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Carol Bowers Norris Visiting Artist: Dr. Josh T. Franco

October 2, 2017

The Department of Art and Art History invites you to attend two public events of art historian and artist Joshua T. Franco, a Carol Bowers Norris Visiting Scholar.  Dr. Franco will be giving a public lecture in the form of an epistolary essay, titled Dear Joshua, All My Love: A letter from the art historian to the artist.  The lecture will take place in Peeler Auditorium on Thursday, October 5, 2017 at 4:15pm.  On Friday, October 6, 2017 from 3:00pm-6:00pm in (Roy O. West library), Dr. Franco will perform a new piece of art, Scriptorium Con Safos: Prologue, a durational performance piece in which the artist will transcribe, by hand, books by Chicano authors that are banned in parts of the United States.  More detailed information on Dr. Franco’s two public presentations can be found below. Dr. Franco’s visit is supported by the Carol Bowers Norris Visiting Artist Fund and the Department of Art and Art History.  

PUBLIC LECTURE:

Dear Joshua, All My Love

A letter from the art historian to the artist

 In this epistolary essay, I explore the ongoing relationship between myself, an art historian, and artist Joshua Saunders. The decadence over time of the professional distance in our relationship is narrated, ultimately questioning the apparatus on which art history and art criticism have conventionally relied in their public faces. The essay advocates for an art history that does not feign objectivity, but rather leans into the often messy relationships between notable and not so notable figures in the "art world." What would art history look like if scholars and critics wrote forthrightly positioned as friends, confidants, enemies and lovers of artists? What does it mean to consider artists as collaborators and companions rather than "subjects" of art historical writings? By enacting these shifts, this letter performs a queering of art historical methodologies as they are currently known.   

PUBLIC PERFORMANCE:

Scriptorium Con Safos: Prologue

Scriptoria are the spaces where texts were reproduced prior to the printing press. They were often situated in monasteries, conferring sacredness and protection on them. Monks would transcribe significant texts by hand before passing manuscripts on to other scriptoria for further copying.

“Con safos”, typically abbreviated as “C/S”, is a homegrown Chicano copyright mechanism. From Spanish-English caló, it translates roughly as “with safety” or “this is safeguarded.” The “this” can refer to a mural on the streets, an email between Chicano companions, or the back of a canvas. It is a vernacular Chicano trademark that affirms cultural value and spiritually protects whatever carries it.

Scriptorium con safos: Prologue is a 3-hour durational performance piece. The setting comprises a backdrop made from woven cornhusks, each individually inscribed with “C/S” and coated in beeswax. In front of this is a simple table, carrying a bowl of quartz crystal pebbles, a blank notebook, and red and black pens. Next to the table on the ground is a stack of books. The books are examples of those by Chicano authors banned in the states of Arizona and Texas in recent years. At the table sits the artist. He wears black pants, while his torso, arms and face are covered in red “C/S”’s. For three hours, he transcribes the banned books by hand. The audience is whoever walks by, and witnesses.

Dr. Franco is a native of West Texas. His dissertation, "Marfa, Marfa: Minimalism, rasquachismo, and Questioning 'Decolonial Aesthetics' in Far West Texas" was completed in the Art History department at Binghamton University in April 2016. His graduate work was supported by the Clifford D. Clark Fellowship, the Ithaca College Predoctoral Diversity Fellowship, and the Imagining America PAGE (Publicly Active Graduate Education) Fellowship. Franco served as a 2014 - 2015 PAGE National Co-Director. Since January 2013, he has been an Artist-Guide at JUDD Foundation, the New York home and studio of Donald Judd, commonly known by its address, 101 Spring Street. Franco has presented scholarly and critical work in the following venues: Marfa Book Co., Stanford University, College Art Association, Association of Art Historians, Utrecht University, American Comparative Literature Association, Dartmouth College, HEMI Graduate Student Initiative (Hemispheric Institute), zingmagazine, The Frick Collection, ...mightbegood, Latino Art Now!, the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, Joan Mitchell Foundation, and Independent Curators International.  As an artist, Franco has produced and exhibited one artwork annually since 2009. In addition to fulfilling a creative need, this practice ensures that his scholarship is constantly informed by the intimate processes of making work and participating directly in the exhibition process. These works have been hosted by Co-Lab (Austin), Society for the Study of Gloria E. Anzaldúa (San Antonio / Austin), Community School of Music and Art (Ithaca), Esperanza Peace and Justice Center (San Antonio), Lady Base Gallery (San Antonio), WorkSpaceBrussels, NurtureArt Gallery (Bushwick), and Kunstenfestivaldesartes.