CentralTrak will host Daniel Atkinson for its Next Topic lecture series. Artist talks are seen as a necessity in many current exhibitions, but rarely do we ask ourselves what purpose they serve, where they originated or why they exist at all.

Overseeing artist talks at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Atkinson has gained an intimate familiarity with their range. Presenting on the history and meaning of artist talks, he will explore different methods and approaches artists have taken in speaking about their work that push away from the traditional, oversimplified, chronological narratives many expect. Conceived as a tool kit both to understand and generate new modes of presentation, the talk will seek to make the familiar form strangely unfamiliar.