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January 20, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ART, COMMUNITY AND ACTIVISM POST-9/11

Noted Art Critic, Author and Activist Robert Atkins
To Present Two Talks at Smith on Art and Social Crisis

Editor's note: For a 300-dpi black and white photo of Atkins, e-mail Mhobbes@smith.edu.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.-New York-based art historian Robert Atkins, a founder of Visual AIDS, the group that originated Day Without Art and the Red Ribbon campaign, will present two slide lectures at Smith College.


The lectures-which are free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible-will take place in Graham Hall, Brown Fine Arts Center.


"From (Mass) Media to Metaphor: AIDS and Its Representations" will be presented at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4. Topics Atkins will address include artists' portrayals of the AIDS crisis; the relationship between AIDS-art and post-September 11 art; and the impact of mass media on independent and critical voices.


"Art, Social Crisis and Free Expression" will be presented at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11. In it, Atkins will consider the tradition of community-based and political art in the U.S., as well as artists' use of the Internet in pursuit of social change.


An open forum to discuss issues raised in Atkins' lectures will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, in Wright Hall Common Room.


In addition to founding Visual AIDS, Atkins is the initiator of the noted Web site "911-The September 11 Project: Cultural Intervention in Civic Society." A former columnist for The Village Voice, he is currently working on an anthology of his writing titled "Eye /I Witness: Art Writing as Activism, Criticism and Reportage." A contributor to more than 100 publications throughout the world, he has received awards for art criticism from the National Endowment for the Arts, Manufacturers Hanover Bank and, in 2001, the first Penny McCall Award in the Visual Arts for independent writing and curating.


Atkins is the author of the best-selling "ArtSpeak: A Guide to Contemporary Ideas, Movements and Buzzwords," its companion, "ArtSpoke: A Guide to Modern Ideas, Movement and Buzzwords 1848-1944," and "From Media to Metaphor: Art About AIDS." He is media-arts editor for The Media Channel and editor/producer of Artery: The AIDS-Art Forum.


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