November 1, 2011 Renowned Scholar to Discuss Book on Films of Andy Warhol

In the third collaboration between the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Hirshhorn Museum, acclaimed author and critic Douglas Crimp will discuss, for the first time in Washington, his new book “‘Our Kind of Movie’: The Films of Andy Warhol.” The talk will take place on Thursday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m., in the Lerner Room, Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, located at Seventh Street and Independence Ave. S.W., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets are required.

Crimp’s reading coincides with two exhibitions at the Hirshhorn featuring the work of Andy Warhol: “Andy Warhol: Shadows” (closes Jan. 15, 2012) and “Directions: Empire3” (Nov. 10, 2011–Feb. 26, 2012). The author will discuss Warhol’s extraordinary work in cinema – a topic that has only recently begun to receive as much attention as his painting.

The event is on the opening day of “Directions: Empire3,” and the exhibition will be open to the public before and after the event.

Crimp began writing art criticism for Art News and Art International in the early 1970s and has published widely in such magazines as Artforum and Art in America, as well as in scholarly journals. He is the Fanny Knapp Allen Professor of Art History at the University of Rochester; he has also taught at New York University, the University of Manchester, the University of California at Los Angeles, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Sarah Lawrence College and the Cooper Union.

Since its creation by Congress in 1977 to "stimulate public interest in books and reading," the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress (www.Read.gov/cfb/) has become a major national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages, nationally and internationally. The center provides leadership for 52 affiliated state centers for the book (including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and nonprofit reading-promotion partners and plays a key role in the Library’s annual National Book Festival. It also oversees the Library’s www.Read.gov website and administers the Library’s Young Readers Center.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Smithsonian Institution’s museum of international modern and contemporary art, has nearly 12,000 paintings, sculptures, photographs, mixed-media installations, works on paper and new media works in its collection. The Hirshhorn presents diverse exhibitions and offers an array of public programs that explore modern and contemporary art. For more information visit hirshhorn.si.edu External.