Artist, critic William Powhida ’98 to give talk Nov. 16

Artist and critic William Powhida, a 1998 graduate of the painting program in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), will give a talk on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 6:30 p.m. in Shemin Auditorium in the Dorothea Ilgen Shaffer Art Building.

Taking interest in the economic and political dealings within the art world, Powhida makes pieces that criticize and satirize the very system in which he creates. His work, much of which depicts himself, plays off of such prevalent and sometimes contradictory art world notions as the artist as genius, the artist as celebrity, art as investment and art as elitist luxury commodity. Often mimicking the format of newspapers or torn-out sheets of lined paper, his detailed gouache paintings remind the viewer of the often invisible forces of the market behind contemporary art while maintaining a tongue-in-cheek, scathingly humorous voice.

Powhida, who also holds a master of fine arts degree from Hunter College, has exhibited internationally in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, London, Madrid, Miami, Chicago and Copenhagen. Recent shows include the 41st “Art on Paper” exhibition at the Weatherspoon Art Museum, “Run and Tell That! New Work from New York” at SUArt Galleries and “Dirty Kunst” at Seventeen Gallery in London. He recently completed a publishing residency at the Lower East Side Printshop and will be the lead artist at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center for a four-week residency on memory next summer.

The lecture is sponsored by VPA’s painting program in the Department of Art. For more information, contact the Department of Art at (315) 443-4613.