Public Reading with Chris Kraus

With abundant enthusiasm Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art presents a public reading with the unparalleled writer, publisher, editor and artist, Chris Kraus. Her prolific and accumulated work has had a lasting influence on how art is perceived and discussed.

This public reading is programmed in conjunction the first session of our 2017 Summer Institute for which Kraus is the lead faculty. For her presentation, Kraus will read from After Kathy Acker: A Literary Biography. Kraus previously presented from this text at Plug In ICA in 2015 when it was still a work-in-progress, and now offers a privileged preview of the writing in its final stages, before it becomes available to the public on August 25^th, 2017.

As novelist and critic, Kraus is recognized for her lucid, playful and provoking first-person fiction narratives, which frequently blur theory, fiction, autobiography, and criticism. In her writing on contemporary art, she has explored boredom, poetry, privatized prisons, community art, corporate philanthropy, vertically integrated manufacturing, and discarded utopias, revealing the surprising persistence of micro-cultures.

Chris Kraus’ publications, praised for their intelligence, vulnerability and voracity, include: I Love Dick, Torpor, Aliens and Anorexia, Summer of Hate, Where Art Belongs, Video Green: Los Angeles Art and the Triumph of Nothingness, and Kelly Lake Store. Her monograph, “Lost Properties,” was written as part of Semiotexte’s pamphlet series for the 2014 Whitney Biennial. Kraus is the co-director of the acclaimed press Semiotext(e), where in 1990 she launched the imprint Native Agents, which introduced radical forms of writing by women writers. Native Agents has published the work of influential writers such as Penny Arcade, Fanny Howe, Ann Rower and Eileen Myles. She teaches in the Media Studies program at the European Graduate School.

All public programming is free and open to the public. Everyone welcome!

This is programed in relation to the Summer Institute, an international post-graduate research program for professional artists working in all disciplines and media. In 2017 Plug In ICA hosts two sessions of the Institute, both emphasizing writing as an expanded field incorporating elements of critical confession, reflection and artistry. For the first session, June 13-June 29, 2017, participants will work with renowned writer, artist and editor, Chris Kraus with guests Natasha Stagg and Robert Dewhurst.

The participants in the Summer Institute, Session I include:

Kristina Banera • Fabiola Carranza • Maegan Hill-Carroll • Daniel Colussi • Roewan Crowe • Erica Eryes • Esmé Hogeveen • Letch Kinloch• Soyoung Kwon • Chloë Lum • Kegan McFadden • Ralph Pritchard • Jasmine Reimer • Jacquelyn Ross • Faith Wilson.

For More information on Chris Kraus and the Summer Institute, Session I, see: https://plugin.org/node/1248

Plug In ICA extends our gratitude to our generous donors, valued members and dedicated volunteers. With special thanks to our Director’s Circle.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council. We thank the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for their support of our 2016 and 2017 program, as well as Payworks and Wawanesa Insurance for the direct support of our youth programs.

Plug In ICA relies on community support to remain free and accessible to all, and enable us to continue to present excellent programs. Please consider becoming a member of Plug In ICA and a donor at https://plugin.org/support or by contacting Angela Forget: angela@plugin.org

For media inquiries please contact: Sarah Nesbitt at sarah@plugin.org or by phone at (204) 942-1043. For general information please contact: info@plugin.org