Continuing our series of public programs celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of MATRIX, former MATRIX curator Constance Lewallen joins former MATRIX artists Jim Goldberg, Mike Mandel, and Larry Sultan in conversation about their shared interests in the power of photographic images and the narratives they convey.
Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel began collaborating while studying at the San Francisco Art Institute in the 1970s, producing the influential book Evidence in 1977, as well as a series of public billboard projects. This work with found and media images culminated in their 1983 MATRIX installation Newsroom. Both continue to work actively, Mandel in the realm of public art, and Sultan as a photographer. Jim Goldberg joins the conversation to discuss his unique work combining photographic portraiture and experimental storytelling that gives voice to the subjects of his photographs, including the Nursing Home Series that was created for his 1987 MATRIX exhibition. Since then Goldberg has produced many acclaimed series of work, including Rich and Poor (1977-85) and Raised by Wolves (1985-95).
Constance Lewallen, MATRIX curator from 1980-1988 and until recently Senior Curator at BAM/PFA organized dozens of shows by emerging artists during her MATRIX tenure, including exhibitions with Goldberg, Mandel, and Sultan. As senior curator of exhibitions at BAM, she curated many large-scale traveling exhibitions, including major retrospectives of Joe Brainard, Paul Kos, Ant Farm, and Bruce Nauman.
