La Ruta: Walter Benjamin's Last Passage | Arts + Literature Laboratory | Madison Contemporary Arts Center

La Ruta: Walter Benjamin's Last Passage

La Ruta: Walter Benjamin’s Last Passage is a collaborative text and image installation centered around the arduous trek Walter Benjamin made across the Pyrenees in hopes of eluding the Nazis who were set on persecuting him. Pairing photography and poetry, Joanne Diaz and Jason Reblando draw upon and engage with Benjamin’s own interests—the commonplace, the ephemeral, and the fragmentary, while also exploring the intersections of landscape, exile, and migration.

The exhibition will be show in the Arts + Literature Laboratory Mezzanine Gallery from November 12 through December 19, 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the galleries will be open to the public for limited hours from 12-5pm Thursday through Saturday or by appointment. Visitors inside the building will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing, and the number of visitors will be limited according to current public health guidelines. Exhibition admission is free.

 

A virtual artist talk with Joanne Diaz and Jason Reblando (in lieu of a reception) will be announced here and on Facebook.

Jason Reblando

Jason Reblando is a photographer and artist whose work is in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He is the recipient of a U.S. Fulbright Fellowship to the Philippines and an Artist Fellowship Award from the Illinois Arts Council. His monograph New Deal Utopias (Kehrer Verlag) was published in 2017. He teaches photography at Illinois State University.

Joanne Diaz Poet

Joanne Diaz is the author of two poetry collections, The Lessons and My Favorite Tyrants. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches literature and creative writing at Illinois Wesleyan University.

 

PLAN YOUR VISIT

Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.

Our galleries are open Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday noon to 5pm, and other programs take place throughout the week. Please check the events calendar and education section for details.

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