2–3 PM
Roundtable with James Beckett and Bob Fleming
Join us for a roundtable discussion with artist James Beckett, whose new commission—produced through the Triennial’s Fieldwork Residency—examines the industrial histories of Western New York. Beckett’s research-driven work often starts with forgotten infrastructures and archival fragments. His residency in Medina continues this approach, highlighting how local histories of production, labor, and technology shape the present.
This roundtable also considers how residencies support long-term artistic development and why location matters for research-driven practices. Beckett will discuss his process in Medina and the early stages of his Triennial project with Bob Fleming, artist and co-founder of Mirabo Press in Buffalo, which hosts a printmaking residency.
Participant Biographies
James Beckett’s research-based practice explores overlooked histories concerned with industrial development and the built environment. His resulting installations and works for public space deal with cultural signs that shape our experience in the modern era. Beckett has exhibited at the Belgian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale 2015; MAAT, Lisbon 2017; MCAD Manila 2017, The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 2012, amongst others. His work is represented by galleries: T293, Rome; Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam, and
Markus Lüttgen, Dusseldorf. Beckett was resident at the Rijksakademie (2001-2002), after which he won the Prix de Rome for Art in Public Space. His works are in the public collections of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Centre Pompidou, Paris, amongst others.
Bob Fleming is a visual artist whose work includes painting, printmaking, and film. Fleming attended Cornell University (B.A. political science). After graduation, he pursued painting for a few years and studied printmaking at SUNY at Buffalo. Fleming subsequently obtained a law degree and worked as a lawyer while maintaining an art practice, before moving to art full-time. He is a co-founder of Mirabo Press, a printmaking studio in Buffalo, New York. Fleming’s work has been exhibited, among other places, in Nagoya, Mexico City, Helsinki, Texas, and Buffalo, and is in numerous private and public collections.
