Shahzia Sikander + Anne Pasternak, Gopi-Contagion

Public art visionary and Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak joins Pakistani-born artist Shazia Sikander to discuss the creative process, the nature of storytelling, and how historical narratives can be reshaped, redefined, and re-appropriated. The conversation is moderated by artist/curator Arezoo Moseni.

Times Square Arts selected Shahzia Sikander’s new short animation Gopi-Contagion as the October 2015 feature for their public art series Midnight Moment, the largest coordinated effort in history by the sign operators in Times Square to display synchronized, cutting-edge creative content on electronic billboards and newspaper kiosks throughout Times Square every night.

Sikander's pioneering practice takes Indo-Persian miniature painting as a point of departure. She challenges the strict formal tropes of miniature painting as well as its medium-based restrictions by experimenting with scale and media. Such media include animation, video, mural, and collaboration with other artists. Her process-based work is concerned with examining the forces at stake in contested cultural and political histories. She received her BFA in 1991 from the National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan and her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1995. Sikander has been the recipient of numerous prestigious grants and awards, including MacArthur genius grant.

Initiated and organized by Arezoo Moseni in 2004, the New York Public Library's Artist Dialogues Series provides an open forum for understanding and appreciation of contemporary art. Artists are paired with critics, curators, gallerists, writers or other artists to converse about art and the potential of exploring new ideas.

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