RJ SmithAmerican Witness: The Art and Life of Robert Frank

Cincinnati-based writer and critic RJ Smith discusses his new book American Witness (2017), the first comprehensive biography of influential photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank. Frank’s indelible body of work ranges from the Beat Generation–touchstone short Pull My Daisy (1959) and the landmark photo travelogue The Americans (1958) to projects with The Rolling Stones, including the cover art for Exile on Main Street (1972) and the controversial concert tour doc Cocksucker Blues (made in 1972, but unreleased until 2016). Author of the acclaimed James Brown biography The One (2012), Smith has also contributed to Los Angeles Magazine, Spin, Village Voice, and Cincinnati Magazine, among other publications.

Stay after the talk for a book signing in the Wexner Center Store, and join us at 7 PM in the Film/Video Theater for Robert Frank x 3, a screening of three of the artist’s films.