Things to Do, April 1-8, 2016

Carl Ostendarp exhibition
Damian Griffiths, Pace London
A gallery installation in London with a mural by Carl Ostendarp, associate professor of art, who will discuss his work and his new book, “Book,” April 6 in Sibley Hall.

Dissidence in art

Venezuelan-born artist Deborah Castillo speaks Monday, April 4, at 12:15 p.m. in 105 Stimson Hall, in conjunction with her exhibition, “Political Iconoclasm and Other Forms of Civil Disobedience,” April 4-22 in the Bibliowicz Family Gallery in Milstein Hall.

The exhibition reflects Castillo’s own form of political dissidence as she responds to the increasingly repressive government of Venezuela. With the iconic figure of South American liberator Simón Bolívar as a point of departure, she investigates the myth of the nation through the creation of political and military heroes.

In her work, the artist also questions the rising nationalism former president Hugo Chávez engendered by aligning his political campaign with the cult of Bolívar. In the process, Castillo reveals the failures of the state and its utopian promises.  

The opening gallery reception for Castillo’s exhibition is April 4 at 5 p.m. in Milstein Hall.

The artist talk is sponsored by the Latin American Studies Program, the Department of the History of Art, the Curatorial Collective, the Society for Humanities and the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Inside BET Networks

Debra Lee, chairman and CEO of BET Networks, will be on campus for a public conversation Monday, April 4, at 3:30 p.m. in Alice Statler Auditorium.

In the hour-long conversation with Kevin Gaines, the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of Africana Studies, Lee will describe her vision for BET Networks and future programming initiatives.

She will discuss the launch of Centric, a network designed for black women; and BET’s international growth, extending to Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, France, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

Zika virus talk

Dr. Nathaniel Hupert will give a talk on “The Zika Virus Threat: Can Public Health Systems Cope?” Tuesday, April 5, at 12:20 p.m. in 701 Clark Hall. Hupert, an associate professor of public health and medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, is the director of the Preparedness Modeling Unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Free and open to the public, the talk is cosponsored by the Cornell Institute for European Studies and the Latin American Studies Program.

Continuous-drip motif

Employing wall-sized murals of continuously painted two-tone drip shapes as a backdrop for museum and gallery displays of paintings, prints and sculptures, Carl Ostendarp’s art installations are designed to re-contextualize the exhibition space and to enhance the experience of art for the viewer.

In “Book” (2015), Ostendarp recreates the continuous-drip motif, using the pages of the volume as gallery walls. He invites viewers to project their own imagery while merging some of the visual foundations of Modernism – pop, color field and minimalism – into his simple biomorphic forms.

Ostendarp, associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Art, will give a book talk in Cornell University Library’s Chats in the Stacks series, April 6 at 5 p.m. in 115 W. Sibley Hall.

Ostendarp’s talk is free and open to the public, with refreshments served and books available for purchase and signing. It is co-sponsored by the Fine Arts Library and the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.


Shop Talk: Writing online

The Department of English Creative Writing Program presents “Shop Talk” with four innovative writers, editors and publishers discussing the world of online publishing, April 7 at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. Part of the spring 2016 Barbara and David Zalaznick Reading Series, the event is free and open to the public.

The speakers will discuss their careers and publishing ventures, and answer questions about writing and editing for the web. They include writer/editors Nicole Cliffe and Mallory Ortberg, co-founders of The Toast, the cult-favorite women's humor site. Cliffe has written for The Awl, McSweeney’s and other publications; Ortberg is the author of the New York Times best-seller “Texts From Jane Eyre.”

Rachel Fershleiser, head of publishing outreach at Tumblr, directed public programs at Housing Works Bookstore Café and is co-creator of “Six-Word Memoirs.” She co-edited the New York Times best-seller “Not Quite What I Was Planning” and three other books. Halimah Marcus is editorial director of Electric Literature, and editor-in-chief of the digital publisher’s weekly fiction magazine, “Recommended Reading.” Her writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, One Story, the Indiana Review and elsewhere.

The spring reading series concludes April 21 with fiction writer Denis Johnson. For more information, email creativewriting@cornell.edu or call 607-255-7847.

Scholarly choir

The Choir of Royal Holloway from the University of London will perform Thursday, April 7, at 6 p.m. in Anabel Taylor Hall Chapel. Sponsored by the Cornell University Chorus and Glee Club and the Department of Music, the concert is free and open to the public.

Under the direction of Rupert Gough, the choir – consisting of 24 choral scholars – will present music from the late Renaissance and contemporary works from England, America, Finland and the Baltic states.

Media Contact

Melissa Osgood