The New York Public Library

 

presents

 

An Artist Dialogue Series Event

 

Elizabeth Felicella

 in conversation with

George Stolz

 

Saturday June 1, 2013

 

6^th Floor, 2:30 p.m.

 

The New York Public Library

Mid-Manhattan Library

5^th Avenue at 40^th Street

New York, NY 10016

917-275-6975

 www.nypl.org

(directions)

 

The elevators access the 6^th Floor after 2:00 p.m.

All events are FREE and subject to last minute change or cancellation.

 

Taking up Melvil Dewey’s own preoccupation with the importance of browsing in his conception of the Dewey Decimal system, in 2008 Elizabeth Felicella set out to document New York City’s branch libraries with a large-format view camera. The result is a complete catalog of the city’s more than 200 branch libraries that took Felicella four years to complete and took her to every neighborhood across the five boroughs of New York. In conjunction with her Art Wall on Third site-specific exhibition Reading Room, Felicella and independent critic George Stolz discuss, picture by picture, Felicella’s findings during her four years of citywide ‘browsing’, including the question of maps and ‘reading’ the city itself. Following the discussion there is a question-and-answer session, during which members of the audience are encouraged to share their personal stories about their own branch libraries, whether as a patrons or branch library staff.

 

Elizabeth Felicella is an architectural photographer based in New York City. Her commissioned work appears regularly in architectural and design publications here and abroad. Her long-term, independent projects include Reading Room: A Catalog of New York City’s Branch Libraries; Idlewild: An Atlas of the Periphery of Kennedy International Airport, and Uneasy Spaces: Security in the Public Realm. She has received support for her work from the Graham Foundation, NYSCA, and The Design Trust for Public Space, as well as fellowships from the MacDowell Foundation, Ucross, and the Fulbright Commission.

 

George Stolz is an independent critic and curator. He is a contributing editor to ARTnews and his writing has been published in Frieze, Art Review, the Brooklyn Rail, the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly and elsewhere. He received an Art Writers Grant in 2012 and is currently editing Sol LeWitt's collected writings and interviews.

 

Initiated and organized by Arezoo Moseni in 2004, Artist Dialogues Series provide an open forum for understanding and appreciation of contemporary art. Artists are paired with critics, curators, gallerists, writers or other artists to converse about art and the potential of exploring new ideas.