Professor John Freyer participates in VCUarts Tate Exchange
Showing through March 9 (mornings).
Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (VCUarts) has a new partnership with Tate Exchange, at Tate Modern London. Artist John Freyer, an assistant professor at VCUarts, will be the school’s first Tate Exchange Associate. He will be in residency in London from June 26 to July 1, 2018.
Freyer will be available in Tate Exchange for conversation and coffee in a week-long project that creates space for dialogue about addiction and recovery. He will be building on his Fifty/Fifty project for an international audience. Freyer’s work offers a unique opportunity to engage people in recovery with broader publics, emphasizing creative expression as a means of assisting in the recovery process and reducing the social stigma and isolation associated with individuals struggling with addiction. His work also revives the simple yet meaningful practice of face-to-face dialogue—a growing rarity in an increasingly technologically mediated world.
John Freyer is an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Richmond, Virginia, USA. As an artist, author and educator, his practice explores how the circulation of objects and stories enrich social ties between individuals and groups. His projects include All My Life for Sale, Big Boy, Live IKEA, Free Ice Water, Free Hot Coffee and Free Hot Supper.
Tate Exchange, a new project for the museum, sets out to ask how art makes a difference to society and creates a common space for the public to debate contemporary topics and ideas, to get actively involved, and to make a difference. VCUarts will be the Tate Exchange’s first U.S. partner.
Freyer’s work is supported by VCUarts Arts Research Institute, which serves faculty in their creative research and interdisciplinary practices across the university.
Showing on the Cabell Screen in February and March 2018 are Freyer’s photographs from the Fifty/Fifty project, including Free Ice Water and Free Hot Coffee.
Anna Cutler, the Director of Learning at Tate, will give a talk on February 22 at 5:30 p.m. at Grace Street Theater in conjunction with Freyer’s participation in the Tate Exchange. The event is free and open to the public. More information on the VCUarts calendar.
This posting is adapted from an article by Suzanne Silitch published on the VCUarts website.
News article by University Public Affairs
Categories Faculty Work