The Graham Foundation
O’Brien will elaborate on the recent trials and tribulations of John Ahearn, a white (“Celtic-American”) artist who has lived and worked for over ten years in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York. Ahearn’s public sculptures of his African-American and Latino neighbors have come under attack for being stereotypical and rascist. O’Brien argues that they are not stereotypes but archetypes, and as such constitute “realism” rather than racism.
O’Brien is cultural critic for Interview and Artforum magazines, and is the editor of Madonna’s book SEX.
This is part of a series of lectures and events titled The Personal and Political in Recent Art.
