is the Director and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem and a fierce advocate for diversity and equity in the art world. Her work has been recognized by the Ford Foundation, the Obama Foundation, and the Aspen Institute, among others. The conversation is moderated by Matthew Tiews, Stanford’s interim senior associate vice president for the arts.

Stanford University is the home of interdisciplinary thinking that catalyzes innovation. Artists on the Future, the Komal Shah and Gaurav Garg Artist Conversation Series pairs world-famous artists with cultural thought leaders to talk about issues vital to our society. An Iranian-born artist and filmmaker, Shirin Neshat’s photographs and videos address individual freedoms under attack from or repressed by social ideologies. She has held numerous solo exhibitions at galleries and museums worldwide; most recently a major retrospective of her work was held at the Broad in Los Angeles. Abbas Milani is the Hamid & Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies and Adjunct Professor at the Center on Democracy, Development, and Rule of Law at the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University. His expertise is US–Iran relations as well as Iranian cultural, political, and security issues. The conversation is moderated by Matthew Tiews, Stanford’s interim senior associate vice president for th