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Past Talks & More | Artist Talks
Virtual
STREAMS ON THIS PAGE US EASTERN STANDARD TIME Free for all audiences (RSVP required to participate via Zoom)
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall at accessibility@wexarts.org or via telephone at (614) 688–3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.
Frequent Wex guest (and past residency artist) William E. Jones returns virtually to discuss his new book, I Should Have Known Better (2021), a sequel to the sleeper hit I'm Open to Anything (2019), expanding the original's scope and ambition.
I Should Have Known Better was produced entirely with the support of a crowdfunding campaign that reached five figures and 150% funding, an unprecedented accomplishment for a literary novel. Bearing witness to the last gasp of Los Angeles bohemia at the end of the 20th century, the novel paints precise portraits of inspired eccentrics devoted to pursuing their dreams, "shopping artists" who believe in nothing but hedonism, and latter-day leftists who find themselves directionless after the fall of communism. Above all, the book pays tribute to the impulsive experiments and intense friendships of youth.
Wexner Center Store manager Matt Reber will join Jones for the conversation, and a Q&A follows the talk.
Please note: this book and talk contain mature content not suitable for all ages.
William E. Jones
William E. Jones is a visual artist, filmmaker, and writer. He has made the experimental films Massillon (1991) and Finished (1997); videos including The Fall of Communism as Seen in Gay Pornography (1998); the documentary Is It Really So Strange? (2004); and many other works, including the essay film Fall into Ruin (2017), about the Greek art dealer Alexander Iolas (1907–87) and his abandoned house in Athens.
Jones’s films have been the subject of multiple presentations at the Wexner Center as well as retrospectives at Tate Modern, London (2005); Anthology Film Archives, New York (2010); Austrian Film Museum, Vienna (2011); and Oberhausen Short Film Festival (2011). He participated in the 1993 and 2008 Whitney Biennials, the 2009 Venice Biennale, and the 2011 Istanbul Biennial and has exhibited internationally at institutions such as Musée du Louvre in Paris; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY The Wexner Family Greater Columbus Arts Council The Columbus Foundation Ohio Arts Council American Electric Power Foundation Adam Flatto Mary and C. Robert Kidder Bill and Sheila Lambert L Brands Foundation Institute of Museum and Library Services Nationwide Foundation Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease Arlene and Michael Weiss
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Past Talks & More
