Join us for the opening of two exhibitions at the intersection of contemporary art and literature—
Jonathan Lethem’s Parallel Play: Contemporary Art and Art Writing and One Last Thing Again
Saturday, February 15, 2025 at the Benton Museum of Art at 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú
4–5 pm Jonathan Lethem and Solomon Salim Moore host artists Julia Jacquette and Mark Johnson in a lively conversation about creative practice and collaboration
5–7 pm Opening Reception
Julia Jacquette is an American artist based in New York City and Amsterdam. Her work has been shown extensively at galleries and museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art (NY), The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and The RISD Museum among other institutions. Jacquette’s work was included in the first installment of PS1's "Greater New York" exhibition, and was the subject of retrospectives at the Tang Museum in Saratoga Springs (NY) and the Wellin Museum in Clinton (NY). She has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, Princeton University, and is currently on the faculty at the Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC).
Mark Johnson is a native California painter and print-maker based in Palm Springs, Ca. His work has been exhibited primarily in galleries throughout SF Bay Area including KIKI Gallery, Belcher Street Studios, KALA institute, SF Art Institute, and SF International Airport Exhibitions program. He holds a BA in painting and printmaking from Bennington College 84’, with supplemental study in sculpture and anatomy drawing from the Corcoran School or Art. He is an alumni of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan Maine and holds master printer status after apprenticing with printmaking artists Beth Van Hosen, Kathryn Bradner, Tim Berry, and Maurice Payne in San Francisco and New York. He currently maintains a studio practice and teaches Art History at UC Palm Desert via the Osher Program.
Jonathan Lethem has written thirteen novels, including The Fortress of Solitude, Girl in Landscape, and 2023’s Brooklyn Crime Novel. His short stories and essays have been collected in seven volumes, including A Different Kind of Tension: New and Selected Stories, forthcoming in Fall 2025. His art writing has been gathered in Cellophane Bricks: A Life in Visual Culture. He has been awarded The Berlin Prize, The National Book Critic’s Circle Award, and The World Fantasy Award, and a fellowship from The MacArthur Foundation. Since 2010 he has been the Roy E. Disney ’51 Professor of Creative Writing at 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú.
