The Artist's Voice: Eric Mack | with Jennifer Packer and Jessica Bell Brown

In this edition of the Artist's Voice, artist in residence Eric Mack will be joined by Jessica Bell Brown—an art historian and PhD student at Princeton University—and 2012–2013 artist in residence Jennifer Packer. Visitors are invited to participate in what has been an ongoing conversation amongst the panelists about painting, on this occasion framed by the exhibition Everything, Everyday: Artists in Residence 2014–15. Together, they will explore each artist's painting practice, the art historical significance of abstraction, shared notions of form as they pertain to questions of the body, and the idea of empathy as it is represented in the everyday. The program will conclude with a question and answer segment and walkthrough of Mack's work included in Everything, Everyday.

Eric Mack (b. 1987, Columbia, MD) is an abstract painter who incorporates textiles and readymade surfaces in his colorful compositions. Inspired equally by Abstract Expressionism and fashion, Mack integrates function with form in his work, using pegboards, moving blankets and other utilitarian objects in lyrical and unexpected ways.

Jennifer Packer (b. 1984, Philadelphia, PA) is a painter who uses portraiture to explore deeply personal experiences as well as the grand, convoluted narratives of art history. Embracing dissonance, she creates paintings that contradict themselves, depicting sorrow and exhaustion in vibrant, attractive color and lovingly painting scenes of escalating discord.

Jessica Bell Brown is an art historian based in New York City. She is a PhD student at Princeton in Modern and Contemporary Art. Her exhibition co-curated with Kelly Baum, Collecting Contemporary, 1960–2015: Selections from the Schorr Collection is currently on view at the Princeton University Art Museum until September 20th.

This program is free with Museum admission, which is a suggested donation of $7 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. RSVP to programs@studiomuseum.org to pre-register; however, all seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.