Tag Archives: Ophelia Chong

Art Center Alumni Reminisce About Mike Kelley in the “L.A. Times”

Last month, the Art Center community was stunned at the news that legendary artist Mike Kelley, who had taught in Art Center’s Graduate Art program from 1992—2007, had died.

At the time, Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe, Chair of the Grad Art program at Art Center, said, “Recognized as an important artist almost from the very beginning of his career, Mike kept teaching as long as he could before the pressures of being very famous indeed made it simply impossible for him to come to school with any regularity at all. He was, both in general and as a colleague, a brilliant combination of passion regarding art and a sense of humor… He has left us devastated.”

While much of the news following Kelley’s death focused on his cultural impact on the international art world, Sunday’s L.A. Times featured Art Center alumni reminiscing about their former teacher, who was “generous, patient, sometimes harsh but above all, eager to engage and share with fellow creators.”

Art Center would like to acknowledge our alumni–all celebrated artists themselves–and thank them for taking the time to share their thoughts with the L.A. Times.

To read the article in its entirety, please click here.

From the Art Center Archives: Faculty critique work by Steve Roden GART '89. Pictured (L to R) circa 1989: Laurence Dreiband, Richard Hertz, Sabina Ott, Stephen Prina, Mike Kelley and Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe. Image (c) Art Center College of Design/Steven A. Heller

UPDATE (3/15/12): Steve Roden, the student whose work was being critiqued in the above picture, recently blogged about seeing this photograph in the Los Angeles Times.

The Image Gets Ready for Its Close-up: Art Center’s Imaging DNA Conference

Sure, Imaging DNA might sound like a new song from the Stanford biology rappers, but it’s actually an upcoming two-day conference (July 10–11) that Art Center, in association with NMC Partners, has organized to gather leaders and innovators in imaging, technology, media and education. The goal of the gathering? To immerse attendees in the ideas, discussion and debate surrounding all things image – their production, display, licensing and, in general, their usage.

“Imaging DNA is poised to be the crossroads for artists, educators, photographers and futurists, and therefore a perfect fit for Art Center,” said Dennis Keeley, chair of Art Center’s Photography and Imaging Department, who will moderate the two-day event. “The way the world captures, enhances and distributes photographs is continually transformed by technology. In the Photography and Imaging Department at Art Center, we focus on what does not change: the essence of great photography.”

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