Jeffrey Kipnis Reflections on Sherman and Koolhaas, or how to see through a mirror clearly, face to face

Join architectural critic and Ohio State professor Jeffrey Kipnis for a personal, light-hearted, and speculative look at the unlikely parallels between artist Cindy Sherman and architect Rem Koolhaas.

Though Sherman and Koolhaas are among the most highly respected figures in their respective fields—deservedly admired for the creativity, intellectual originality, and political poignancy that abounds in their works—the two have yet to intersect in any substantial way. Despite a few clumsy, one-sided gestures that faltered before they began, no serious occasion for collaboration has ever been explored, nor as of yet has any significant critical study exploring their relationship appeared. This gap is even more startling given the number of coincidences and resonances that have conjoined the two figures and their respective bodies of work from the earliest efforts of each to this very day. This talk hopes to provoke some surprising conjectures about their impact on us in relation to today’s most pressing and disturbing headlines.

Cosponsored by Ohio State’s Knowlton School of Architecture.

Jeffrey Kipnis is professor of architectural design and theory at the Knowlton School of Architecture of Ohio State University and distinguished visiting professor at SCI-Arc, Los Angeles. His writings on art and architecture have appeared in such publications as Log, Hunch, Harvard Design Magazine, Quaderns, 2G, El Croquis, Artforum, Art in America, and Assemblage, and his books include Chora L Works: Jacques Derrida and Peter Eisenman;  Philip Johnson: The Glass House; Stone and Feather; A Question of Qualities; and By Other Means. Kipnis was the Wexner Center’s curator of architecture and design, working on such exhibitions as Mood River and Perfect Acts of Architecture.

Architecture fans: Rem Koolhaas speaks at the Knowlton School of Architecture’s Gui Auditorium on Wednesday, November 15 at 5:30 PM.