Walker Art Center

Cecelia Condit Post Show Talk

The Walker Art Center hosted a post‑screening conversation with veteran video artist Cecelia Condit, showcasing a career‑spanning program that included early classics like Beneath the Skin and Possibly in Michigan, as well as two brand‑new 2025 works, A Parable of Now and Monster in Me. Curator Patricia Ledesma Villon highlighted Condit’s reputation for subverting traditional female mythologies, marrying the grotesque with the whimsical, and noted the viral resurgence of Possibly in Michigan on social media platforms. During the dialogue Condit explained how she arrived at video through photography, discovered a gift for narrative, and deliberately employed narration to destabilize viewers’ expectations. She described her collaborative process with composers—Karen Skladany, Renato Umali, Isaac Sherman, among others—emphasizing music’s role in amplifying the unsettling humor that threads through her work. The artist also reflected on the tension between personal subjectivity and universal themes, positioning her pieces as feminist fairytales that confront violence, sexuality, and suburban malaise. Memorable moments included Condit’s admission that fairytales allowed her to “get away with” violence, and her candid description of finding humor in macabre imagery, such as the cannibalistic jokes in Monster in Me. She also recounted the practical challenges of integrating music, noting how a song’s failure in the studio forced improvisation that ultimately shaped the final piece. The conversation underscored Condit’s lasting impact on video art and feminist discourse, illustrating how her blend of narrative, music, and dark comedy continues to inspire emerging artists. Moreover, the viral spread of her 1980s work demonstrates the power of digital platforms to revive and recontextualize legacy art for new audiences, reinforcing the relevance of archival video in contemporary cultural conversations.