The Menil Collection The Menil Collection

Tacita Dean (b.1965) joins Thomas Adès, British composer and pianist, for a conversation about their creative practices and collaborations. Tacita Dean: Blind Folly is on view in the Menil’s main building through April 19, 2025. This program, moderated by pianist Sarah Rothenberg, Artistic Director, DACAMERA, is copresented with DACAMERA.

Recognized the world over as one of today’s greatest living composers, Thomas Adès is also active as pianist and conductor, having led award-winning performances of his operas The Exterminating Angel and The Tempest at Metropolitan Opera and beyond. His most recent Grammy Award was for The Dante Project, a collaborative ballet with visuals by artist Tacita Dean. From Dante’s Inferno to Shakespeare to the films of Luis Buñuel, Adès’s unique musical imagination has often been sparked by great works of the past, creating a remarkable dialogue with the culture we inherit.

Sarah Rothenberg is an internationally acclaimed pianist, writer, and educator known for her innovative interdisciplinary performances linking music with literature, art, and ideas. Since 1994, she has served as the Artistic Director of DACAMERA, where she has produced acclaimed original works and has been recognized for her adventurous programming. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Rothenberg has performed at prestigious venues worldwide and has collaborated with numerous composers, while also contributing scholarly writings and recordings that highlight her deep intellectual and artistic engagement.

After completing a BA in art from the Falmouth School of Art, England, Tacita Dean received her postgraduate studies at the Slade School of Fine Art, London, in 1992. The Hugo Boss winner, primarily known for her work in film, has established a prolific body of work with a variety of analogue mediums. She has worked to preserve celluloid film and was a founding member of savefilm.org, following the production of her work FILM, shown in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, London, in 2011-12. In 2018, her career retrospective was shown concurrently in three venues in London: the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Royal Academy. Major exhibitions of her work have also been organized at the Schaulager, Basel, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, among many other institutions. Dean was commissioned to create the set design and costumes for the ballet, The Dante Project, which debuted at the Royal Opera House, London, and Opéra de Paris in 2021-22.

This program takes place in the main building, located at 1533 Sul Ross Street. Seating is first-come, first-served. Please plan to arrive early.

Additional information regarding accessibility and parking can be found here.

As always, Menil programs are free and open to all.

The Artist Talk series is generously supported by the Cockrell Family Fund.