← Events Calendar
Headshot of artist Vanessa German
Image Credit

Photo courtesy AJ Mitchell Photography.

Logan Lecture: vanessa german

–

A self-taught artist, poet, spoken-word performer, and community organizer, vanessa german makes art for social healing. Her sculptures, comprising found materials and sewn textiles, are molded on the Kongo tradition of nkisi and contain spiritual, mystical, and feminist energies that offer protection. Reckoning with the historical and ongoing trauma of structural racism, german proposes new models for social healing and well-being.

german's TV Man (2022) in the collection of the Denver Art Museum is currently on view in the Hamilton building on the fourth floor.

This lecture is presented by the Modern and Contemporary Art department.

–
Sharp Auditorium—Hamilton Building, Lower Level
Ticket required, discount for members, free for Museum Friends and students
Add to Calendar
Large human-like sculpture of a man made out of TV screens

vanessa german
TV Man, 2022 (click or tap image to enlarge)
wood, cloth, cutter quit, glitter, sequined fabric, Yoruba hat found stuck to a shelf at a Tjmax in western North Carolina, black pigment, the meanness of houselessness in a world of abundance, a tookapart-tv, 50 feet of rope, white and red pigment, wire, foam, a vision of a man walking up a hill, plaster, plaster gauze, wood glue, heat, hurt, loneliness, magic.
88 1/4 x 35 1/2 x 28 inches
224.2 x 90.2 x 71.1 cm
(PK 28743)

Otherworldly sculpture of a woman-like figure on a stool, with a headdress composed of several faces

vanessa german
BLACK SWAN, or, THE ENVY, 2022 (click or tap image to enlarge)
green, green with, green with envy, sick, sick to, sick to my, sick to my stomach, heart ache, green pigment, white, pigment, pink pigment, blue pigment, black
pigment, a clutch of 7 knock-off tribal masks found in nyc before my Madison square park talk, love of the big body, the constant ache of being under the eye of
white supremacist delusion, a wholeness calling up the night, a random punch drunk miracle, a hope song, a body bag filled with lies, a shoe horn aching to
be a unicorn, a critical neighbor with a big mean mouth, grief, letting go, a saw horse, hand carved black swan.
97 3/4 x 28 1/2 x 43 3/4 inches
248.3 x 72.4 x 111.1 cm
(PK 28756)

A sculpture of an all-white figure sitting atop a multi-colored horse

vanessa german
Light Being 1, 2023 (click or tap image to enlarge)
saw horse, for how loud the Soul is, adhesive, for how loud the Soul can be in the body, found quilt, wood, hope, wire, grace, cloth, knowing, keys, awareness, love, locks, grace, metal atom forms, hope, hope, hope, hope, hope, ohdeargood, i am praying for you, porcelain bells, my own good and loving heartbeat, beads, a measure of compassion, cowrie shells, the equanimity of wholeness, chandelier crystals, healing balm, wood ashtray feet, fire of heart, mannequin hands, someplace to go that is on the inside of the inside of the inside, a river, 1400 miracles, desert glasses, a survival against the odds, beaded rhinestone trim, hope, handblown glass shapes, hope, bottles, hope.
75 x 24 x 68 inches
190.5 x 61 x 172.7 cm
(PK 30614)

Mixed media installation of a sculpture of a powerful large figure giving a speech to a group of men

vanessa german
Of Thee We Sing, 2023
steel, plywood, dibond and resin
144 x 96 x 96 inches
365.8 x 243.8 x 243.8 cm
(PK 30657)

Large human-like sculpture of a man made out of TV screens
Otherworldly sculpture of a woman-like figure on a stool, with a headdress composed of several faces
A sculpture of an all-white figure sitting atop a multi-colored horse
Mixed media installation of a sculpture of a powerful large figure giving a speech to a group of men

Since 2007, the Logan Lecture Series at the Denver Art Museum has presented talks by over 120 contemporary artists. Organized by the Modern and Contemporary Art department, the series is made possible through the generous support of Vicki and Kent Logan.