The Spring 2025 Graduate Art guest lecture series, organized by Jack Bankowsky

James Welling

This event is free & open to the public. RSVP’s are not required.

See the full Spring 2025 Seminar schedule here.

James Welling (b. 1951) is an artist best known for an evolving body of images that considers both the history and technical specificities of photography. Emerging in the 1970s, when questions of photographic verity preoccupied his peers, Welling shifted his focus to the construction of images themselves. While his subject matter ranges widely, the work is linked by an examination of what might be termed “states of being” produced by photographically derived images and how such states affect the viewer. In his most recent series, “Thought Objects,” Welling explores parallels between image and audio processing, resulting in uncanny visual aberrations and bas relief effects.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Welling received both a BFA and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. From 1995-2016, he served as a professor in the Department of Art at the University of California, Los Angeles. Today, he resides in New York City and teaches at Princeton University.

Welling’s work is collected by numerous institutions, including Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art (all New York, NY); Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT.

Image credits: Courtesy of the artist.

Support for this series is generously provided by the following: Jack Shear, Brenda R. Potter, Brendan Dugan, Lisson Gallery, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Sprüth Magers, BLUM, Hannah Hoffman, Alan Hergott, and David Kordansky

ArtCenter's Graduate Art program is based on intensive studio practice and rigorous academic coursework. The program is distinguished by its low faculty-to-student ratio that provides students with the attention and feedback they need to refine and achieve their artistic goals. Faculty and students are artists working in all genres—film, video, photography, painting, sculpture, performance and installation. A significant number of alumni have achieved national and international acclaim and often return to share their insights and expertise as visiting faculty and guest lecturers.