“Unpacking My Identity”: Genevieve Gaignard on Race in America and the Impossibility of Home

In this episode Caroline Fowler (Starr Director of the Research and Academic Program at the Clark Art Institute) speaks with Genevieve Gaignard, a Los Angeles-based artist whose mixed-media practice explores the intersections of race, class, and femininity within the United States. While thinking through the notion of home as an impossible or privileged construct, Genevieve reflects on her experience moving back to rural Massachusetts for a residency at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and how her practice fits within the predominately white demographic of the Berkshires compared to her diverse creative community in LA. Genevieve discusses her 2020 exhibition A Long Way From Home and contemplates the ways in which her collages and photographic self-portraits grapple with racial and class stereotypes, particularly in the polarized contemporary political landscape. 

Om Podcasten

What does it mean to make art history? In the Foreground: Conversations on Art & Writing considers the role of art in society, how knowledge is shared (or obscured), and the way histories are made and unmade—while also considering the personal stakes of scholarship. Each episode offers a lively, in-depth look into the life and mind of a scholar or artist working with art historical or visual material. Discussions touch on guests’ current research projects, career paths, and significant texts, mentors, and experiences that have shaped their thinking. We invite you to join us and listen in on these conversations about the stakes of doing art history today.