American Adventures in Architecture

Frank Gehry and John Walsh in Discussion

As part of the American Adventures Festival in Amsterdam, the John Adams Institute hosted a series of lectures on various subjects. On July 2, 1999, architect Frank Gehry and director of de J. Paul Getty Musem John Walsh spoke on the American influences in European architecture. Dutch architect Cees Dam moderated the evening. Internationally celebrated …...

American Adventures in Art

A Discussion between David Salle and Anna Tilroe

As part of the American Adventures Festival in Amsterdam, the John Adams Institute hosted a series of lectures on various subjects. On June 27, 1999, American artist Davide Salle and Dutch art critic Anna Tilroe discussed the American influences on European contemporary art. David Salle established himself in the late 1970s as one of the …...

Philip Glass

Words Without Music

We were honored to have one of the most influential composers of the 20th century on the John Adams program. Philip Glass is the first composer to win a wide, multi-generational audience not only in the opera house and the concert hall, but also in the dance world, in film and in popular music – …...

Lynda Waggoner

Fallingwater

Frank Lloyd Wright is regarded by the American Institute of Architects as the greatest American architects of all time, and they voted his masterwork Fallingwater “the best all-time work of American architecture”. Designed in 1935, the house in southwestern Pennsylvania is hailed as a marvel of innovation and daring design that appears to float over …...

Game of Thrones

Designing the Seven Kingdoms with William Simpson

Today’s most popular television series is without a doubt Game of Thrones, in which kings and queens, knights and renegades all battle to conquer the Iron Throne. There are numerous blogs devoted to the series, there are viewing parties in bars and restaurants and it’s the most (illegally) downloaded program. On the day of the …...

Noah Charney

The Art of Forgery. The Minds, Motives and Methods of Master Forgers

Art forgery has an intriguing place in the world of crime. No violence, no victims and forgers are often seen as cheeky practical jokers. Who doesn’t remember Han van Meegeren, who tricked Herman Göring into buying a fake Vermeer? Also, the benefits for art criminals outweigh the risks they have to take, according to art …...

Woody and the Big Apple

This summer EYE was  showing ‘The Comedies of Woody Allen . On August 22th, EYE and the John Adams collaborated on a special screening of three Woody Allen films in which New York plays an important role. John Adams-director Tracy Metz gave an introduction on the role the city plays in Allen’s films; sociologist Jan …...

John Adams at IDFA

The Female Gaze

The John Adams Institute collaborated with the International Documentary Film Festival this year on the theme ‘The Female Gaze’. IDFA invited fifteen leading female directors from various countries to present three documentaries each: one directed by themselves, one directed by a woman who has inspired them, and one by an up-and-coming female talent. The John …...

Unseen Photo Fair

Under Construction in collaboration with John Adams Institute

Programme with talks and round table discussion related to the exhibition Under Construction – New Positions in American Photography which opens in Foam on September 17. An exhibition that explores the latest developments towards the use of the photographic image, its complexity and its meaning in the current stream of digitalization. Often there exists an …...

David Henry Hwang

A Multicultural Dialogue Through Theater

David Henry Hwang is one of America’s top playwrights, and one of its most incisive chroniclers of the immigrant experience in America: or better said, the post-immigrant experience. Hwang was born in Los Angeles to Chinese parents, and grew up as a “real” American. He later said that as a boy he considered his Chinese …...

Stanley Kubrick Remembered

Retrospective

Stanley Kubrick was one of the greatest American filmmakers ever. His range was incredibly broad: from Lolita to 2001: A Space Odyssey, from the horror of The Shining to the dystopia of A Clockwork Orange to the antiwar intensity of Full Metal Jacket. The John Adams Institute and EYE presented a special event dedicated to the master. Kubrick’s widow, Christiane Kubrick, and …...

Spike Lee

Doing the Right Thing

America has the Tea Party movement. Europe has its anti-immigrant movement. How should a society balance the rights of citizens with the needs of newcomers? How do we ensure that government treats everyone equally? How do we respond when it doesn’t? And how can individuals, especially young people, find their place and make their voices …...

Ben Katchor

On Comics

27 April 2008 The John Adams Institute was proud to present Ben Katchor, the first comic strip artist ever to win a McArthur Foundation “genius grant.” Katchor has been called “the most poetic, deeply layered artist ever to draw a comic strip.” Katchor started out as a contributor to Art Spiegelman’s legendary cutting edge graphics …...

Miranda July

No One Belongs Here More Than You

Filmmaker, performing artist and writer Miranda July joined us to discuss her work and her new collection of short stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You. After writing, directing and starring in the feature film Me and You and Everyone We Know, which won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, she turned …...

Arthur C. Danto

Beauty and Politics

The John Adams Institute, in co-operation with the Historische Uitgeverij, proudly presented Arthur C. Danto in the Van Gogh Museum. The Historische Uitgeverij had recently published a collection of Danto’s most important essays, titled De komedie van de overeenkomsten. Danto was a renowned philosopher and art critic. His theory on the end of art is as …...

George Plimpton

Zelda, Scott and Ernest: A Theatrical Adaptation

The John Adams Institute was pleased to present a unique performance of the works of Ernest Hemingway and Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Written by George Plimpton and Terry Quinn, Zelda, Scott and Ernest: A Theatrical Adaptation, was performed by Norman Mailer, Norris Church Mailer and George Plimpton on June 26 in the Stadsschouwburg, Leidseplein 26 …...

Bill Viola

Conversation with Peter Sellars

On the occasion of the 25 year retrospective of Bill Viola’s work at the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum, the American video artist discussed his work with renowned opera and theater director, Peter Sellars. Viola and Sellars, who are longtime friends, discussed Viola’s work and his contributions to the art world. Bill Viola began working with video …...

Richard Meier

Making Architecture

The internationally renowned American architect and member of the ‘New York Five’, Richard Meier, spoke at the John Adams Institute in a building designed by the architect himself, The Hague City Hall. The evening formed part of the festive program celebrating the 750th anniversary of The Hague and was opened by Wim Deetman. The Hague …...

Stone Roberts

The Ambiguous World of Stone Roberts

On May 9th, 1994, the John Adams Institute hosted an evening with the American realist painter Stone Roberts. He was interviewed by Jorge Guillermo, who authored an essay on Roberts’ work, and by Dutch art historian Stefan van Raay. Examples of Roberts’ work were present during the event. It took five years after finishing his …...

Joseph Brodsky

A Poet in Exile

December 15, 1991 In the lecture series American Literature Today, the John Adams Instituut presented an afternoon and an evening with the Russian/American poet and author Joseph Brodsky. Joseph Brodsky, one of the greatest Russian poets of our time and winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize for Literature, was born in Leningrad in 1940. He …...