Contemporary Artist Alexis Rockman to Speak at Holy Cross

Contemporary artist Alexis Rockman will give a presentation titled "Picturing the Unimaginable" on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. in Seelos Theater at the College of the Holy Cross. The talk is free and open to the public.  

For more than 25 years Rockman has been exploring the ways in which human activity has had an impact on the natural world through dynamic large-scale paintings which examine themes including global warming and the bioengineering revolution. “His paintings reflect an environmental activism that is politically and artistically charged,” says Cristi Rinkilin, associate professor and chair of the visual arts department.  

Rockman draws inspiration from frequent childhood visits to the Museum of Natural History in New York, where his mother worked, to the jungles of Guyana, where he travelled with artist Mark Dion, to create work in the field that was “based solely on empiricism – on what I could see with my own eyes,” he told Art in America in 2010.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for Holy Cross to present a lecture by Alexis Rockman, who is a major figure in the contemporary art world, and one of the most singular voices in reflecting to us the consequences of our impact on the natural world,” shares Rinklin. “Since his work speaks to a wide audience, both inside and outside of the art world, his visit to campus will provide a rich interdisciplinary platform that will engage the arts, humanities, and sciences in examining the ethical questions put forth in his work.”  

Rockman, who was raised in New York City, received his B.F.A. from the School for Visual Arts in New York, N.Y. He has steadily built an artistic career through his intense fascination with painting as a medium and influences that are diverse and wide-ranging. Rockman cites Harvard scientist Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) as an important figure for him, someone who articulated his interest in the intersection of art, science and politics.

The first major survey of his work “Alexis Rockman: A Fable for Tomorrow,” was recently on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. 

Rockman’s paintings are displayed in national and international museum across the world, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg, Penn.; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, N.Y.; the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel; the Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia; and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, Mass.

The event is co-sponsored by the chemistry and visual arts departments, the Cantor Art Gallery, Environmental Studies, the Montserrat Natural World Cluster and the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethic and Culture.