Winter Series 2026: Collaborations
When: Wednesdays, 1:00–2:30 pm, Jan. 14 and 21, Feb. 11 and 18, 2025
Where: Sessions 1 and 2 online; Session 3 MCA Chicago, Session 4 Smart Museum of Art
Member Price: $35 per session
Non-Member Price: $40 per session
Online sessions will be recorded and shared with registrants who are unable to attend live on Zoom.
Flexible pricing is available for anyone who inquires. Please email sarah@artencounter.org for our “pay what you can” registration form.
Join Joanna Pinsky for two Zoom programs and two in-person museum visits exploring different conceptions of what it means to collaborate on the production of art, including creating work with another individual, partnering within oneself to portray different aspects of one’s interior, and incorporating communities into the artmaking process. Our online programs will highlight the work of six photographers and the ways they manipulate light, composition, reality, and invention to communicate their ideas. Our in-person programs will include visits to Music of the Mind by Yoko Ono at the MCA and Unto Thee by Theaster Gates at the Smart Museum of Art.
Cow with Parasol by Marc Chagall
Session 1: Photographers and their Subjects: Arnold Newman, Sally Mann, Deana Lawson
Jan. 14 | Meeting online!
We’ll begin with Arnold Newman (1918–2006) noted for his “environmental portraits” of artists and politicians. Next, we’ll discuss Sally Mann’s lyrical imagery of her children. Because the children are photographed nude in some images, her work has been controversial. We’ll conclude with images by Deana Lawson, who works closely with her subjects on setting, lighting, and pose to create intimate depictions of Black bodies interacting in public and private spaces.
Circular Forms by Robert Delaunay
Session 2: Themselves as Subjects: Cindy Sherman, Trish Morrissey, Francesca Woodman
Jan. 21 | Meeting online!
Cindy Sherman has been celebrated for photographing herself as people of different ages, genders and backgrounds. We’ll examine some of her images to see how her choices of costume, composition, and lighting contribute to our perceptions of an image and how we perceive the underlying meaning of her artistic practice. Then we’ll view work from Irish photographer Trish Morrissey’s series Ten People in a Suitcase, a recreation of scenes from a museum’s archives, in which she photographs herself as the protagonist. We’ll end with Francesca Woodman‘s (1958–1981) emotionally-charged black and white photos and see how this innovative photographer became an important influencer despite her short life.
Afterimage, Rainbow Disturbance (Painting in its Archive) by Sarah Sze
Session 3: Yoko Ono, Music of the Mind and Firelei Báez Retrospective
Feb. 11 | Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Yoko Ono’s major retrospective, Music of the Mind, highlights her major contributions to performance, conceptualism, film, and music along with providing interactive opportunities for viewers. This exhibition is all about the ideas Ono has developed since the 1960’s that still remain relevant. We will delve into questions Ono raises about what art can be–material or immaterial, permanent or fluid–and discuss the connection between her ideas and her processes, as well as the different communities she wished to reach.
Then, jumping to the 21st century, we will explore Firelei Báez’s exuberant, monumental, and colorful paintings, drawings, and installations that layer symbols rooted in her Afro-Caribbean heritage with abstract gestures and patterns, often painted over colonial maps and architectural plans. We’ll discuss how her unique blend of folklore, science fiction, and mythology addresses colonial rule across the Americas, suggesting alternative histories to unsettle fixed categories of race, gender, and nationality.
Revival Meeting by Benny Andrews
Session 4: Theaster Gates, Unto Thee
Feb. 18 | Smart Museum of Art
Chicago’s world-renowned interdisciplinary artist is also a “keeper of objects.” This exhibition explores core collections of objects which Gates acquired through the University of Chicago that have become part of his artistic practice. We will explore how the artist employs his exceptional eye to create installations that collaborate with history, Black culture, and the academic community while integrating the museum’s architecture as a player in the visual experience. We will also talk about some of his recent works including paintings, ceramics, and pieces incorporating the archive of the Johnson Publishing Company.