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Intellectual collaborations thrive in environments where ideas are shared, freely and respectfully, among people representing different backgrounds and perspectives. This is why the Neubauer Collegium regularly opens its inquiries and conversations to the public.

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Opening Reception for Fredrik Værslev: The Joy of Painting

Painting of a white man wearing a white hoodie and red hat
Exhibition Opening

Opening Reception for Fredrik Værslev: The Joy of Painting

This exhibition features a survey of the Norwegian painter's experiments with abstraction.

In the winter of 2026, the Neubauer Collegium will host The Joy of Painting, the first institutional exhibition in the U.S. of Norwegian artist Fredrik Værslev. The show brings together eight large-scale paintings, each representing a distinct body of work and conceived as an exercise in geometric abstraction. One giant painting reduces the Japanese flag to color and form, for instance; another calls to mind a speckled stretch of sunshade. A scrunched-up bit of canvas resembles a parted curtain, and a work from Værslev's "Terrazzo" series invokes the spirit of Jackson Pollock. Taken as a whole, the paintings on view showcase Værslev’s systematic interrogation of abstract art as well as the many methods through which abstraction can be produced. The rigor of Værslev’s formal language notwithstanding, the exhibition is a heartfelt homage to the pleasures of making one’s mark, paintbrush and palette in hand.

The Neubauer Collegium gratefully acknowledges the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its generous support of this exhibition in partnership with the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York City.

Neubauer Collegium

This exhibition features a survey of the Norwegian painter's experiments with abstraction.

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Prometheus Firebringer: Lecture Performance by Annie Dorsen

Director's Lecture

Prometheus Firebringer: Lecture Performance by Annie Dorsen

In ancient Greek mythology, Prometheus stole the gods’ fire to give to humans – sparking sudden and dramatic advances in technology and the arts, and dramatic new sources of conflict. His story is told in the 2,500-year-old Prometheia trilogy attributed to Aeschylus, of which only Prometheus Bound remains in full. In this lecture performance, presented as part of the Neubauer Collegium Director’s Lecture series, Annie Dorsen engages the audience in reflections on power, knowledge, and doubt. Although the explosion of artificial intelligence technology into our daily lives feels unprecedented and new, Dorsen asks if we have been here before. How do we decide to act when we can’t trust our sources? And who do we become in the face of a technology controlled by a select few, especially when its workings remain a mystery?

About the Speaker

Annie Dorsen is a director and writer whose works explore the intersection of algorithmic art and live performance. Her projects have been widely presented in the U.S. and internationally, at major venues and festivals including at Festival d’Automne, the Sharjah Biennial, Holland Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and more. She has written frequently about performance, culture, and technology for The Drama Review, Theatre Magazine, Etcetera, Frakcija, and Performing Arts Journal (PAJ), among others. Dorsen received a 2019 MacArthur Fellowship, a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2018 Spalding Gray Award, and the 2014 Herb Alpert Award for the Arts. She is also a 2024 graduate of NYU School of Law, where she focused on tech law and public policy. Currently, she is Guest Curator for Art and Technology at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

About the Director's Lecture Series

The Roman Family Director’s Lecture series at the Neubauer Collegium, made possible through the generous support of University of Chicago Trustee Emmanuel Roman, MBA’87, brings distinguished speakers to the University of Chicago to share their insights with faculty, students, and the broader community. The aim of these events is to deepen public knowledge about the world and humanity’s place in it.

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