Graduate Student Talk: Walker Downey

Take a look at the List Center’s exhibitions from a new perspective. Join Walker Downey of the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art department at MIT to discover more about Introducing Tony Conrad: A Retrospective. Focusing on video works Jail Jail (1982­–83) and Beholden to Victory (1980–83) the talk will address Conrad’s engagements with systemic power and the politics of improvisation; it will also discuss Conrad’s relationship to musician Henry Flynt, who will perform on December 1st as part of the List Center’s Tony Conrad Music Event.

About the Speaker

Walker Downey is a historian of modern and contemporary art and a PhD student in the History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture and Art program at MIT. Before arriving at MIT, Walker earned an M.A. in Art History from Williams College, where he explored the politics of sound in American art of the Sixties, and in particular, the work of composer and pianist David Tudor. Walker’s current research broadly concerns sound art of the Seventies and Eighties, and especially practices implicated in discourses around acoustic ecology and environmental noise pollution. 

About the Series

Graduate Student Gallery Talks at the List Center present focused explorations of our current exhibitions and are led by an MIT graduate student. These interdisciplinary talks examine art through the lens of students’ research, backgrounds, and interests. 

All programs are free and open to the general public. RSVPs are required. RSVP here.