20th annual Axline Lecture will feature artist Ana de Alvear

The San Diego Museum of Art, in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, will host the 20th annual Axline Lecture featuring internationally renowned artist Ana de Alvear.

De Alvear is a multidisciplinary, Madrid-based artist known for her hyper-realistic drawn works that play with the equivocation between reality and representation. Seeing her works, it is almost impossible to believe they were not made using a digital or mechanical process, but in fact their incredible detail is rendered with nothing more than colored pencil on paper.

In this live online lecture at 11am, de Alvear will discuss the underlying themes and methods she used in creating the works for Everything You See Could Be A Lie: Photorealistic Drawings by Ana de Alvear, an exhibition that will be on view at SDMA next year from June 18 through September 27.

De Alvear uses visual archetypes to explore obstacles related to self-esteem and self-identification. Placing these visual archetypes outside their usual environment allows the viewer to isolate his/her own response to these well-known objects. The works are tools for self-reflection about the constructs we create for ourselves and the world.

Often involving multidisciplinary installations where new materials and media play a fundamental role in the dialog, de Alvear’s work has been exhibited at museums of natural science and botanical gardens around the world.

Since 2000, SDMA and MCASD have partnered to present the annual Axline Lecture in honor of Jackie and Rea Axline, longtime trustees and supporters of the two institutions who bequeathed generous endowments to both in 1999. Previous Axline Lectures have included photographer Catherine Opie, contemporary artist Alfredo Jaar, former director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philippe de Montebello, and South African artist William Kentridge, among others.

Hosted on alternate years by SDMA and MCASD, this annual event is an opportunity for the two museums to say thank you to members, donors, and supporters.

Lecture tickets are free for museum members, $5 for students, $10 for seniors and military, and $15 for nonmembers. This year’s event is virtual and tickets include a live pre-lecture virtual tour of the artist’s workspace in Spain on October 17.   Bill Abrams