David Levinthal: History, Memory, and Myth

This event was recorded. Please view the lecture here.

For nearly four decades, David Levinthal has used the Polaroid format to explore the intersection between myth, fantasy, history, and memory in American culture by meticulously staging tableaus of figurines, dolls, and ephemera. The works reveal the role images play in shaping cultural memory, while also illustrating how cultural memory is rehearsed and enforced in material culture.

Ahead of the opening of his career retrospective at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York (War, Myth, Desire; June 2–December 31, 2018), Levinthal will discuss his work with Makeda Best, the Richard L. Menschel Curator of Photography at the Harvard Art Museums.

The lecture will take place in Menschel Hall, Lower Level. Please enter the museums via the entrance on Broadway. Doors will open at 5:30pm.

Free admission, but seating is limited. Tickets will be distributed beginning at 5:30pm at the Broadway entrance. One ticket per person.

Complimentary parking available in the Broadway Garage, 7 Felton Street, Cambridge.

Support for the lecture is provided by the M. Victor Leventritt Fund, which was established through the generosity of the wife, children, and friends of the late M. Victor Leventritt, Harvard Class of 1935. The purpose of the fund is to present outstanding scholars of the history and theory of art to the Harvard and Greater Boston communities.

Modern and contemporary art programs at the Harvard Art Museums are made possible in part by generous support from the Emily Rauh Pulitzer and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art.