Join us for an artist talk with acclaimed New York–based artist Paul Ramírez Jonas, presented as part of the University of Glasgow’s Thinking Culture events programme.

This lecture will focus on Paul Ramirez Jonas’ projects in the public realm, and expand on his ideas on how art can engage meaningful, self-reflective participation by an every day public. Since the 1990s, Paul Ramirez Jonas has sought to challenge the relationship between artist, viewer, and artwork. Through his practice he seeks to challenge the definitions of art and the public and to engineer active audience participation and exchange. In Public Trust, presented in over a dozen cities in the USA, England and Mexico City, he has asked participants to examine the value of their word, each individual declared a promise recorded in a drawing consistent with their beliefs. Key to the City (New York, 2010, Birmingham UK, 2022) involved tens of thousands of participants and distributed keys that opened multiple sites across the city. The keys served as a vehicle for exploring social contracts pertaining to trust, access, and belonging.

Whimsical and sincere, he thinks of his works as monuments rather than as sculptures - as situations that address a public, often without an author, and communicate collective ideals, histories, and dreams rather than the individual expression of the artist.

With his large-scale project Public Trust unfolding outside GoMA, we’ll hear directly from the artist about the ideas, histories and urgencies that shape his work.

Access

This event will have live captioning.

There is a hearing assistance system in the lecture theatre.

Language: English with English Captions

Venue and Seating:

Lecture Theatre, The Hunterian Gallery (Basement). Wheelchair accessible via lift. (View full Venue Access information for Lecture Theatre at the Hunterian Gallery)

Seating: Seated. Gently tiered seating bank with handrail. Two rows step free. Wheelchair spaces available. Plastic fixed seats with padded seat cushion and no arm rests.