Campus Partners
May and June 2022 Arts Programming at Stanford
LJ Roberts (American, born in 1980), Hannah (HH) Hiaasen and Lukaza BranfmanVerissimo, 2020–21. Embroidery on cotton. © LJ Roberts. Courtesy the artist and Hales, London and New York
More Arts Programming at Stanford
Check out the upcoming programs from some of our arts partners within Stanford‘s Vice Presidency for the Arts.
LJ Roberts: Carry You With Me
Apr 27 through Nov 27, 2022
LJ Roberts: Carry You With Me is the result of a long-term, ongoing project by LJ Roberts consisting of 26 six-by-four-inch embroidered portraits of the artist’s friends, collaborators, and lovers within New York City’s queer and trans communities. Stitched entirely by hand and typically completed during transit on subway trains, in their apartment, or in the company of friends, these embroideries illustrate how politics, culture, and identity manifest in both visible and subtle ways through encounters in daily life.
Roberts spent up to one year creating each portrait within the series, taking inspiration from both photographs and memory. As much a tribute to the subjects as to the public and private places that provide spaces for vital exchange, the images home in on meticulously stitched details—from the letters that make up Zoe Leonard’s critically important “I want a president” mural along the High Line to the book covers and refrigerator magnets that distinguish a person’s home. The artist also regards the backs of the embroideries—abstract networks of colorful threads layered atop one another, created entirely by happenstance—as integral to the works as the front images.
As Roberts notes within the companion book to this exhibition, “The embroideries are a ten-year record of my friendships and relationships, the politics that marked the decade, the fun I had with friends, the everyday action and resistance that these people practice, those who influence and inspire me, the elders who have mentored me, people who have collaborated with me.”
LJ Roberts: Carry You With Me is organized by Pioneer Works and curated by Gabriel Florenz. It is made possible through generous support from Pamela and David Hornik. It is also supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Legislature. The Cantor Arts Center presentation is organized by Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, Interim Co-director, Burton and Deedee McMurtry Curator, and Curatorial Fellowship Program Director.
Wendy Red Star: American Progress
Apr 6 through Aug 28, 2022
Wendy Red Star, Dust, 2021. Three-color lithograph on Somerset Satin soft white, with archival pigment printed chine collé on mulberry paper, ed. 13/25 20.25 x 20 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Sargent’s Daughters. Photo: Nika Blasser
Wendy Red Star: American Progress presents work by the artist, Wendy Red Star, who was raised on the Apsáalooke (Crow) reservation in Montana. Red Star’s work is informed by her cultural heritage and engagement with many forms of creative expression, including photography, sculpture, video, fiber arts, and performance.
This exhibition, installed throughout the first floor of the museum, explores the ideas of Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny through the lens of John Gast’s 1872 painting, American Progress. Gast’s painting exemplifies the justification of American settlers driving Indigenous communities off their land during the 19th century.
Red Star addresses the racism, displacement, and culture that expanded our country into the Western United States through original immersive installations created specifically for this exhibition, explorations of our shared histories, and colorful lithographs that present her own genealogy. Much of the artwork in American Progress is created specifically for this exhibition and has never been on view before.