Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Mapplethorpe The Perfect Moment exhibit at Penn’s Institute of Contemporary Art, this panel discussion will use the conflict surrounding the exhibit as a launching off point to consider artist expression in our present moment of heightened reactiveness about the (false) incompatibility of free speech and safe spaces.

The panel includes:

Amy Sadao, Daniel W. Dietrich, II Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art

Judith Tannenbaum, former curator, associate director, and interim director of the Institute of Contemporary Art

Kaja Silverman, professor of Contemporary Art

Sophia Wallace, interdisciplinary artist

Zach Blas, artist, filmmaker, and writer

Wayne Modest, head of the Research Center of Material Culture

(Order of appearance) 

The Mapplethorpe Moment is a partnership with the Institute of Contemporary Art, and part of the Alice Paul Center’s yearlong series: Beyond Free Speech and Safe Space: Reimagining Open Expression, Inclusion and Argument.