Special Event: Tuesday, October 24, 5:30 pm at UMMA

Jason Yates, a Detroit native, currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Yates’ work focuses on a collaborative ethos and bridging the gap between various genres — namely art, music, fashion, and design. The rich cultural history of Detroit is hugely influential in Yates’ work and has been since his teenage years, when he became friends and artistic collaborators with musician George Clinton. He received his BFA from the University of Michigan in 1995 before moving to Los Angeles to study with Mike Kelley, Mayo Thompson, and Liz Larner in the MFA program at Art Center in Pasadena. Yates formed ‘Fast Friends Inc.’ a collaborative project to disseminate art outside the conventional gallery system and to distribute the work on the artist’s own terms. Chris Kraus writes in Where Art Belongs: “Yates is an exceptional artist.” For six years as Fast Friends Inc., he created band posters for Ariel Pink, Matt Fishbeck (of the band Holy Shit), and others that are also original art works.

This University of Michigan Bicentennial event is presented with additional support from Wasserman Projects and the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA).

All Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series presentations are free and open to the public; visit http://stamps.umich.edu/stamps to view upcoming events.