MOMA curator to speak at Five Points Gallery

TORRINGTON >> On Saturday, Aug. 3 at 7 p.m., Five Points Gallery will welcome, Ann Temkin, chief curator of painting and sculpture for the Museum of Modern Art, who will be presenting a lecture entitled, “The 21st Century Artist.” The lecture, sponsored by Litchfield Bancorp and Northwest Community Bank, is free and open to the public.

There will be a pre-lecture champagne reception at 6pm. Tickets for the reception are $50 and include VIP reserved seating for the lecture. All proceeds from the reception benefit Five Points Gallery’s “Five Points Challenge” capital campaign.

Temkin, whose curatorial role at MOMA is considered to be the most prestigious in the field of Modern art, is a Torrington native and serves as an advisor to the non-profit contemporary art gallery. Her talk is planned to be the first presentation in what the organization has called the Five Points Lecture Series.

“The Five Points Lecture Series will focus on expanding the public’s appreciation and understanding of the contemporary art movement,” said gallery Executive Director, Judith McElhone. “We are delighted to welcome Ann to the gallery and are proud to have someone of her caliber help us launch the lecture series.”

Temkin’s presentation will also be the first official event in the gallery’s newly expanded facility, which was unveiled at a June 28th press conference. The expansion, which also includes extensive

program enhancements, is planned to more than triple the size of the visual arts complex and create three additional new flexible-use galleries, program support space, restrooms, and offices.

To purchase tickets for the VIP pre-lecture champagne reception, learn more about Five Points Gallery or to find out how you can make a donation to the Five Points Challenge visit fivepointsgallery.org.

Temkin assumed the role of Chief Curator in 2008, after joining The Museum of Modern Art in 2003 as a Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture. In the role of Chief Curator, Ms. Temkin has worked extensively with her colleagues on reimagining the Painting and Sculpture collection galleries at the Museum. Among her exhibitions are Claes Oldenburg: The Street and The Store and Claes Oldenburg: Mouse Museum/Ray Gun Wing (2013), Ellsworth Kelly: Chatham Series(2013), Abstract Expressionist New York (2010), Gabriel Orozco (2009), and Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today (2008). Prior to MoMA, Ms. Temkin was the curator of modern and contemporary art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1990 to 2003, where she organized such exhibitions as Barnett Newman (2002), Constantin Brancusi (1995), and Thinking is Form: The Drawings of Joseph Beuys (1994). She received her B.A. from Harvard and her Ph.D. in the history of art from Yale.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Ann Temkin