Jean-Ulrick Désert on the Creative Art of Being Conspicuously Invisible

Event Details

Time: 7:30 p.m.
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020
Location: Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, Room 101

In “The Creative Art of Being Conspicuously Invisible,” Berlin-based artist Jean-Ulrick Désert (born in Haiti, West Indies) will discuss his multi-media and multi-dimensional artistic practice of the past 20 years, which has resulted in work that has been exhibited in international and domestic spaces and public places.

Désert’s art utilizes very recognizable forms and materials from everyday life but presents them with a poetic twist meant to interrupt expectations — and to create space for dialogue in the place of discomfort. His work includes drawings, paintings, sculpture and any particular form that is needed to support a poetic art experience. No matter that medium, Désert’s works always carry serious social and cultural concerns. He is not especially interested in his own personal biography, typically drawing on and curating the voices of others in his projects.

Désert will also present a student workshop, “Love Anger Madness/ Collective Projects & Your Creative Voice” on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 4:15–6:15 p.m. in the Humanities and Social Studies Center, Room S2310.

In the workshop, Désert will present examples of art/projects in public spaces that utilize crowdsourcing (not crowdfunding) as a strategy for collective creations. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to connect to their own issues and personal viewpoints in a safe space of conversation and discovery. This workshop is good for students who are unsure how to initiate “projects” or discuss issues they care about and are uncertain how to use their talent(s) to best effect in collective initiatives, political or not, but with poetic enrichment.