Monday, February 14 · 9:00am – 12:00pm
De Anza College at room AT120*
21250 Stevens Creek Boulevard
Cupertino, CA
Conceptualist artist April Banks speaks about her art, including her provocative photographic series “We Love to Watch”, her installations, such as The Price of Rice (Let’s Talk of a System) and her activist cross-country travel blog.
For her photograph “Milk Bath”, Banks worked with DeQawn Mobley, a former collegiate and NFL player. Mobley is shown putting on his gear amid stereotypic symbols of… milk and watermelon. The photo calls attention to the commodified image of the hyper-masculine black athletic body as violent and sexual — a ubiquitous “game piece,” putting on his game face. Using the historically racially charged symbol of the watermelon, this work explores Mobley’s experience as a collegiate and NFL player and its well-debated parallels to the slave trade. Going beyond a first-person narrative, Banks and Mobley explore what it means to be reduced to a game time object on the field, watched and “loved” by millions.
Co-sponsors: Euphrat Museum of Art, CADRE Laboratory for New Media, De Anza College Art Department, Women’s History Month, Visiting Speakers Series, City of Cupertino, De Anza Associated Student Body, Applied Materials Excellence in the Arts Grants, Arts Council Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County Office of Human Relations, ZER01
*Possible Room Change (updates)