Summer Series: Ranch Week Honoree Titus Kaphar in conversation with André Holland

Jul 9, 2025 11:00AM-12:00PM MST

Schermer Meeting Hall

Titus Kaphar is an artist whose paintings, sculptures, and installations examine the history of representation by transforming its styles and mediums with formal innovations to emphasize the physicality and dimensionality of the canvas and materials themselves. His practice seeks to dislodge history from its status as the “past” in order to unearth its contemporary relevance. He cuts, crumples, shrouds, shreds, stitches, tars, twists, binds, erases, breaks, tears, and turns the paintings and sculptures he creates, reconfiguring them into works that reveal unspoken truths about the nature of history. Open areas become active absences; walls enter into the portraits; stretcher bars are exposed; and structures that are typically invisible underneath, behind, or inside the canvas are laid bare to reveal the interiors of the work.  In so doing, Kaphar’s aim is to reveal something of what has been lost and to investigate the power of a rewritten history.

André Holland is an American actor. He is widely known for his 2016 performance as Kevin in the Academy Award-winning film Moonlight. Holland has acted in film, television, and theatre productions. He plays the role of Titus Kaphar in his 2024 feature film, Exhibiting Forgiveness.

Panel

Titus Kaphar

2025 International Artist Honoree
& Summer Series Speaker

Titus Kaphar is an artist whose paintings, sculptures, and installations examine the history of representation by transforming its styles and mediums with formal innovations to emphasize the physicality and dimensionality of the canvas and materials themselves. His practice seeks to dislodge history from its status as the “past” in order to unearth its contemporary relevance. He cuts, crumples, shrouds, shreds, stitches, tars, twists, binds, erases, breaks, tears, and turns the paintings and sculptures he creates, reconfiguring them into works that reveal unspoken truths about the nature of history. Open areas become active absences; walls enter into the portraits; stretcher bars are exposed; and structures that are typically invisible underneath, behind, or inside the canvas are laid bare to reveal the interiors of the work.  In so doing, Kaphar’s aim is to reveal something of what has been lost and to investigate the power of a rewritten history. Titus Kaphar (b. 1976, Kalamazoo, Michigan) lives and works in New Haven, CT. Kaphar received an MFA from the Yale School of Art and is a distinguished recipient of numerous prizes and awards including a 2018 MacArthur Fellowship, a 2018 Art for Justice Fund grant, a 2016 Robert R. Rauschenberg Artist as Activist grant, and a 2015 Creative Capital grant. Kaphar’s work, Analogous Colors, was featured on the cover of the June 15, 2020 issue of TIME. He gave a TED talk at the annual conference in Vancouver 2017, where he completed a whitewash painting, Shifting the Gaze, onstage. Kaphar’s work has been included in solo exhibitions at Seattle Art Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, MoMA PS1 and National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, among others. His work is included in the collections of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; the 21C Museum Collection; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, amongst others. Kaphar’s commitment to social engagement has led him to move beyond traditional modes of artistic expression to establish NXTHVN. NXTHVN is a new national arts model that empowers emerging artists and curators of color through education and access. Through intergenerational mentorship, professional development and cross-sector collaboration, NXTHVN accelerates professional careers in the arts. Now in its fifth year of operation, NXTHVN encourages artists, art professionals, and local entrepreneurs to expand New Haven’s growing creative community.

Learn More

André Holland

Summer Series Speaker

André Holland is an accomplished actor and producer known for his dynamic range and powerful performances across film, television, and theater. With a career marked by critically acclaimed roles, Holland has established himself as one of the most versatile talents in the industry. Holland can currently be seen starring in THE ACTOR, a feature film directed by Duke Johnson, which premiered theatrically in March 2025. He is also the star and producer of LOVE, BROOKLYN, which premiered in competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The film, produced by Steven Soderbergh, features Holland alongside Dewanda Wise and Nicole Beharie. Additionally, Holland stars in THE DUTCHMAN, a psychological thriller adapted from Amiri Baraka’s Obie Award-winning play, directed by Andre Gaines. The film, in which Holland appears opposite Kate Mara, Zazie Beetz, and Stephen McKinley Henderson, premiered at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival. Holland’s upcoming work includes his role in LINCOLN IN THE BARDO, a stop-motion animation and live-action hybrid film by Duke Johnson, alongside a distinguished cast that includes Tom Hanks, Colman Domingo, Willem Dafoe, Peter Dinklage, Jonathan Bailey, and Bill Hader. His recent film credits include starring in EXHIBITING FORGIVENESS, directed by Titus Kaphar, alongside Andra Day and Aunjanue Ellis. The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and was released in the United States in October 2024. Holland is also known for his roles in the critically acclaimed PASSING, directed by Rebecca Hall, and HIGH FLYING BIRD, which he executive produced and starred in under the direction of Steven Soderbergh. He is also known for his performances in Barry Jenkins’ Academy Award-winning MOONLIGHT, alongside Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali, and Ava DuVernay’s Academy Award-nominated SELMA, for which he received a nomination for the NAACP Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. In television, Holland is widely recognized for his lead role in Apple TV+’s BIG CIGAR. He has also starred in Damien Chazelle’s THE EDDY for Netflix, JJ Abrams and Hulu’s CASTLE ROCK, alongside Sissy Spacek and Melanie Lynskey, and in Steven Soderbergh’s THE KNICK, where he starred opposite Clive Owen. Holland’s theater credits are equally impressive. He made his Broadway debut in the 2009 Tony Award-winning revival of August Wilson’s JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE and returned to Broadway in 2017 in the Tony Award-winning production of JITNEY. He recently starred as Othello in a production at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre alongside Mark Rylance. Holland is also featured in The Public Theater’s upcoming radio production of RICHARD II, set to be released on WNYC in the summer of 2024. His other theater credits include THE WHIPPING MAN at Manhattan Theatre Club and The Public Theater’s productions of ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, and AS YOU LIKE IT. Holland made his Off-Off-Broadway directing debut in 2018 with a production of Greg Keller’s DUTCH MASTER.

Learn More