Public Program
Conversation: Helen Molesworth and Michelle White on “Open Questions: Thirty Years of Writing about Art”
Helen Molesworth. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe
Cover of Helen Molesworth’s Open Questions: Thirty Years of Writing About Art
Join Michelle White, Senior Curator, The Menil Collection, for a wide-ranging conversation with curator Helen Molesworth as we celebrate the release of Open Questions: Thirty Years of Writing about Art (Phaidon, 2023). Open Questions encompasses Helen Molesworth’s most exemplary essays from the past 30 years, all thoughtfully gathered from exhibition catalogues and publications such as Artforum, Documents, frieze, and October. Molesworth’s new introductory essay foregrounds the tenor of the book, clarifying her abiding belief in art’s ability to merge knowledge and feeling. “[Art] is a practice of investigation … married to the human capacity for and drive toward play,” Molesworth writes. “Art helps me understand, think through, and enact love and freedom.”
About the Author:
Helen Molesworth is a writer, curator, and podcaster based in Los Angeles. Her major monographic exhibitions include Ruth Asawa, Moyra Davey, Noah Davis, Steve Locke, Kerry James Marshall, Josiah McElheny, Catherine Opie, Amy Sillman, and Luc Tuymans. A prolific and award-winning author, Molesworth is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Clark Art Writing Prize, and the Bard Center for Curatorial Studies Award for Curatorial Excellence. Her podcast, Death of an Artist, made numerous “Best of 2022” lists. Open Questions: Thirty Years of Writing about Art is available now from Phaidon.
Attending the program:
This program takes place in the main building, located at 1533 Sul Ross Street. Additional information regarding accessibility and parking can be found here.
As always, Menil programs are free and open to all.