“LOOKING AND LUNCHING” PROGRAM AT CLARK ART INSTITUTE EXPLORES THE ALLAN SEKULA LIBRARY

For Immediate Release
November 5, 2019
[Digital image available upon request]

Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute’s Looking and Lunching program will be held Thursday, November 21, at 12 pm. This month, Susan Roeper, director of the Clark library, discusses the Clark’s intriguing Allan Sekula Library, the 15,000-volume personal library of thoughtful and thought-provoking artist, photographer, filmmaker, writer, and teacher, Allan Sekula. The collection, shelved in the Manton Research Center Reading Room, is both an archive of Sekula’s wide-ranging interests and a visually stunning installation that allows varying levels of interpretation of format and content.

In addition to volumes on contemporary art and photography, the Sekula collection has particular strengths in titles treating social justice, economic disparities, consumerism, the history of the workers’ movement, maritime history, and the destruction of natural and man-made environments. These volumes supported the artist’s various projects, including his seminal studies The Traffic in Photographs (1981), Photography Against the Grain (1984), and The Body and the Archive (1986); films such as Tsukiji (2001), A Short Film for Laos (2007), and The Forgotten Space (2010), an award-winning film project about the consequences of global shipping; and multi-format projects including Fish Story (1995), TITANIC’s Wake (2001), and Polonia and Other Fables (2009).

Looking and Lunching encourages participants to take a closer look at items in the Clark collection in a focused half-hour discussion focusing on one work or group of works, followed by continued conversation over lunch with the presenter and fellow art lovers in the Clark’s Carswell Room. Free with gallery admission. Plan to arrive early to pre-order and purchase your meal, or bring your own lunch. Limited seating available. Meet at the admissions desk in the Clark Center.

ABOUT THE CLARK

The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of more than 275,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.

The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm; open daily in July and August. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. Free admission is available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; EBT Card to Culture; and Blue Star Museums. For more information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.

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