Stephanie Schwartz – Allan Sekula's 'War Work'

You are invited to a talk and Q&A with Dr Stephanie Schwartz, who will present a paper based on her book forthcoming with MACK books on the ‘war work’ of the late artist-photographer Allan Sekula. 

We are pleased to announce Dr Stephanie Schwartz, Associate Professor of American Art at UCL, will be coming to Leeds to present a paper drawing on the themes and material of her forthcoming book.

With Allan Sekula’s War Work, Schwartz considers the artist’s sustained attention to war stories, including Mark Twain's postbellum tales about antebellum America. By taking stock of Sekula’s long-held obsession with the writing of America’s favourite humourist, Schwartz addresses how and why stories about America’s reunification and ‘rebirth’ are not only central to but have gone missing from the study of Sekula’s war work.

This will be followed by a Q&A.

Light refreshments provided.

Part of the Critical Materialism Seminar Series, organised by Jack Rondeau (School of English) and Owen Atkinson (School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies), funded by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures.

About the speaker

Dr Stephanie Schwartz is Associate Professor in American Art at University College London. She is also the author of the well-received Walker Evans: No Politics (University of Texas Press, 2020), which equally presented a novel reading of the politics of documentary photography, foregrounded by close attention to the history of the United States. Schwartz was also editor of Modernism After Paul Strand, a special issue of the Oxford Art Journal (2015). She has also published widely on artists including Jacob Riis, Paul Strand, Martha Rosler, Tania Bruguera, Hito Steyerl and Jorge Ribalta.

More information

For further information, please email Owen Atkinson at O.Atkinson@leeds.ac.uk.

Image

Allan Sekula - Salty Dog Bites the Hand. Photo by AGCC Studio Artist Slobodan Dimitrov. License: CC BY-NC 2.0.