Join the artist's niece Mimi Johnson and exhibition co-curator Alyce Mahon for a conversation about Dorothea Tanning's life and work spanning seven decades. This talk shares personal stories and memories, offering a unique insight into Tanning's character and the diversity of her creative expression.
Biographies
Mimi Johnson
Mimi Johnson was introduced to the worlds of visual and performing arts during the years she spent in Paris with Dorothea Tanning. She is founder and director of two renowned and long-lived cultural service organisations, Performing Artservices (1972) and Lovely Music (1978). She was married to composer Robert Ashley and continues to produce his work. Johnson serves on the board of directors of the Destina Foundation, and the Dorothea Tanning Foundation.
Alyce Mahon
Alyce Mahon is a Reader in Modern & Contemporary Art History at the University of Cambridge. The author of Surrealism and the Politics of Eros, 1938-1968 (2005) and Eroticism & Art (2005), her curatorial work and catalogue publications include Dorothea Tanning (Reina Sofia, Madrid, Oct. 3 2018-Jan. 6, 2019 & Tate Modern, Feb. 27–June 6, 2019), Leonor Fini: Theatre of Desire 1930-1990 (Museum of Sex, New York, Sept. 28, 2018-March 4, 2019), Dreamers Awake (White Cube, London, 2017), Silent Partners: Artist and Mannequin from Function to Fetish (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and Musée Bourdelle, Paris, 2015), The Institute of Sexology (The Wellcome Trust, London, 2014), Leonora Carrington (Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2013) and Angels of Anarchy: Women Artists and Surrealism (City Art Gallery, Manchester, 2009).