Meditations on Violence

Looking at Lynching: Ann Tyler & Connie White

On Sunday, March 14, 4:00 - 6:00pm, artists Ann Tyler and Connie White presented an evolving body of work on lynching as part of Thousand Waves’ Meditations on Violence speakers series. Tyler and White discussed power and desire, described narrative and ritualized aspects of lynching, and reflected on the use of ritual to enable and justify immoral behavior.

The catalyst of Tyler and White’s current work was a New York exhibition of the Allen-Littlefield Collection of photographs of lynching.

What began as an artists’ book collaboration is now a still-evolving body of work consisting of images and books, in varied stages of development from sketch to finished form.

Ann Tyler is a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also holds the rank of second degree black belt in Seido Karate and Kajukenbo. Through her visual work and essays, she explores issues of violence that have a gender, sexual orientation, or racial component.

Connie White is an adjunct professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As a graphic designer and artist, she has an interest in the representation and configuration of language.