Soldier Shepherd Prophet Martyr: Videos from 1989–2013, the first survey of videos by Illinois State alumnus Terry Adkins, will be on display at the University Galleries in Uptown Station from February 24-April 3. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held in the University Galleries from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, February 23.
For more information about Adkins’ works and their exhibition at Illinois State, visit the University Galleries website.
The exhibition will feature 12 videos—some created to be standalone works and others developed for inclusion in Adkins’ performances and multimedia “recital” installations—as well as documentation of the artist’s 2013 performances at The Studio Museum in Harlem. Adkins’ videos feature original and found video footage, archival images, music, and references to historical figures such as John Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bessie Smith, Matthew Henson, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Adkins, who passed away in 2014, received his master’s degree in printmaking from Illinois State University’s School of Art. He was the speaker for Illinois State’s 2013 College of Fine Arts commencement ceremony and was inducted into the College’s Hall of Fame. In association with the exhibition, the School of Art will announce the initiation of the Terry Adkins Memorial Scholarship for Diversity, which will provide financial assistance for underrepresented students majoring in art.
Adkins’ work has been exhibited at the 2015 Venice Biennale, the 2014 Whitney Biennial, and the traveling exhibition Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art. His work has also been displayed at Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; and The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. His work is in the collections of the Tate Modern, London; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The exhibition and the publication of an accompanying catalog have been made possible by a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Programs at University Galleries are supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. For more information, contact University Galleries at (309) 438-5487 or gallery@IllinoisState.edu.
