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Profs and Pints DC presents: “The Art of Marcel Duchamp,” with Lisa Lipinski, assistant professor of art history at the George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design and teacher of a graduate art history seminar on Duchamp and his legacy.
[Under current District of Columbia regulations attendees will be required to wear a mask except while eating or drinking. The Bier Baron will be requiring proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test from the previous 72 hours for entry. It also will be requiring ticketed event attendees to purchase a minimum of two items, which can be food or beverages, including soft drinks.]
The Hirschhorn Museum on the Mall in Washington is currently exhibiting more than 50 seminal works of the French artist Marcel Duchamp, considered to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Profs and Pints is staging the perfect talk to help you get the most out of a trip to see Duchamp’s work, an exploration of Duchamp’s career and legacy looking at how he thought deeply about art and aesthetics.
Duchamp left his mark on contemporary art and the institution of art itself by seeking “to put art back in the service of the mind.” He focused the fundamental question of what art is, as well as the role of the art spectator, setting him apart from those who had focused on how art is made and on the genius of the artist. In 1913, he wondered: Can one make works which are not works of “art”? It was a typical Duchampian question, both serious and playful, revealing his delight in contradiction.
Four years later, Duchamp attempted to exhibit a men’s urinal with the title Fountain in an art exhibition which was organized by the newly established Society of Independent Artists in New York. Was this ordinary piece of plumbing a work that was not a work of ‘art’? For the artists on the organizing committee, the answer was yes, and they rejected it for reasons which may seem obvious today. Fountain is the most iconic readymade—Duchamp’s term for a piece made from an ordinary, found object—and the original was lost before ever being publicly exhibited.
This talk will leave you with much more knowledge and appreciation of the Duchamp works that remain accessible for our enjoyment. (Advance tickets: $12. Doors: $15, or $13 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later. Please allow yourself time to place any orders and get seated and settled in.)
