Public Art Fund Talks: On the Flip Side
6:30-7:30pm
40 Cooper Square, New York, NY
This public talk explores On the Flip Side, a citywide exhibition that transforms JCDecaux bus shelters across New York City, Chicago, and Boston into sites for intimate photographic encounters. In this event, each of the artists will reflect on what it means for deeply personal images—rooted in family, heritage, gender identity, material value, and aspiration—to appear in spaces typically reserved for advertising, and how public circulation reshapes their meaning.
Moderated by Assistant Curator Jenée-Daria Strand, the talk centers on the practices of Kennedi Carter, Lougè Delcy, Camila Falquez, Ruby Okoro, Dana Scruggs, and Juan Veloz—artists whose commercial work defines our contemporary moment, capturing celebrities for global platforms. Meanwhile, their fine art practices–often seen in museums and galleries–foreground tenderness and interiority, with ties to contemporary and historic cultural narratives. The discussion will examine how these photographers navigate the boundary between commercial and fine art production, and how On the Flip Side “flips” expectations by foregrounding their personal visions within the cityscape of New York, Boston and Chicago.
Attend in person at The Cooper Union’s Frederick P. Rose Auditorium. Registration is required, and capacity is limited. Seating is first come, first served so please arrive early. Your registration does not guarantee a seat. Doors will close at 6:45pm.
Accessibility: Email Gabriela López Dena, Associate Curator of Public Practice, at glopez@publicartfund.org with questions and requests for accessibility. Please send any needs for services or accommodations to support your participation in this program, including ASL interpretations, hearing aids, and simultaneous translation, by February 6.
About the Talks
Public Art Fund Talks, organized in collaboration with The Cooper Union, connect compelling contemporary artists to a broad public by establishing a dialogue about artistic practices and public art. The Talks series features internationally renowned artists who offer insights into artmaking and its personal, social, and cultural contexts. The core values of creative expression and democratic access to culture and learning shared by both Public Art Fund and The Cooper Union are embodied in this ongoing collaboration. In the spirit of accessibility to the broadest and most diverse public, the Talks are offered free of charge.
40 Cooper Square, New York, NY
Bloomberg Philanthropies is the presenting sponsor of On the Flip Side.
Leadership support for On the Flip Side is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Elizabeth Fearon Pepperman & Richard C. Pepperman II, and Jennifer Harris, with champion support from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation.
Special thanks to JCDecaux.
Public Art Fund is supported by the generosity of individuals, corporations, and private foundations including lead support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, along with major support from the Abrams Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, The Cowles Charitable Trust, the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, the Ford Foundation, The Fuhrman Family Foundation, Kenneth C. Griffin and Griffin Catalyst, Agnes Gund, The Marc Haas Foundation, Hartfield Foundation, KHR McNeely Family Foundation | Kevin, Rosemary, and Hannah Rose McNeely, the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, Red Crane Foundation, the Meyer and Deanne Sharlin Foundation, and The Silverweed Foundation.
Public Art Fund exhibitions and programs are also supported in part with public funds from government agencies, including the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
