A gray-brown figure stands on a rocky shore, arms outstretched and face obscured by birds. A turbaned head emerges from a pond, a lily in his mouth. Silver-spiked balloons hoist a prone humanoid over desert and volcanoes.

Over the last three decades, the collaborative artists Nicholas Kahn & Richard Selesnick have won international acclaim for large-scale photo installations that mix dry wit and subtle narratives with trippy, futuristic surrealism—René Magritte meets NASA and Pink Floyd.

At 6:30p Monday, January 28, Kahn and Selesnick—who began collaborating in 1982 as WUSTL photography majors—will discuss their work for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts spring Public Lecture Series.

In all, the series will feature 12 talks by nationally and internationally known artists, architects, curators, urban designers, and landscape architects.

Other highlights include conceptual artist Nina Katchadourian (February 18), art conservator Patricia Favero (February 27), landscape architect Kate Orff (March 20), and architect Stanley Saitowitz (April 5).

All talks are free and open to the public and, unless otherwise noted, begin at 6:30p in Steinberg Hall Auditorium. Each will be preceded by a reception at 6p.

Spring 2013 Speakers

January 28
Nicholas Kahn & Richard Selesnick
Collaborative artist team

February 4
Stanislaus von Moos
Vincent Scully Visiting Professor of Architectural History, Yale University
Eugene J. Mackey Jr. Lecture

February 11
Georgeen Theodore
Founding partner and principal, Interboro, New York
Associate professor, New Jersey Institute of Technology's College of Architecture and Design
Coral Courts Lecture

February 18
Nina Katchadourian
Artist represented by Catharine Clark Gallery
Arthur L. and Sheila Prensky Island Press Visiting Artist Lecture

February 27
*6p Reception, Kemper Art Museum
Patricia Favero
Associate conservator, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
In conjunction with the Kemper Art Museum exhibition Georges Braque and the Cubist Still Life, 1928-1945

March 6
Angel Alonso
Principal, aceboXalonso architects, Madrid
Ruth and Norman Moore Visiting Professor Lecture

March 18
Rahul Mehrotra
Founder and principal, RMA Architects, Mumbai, India
Professor and chair, Department of Urban Planning and Design, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University

March 20
Kate Orff
Founding principal, SCAPE, New York
Anova Lecture for Landscape Architecture

March 22
Workshop Keynote Lecture: "MISI-ZIIBI: Living with the Great Rivers
Climate Adaptation Strategies in the Midwest River Basins"
Robbert de Koning, Dale Morris and Steven Slabbers
Co-Sponsored by the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Washington, D.C.

April 2
*6:30p Lecture, Graham Chapel
Daniel Libeskind
Principal, Studio Daniel Libeskind
WUSTL Assembly Series Lecture
Supported by WUSTL Student Union

April 3
*6p Reception, Kemper Art Museum
Uwe Fleckner
Professor of Art History, Hamburg University
In conjunction with Georges Braque and the Cubist Still Life: 1928-1945

April 5
Stanley Saitowitz
Principal, Stanley Saitowitz/Natoma Architects, San Francisco
Cannon Design Lecture for Excellence in Architecture and Engineering
Graduate Architecture Open House Lecture