William E. Jones: Small Talk Lecture Series

For the Fall of 2011, the Wattis will continue its public program of Small Talks, a mini-lecture series for students and faculty of CCA, as well as the wider Bay Area public— to prompt dialogue and connect the artistic practices and research concerns of CCA faculty with the themes generated through the Painting Between the Lines and More American Photographs exhibitions.

Twenty years ago, William E. Jones created an autobiographical 16-millimeter film titled Massillon (1991) that details his hometown’s monuments, both personal and historical, through imagery and anecdotes. The town earned notoriety in 1937 when a union steelworkers’ strike ended with many casualties, and it is known today for its winning high school football team. For More American Photographs Jones revisited Massillon and the adjacent city of Canton, Ohio, which is an industrial and agricultural hub, one of America’s fastest-dying cities, and home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Jones’s desolate images focus on landscapes and buildings that seem straight out of Walker Evans’s American Photographs, but still reflect present-day reality. One might call the pictures cinematic; Jones is both a filmmaker and a photographer, and in his practice, discursive vignettes created from re-sequencing found footage or photographs evoke feelings of desire, loss, and identity. Jones is based in Los Angeles.

Small Talks are every Wednesday between October 5 – December 14 (except November 23). All programs at the Wattis are free.

Small Talk Public Program Schedule:

October 5
6:30pm-7:30pm* (Please note start time)
Maaike Schoorel
Artist, Painting Between the Lines

October 12
7:00pm-8:00pm
Clare Rojas
Artist, Painting Between the Lines

October 19
7:00pm-8:00pm
Sharon Lockhart
Artist, More American Photographs

October 26
7:00pm-8:00pm
Ignacio Valero
Associate Professor of Humanities and Sciences in the Graduate Program at CCA

November 2
7:00pm-8:00pm
Katy Grannan
Artist, More American Photographs

November 9
7:00pm-8:00pm
Andrew Weiner
Professor of Curatorial Practice in the Graduate Program at CCA

November 16
7:00pm-8:00pm
Jordan Kantor
Artist, Painting Between the Lines
Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing in the Graduate Program at CCA

No Small Talk on November 23*

November 30
7:00pm-8:00pm
Elizabeth Mangini
Assistant Professor of Visual Studies, Visual and Critical Studies, and Fine Arts in the Graduate Program at CCA

December 7
7:00pm-8:00pm
William E. Jones
Artist, More American Photographs

December 14
7:00pm-8:00pm
Joseph Lease
Associate Professor of Writing and Literature, Chair of Writing Program in the Graduate Program at CCA