The University of Chicago will host a two-day celebration of the life and legacy of the late Pope.L on Nov. 10-11. Students, friends, fans and colleagues are invited to view works by the renowned artist, share recollections, and come together to recognize Pope.L’s many contributions to the arts community at UChicago and beyond.
“CAMPAIGN: A Celebration of Pope.L” will take place at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts and Midway Studios. The events, which are hosted by UChicago’s Division of the Humanities, are free and open to the public.
William Pope.L was an interdisciplinary artist best known for his provocative performance art. Starting in the late 1970s, Pope.L’s famous crawls took him across New York City, Maine and Europe on his hands and knees in business suits and Superman costumes. Though often humorous and absurd, his work demanded attention to the most serious and complex facets of humanity including access, identity, public health and race. Pope.L arrived in 2010 to UChicago, where he was known as a dedicated teacher and mentor. He died in December 2023 at age 68.
“Pope.L was a dedicated student of the human condition, a marvelous interlocutor and a kind soul,” said Matthew Jesse Jackson, professor in the Departments of Art History, Theater and Performance Studies, Visual Arts, and the College and chair of Visual Arts at UChicago. “His art is humane, generous, combative and among the most important bodies of work in the 21st century. He ceaselessly challenged us to think, and we hope this celebration allows our audience to reflect upon his work and its enduring legacy.”
Attendees to the two-day event can view works created by Pope.L during his time at UChicago, including Cliff, Hansel and Gretel Graduate Seminar and The Whispering Campaign. The Logan Center also will screen a selection of the artist’s performances, including a rare viewing of Pope.L: The Escape, an experimental restaging of a 1858 play originally performed at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
