Artists Talk: Mark Bradford

Using scavenged materials to create wall-sized collages and installations, Mark Bradford responds to the impromptu networks—underground economies, migrant communities, or popular appropriation of abandoned public spaces—that emerge within a city. Most recently seen at the Walker in the 2007 exhibition Brave New Worlds, Bradfords works draw heavily on his native Los Angeles, referencing events ranging from civil rights demonstrations of the 1960s to contemporary protests concerning immigration issues. For this talk, Bradford discusses his work, including a project for the recent Prospect.1 New Orleans exhibition: a 22-foot-high wooden ark built from the shell of a destroyed house and discarded material from the area hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. Copresented with Art:21 in conjunction with the National Art Educators Association national conference, April 1621 in Minneapolis.