Public Lecture, “Never Has She Ever: Renee Cox”

2008-09 Estelle Lebowitz Visiting Artist-in-Residence

Renowned contemporary American photographer Renée Cox, celebrates black womanhood at the same time she challenges the roles assigned to Blacks and women in our culture. She is one of the most controversial African-American artists working today, using her own body to celebrate black womanhood and criticize a society she often views as racist and sexist. When Yo Mamma’s Last Supper was shown at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, Mayor Rudolph Guiliani wanted it removed and created a commission to restrict such works supported by public funds.

This exhibition and lecture have been organized by the Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series, a program of the Institute for Women and Art (IWA) in partnership with the Rutgers University Libraries, in collaboration with the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions and the Visual Arts Department/Mason Gross School of the Arts. The IWA operates under the auspices of the Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic & Public Partnerships in the Arts & Humanities. Co-sponsors include: Associate Alumnae of Douglass College, Barbara Voorhees Leadership Initiative, Department of Art History, The Feminist Art Project, Global Initiatives, Institute for Research on Women, Office of the Dean of Douglass and Douglass Residential Campus, and the Women’s and Gender Studies Department. These events are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

This exhibition is part of the Mary H. Dana Women Artist Series.

The Institute for Women and Art welcomes all visitors with disabilities. Please contact the IWA for further details and information regarding accommodation of specific needs at: womenart.rutgers.edu or 732-932-3726.