Villa Aurora to Present ‘Artist Talk’ With Janet Sternburg

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Villa Aurora will present Artist Talk: Janet Sternburg in Conversation with Lorenz Kienzle on Thursday, April 25, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

“In a conversation with Villa Aurora Fellow Lorenz Kienzle, author and photographer Janet Sternburg will present her newest publication “‘LOOKING AT MEXICO / Mexico Looks Back,’” read a synopsis of the event.

The two are slated to “discuss the exploration of unfamiliar territories through photography and an awareness of foreignness juxtaposed with the ‘assumption of ownership foreigners can bring to adopted places.’”

“In the book’s introduction, Sternburg explains how, having no high-quality camera, she took her first photographs in Mexico, more than 20 years ago, using a simple, ‘disposable,’ single-use camera, and how this led everything in the frame, including reflections, to appear in a single ‘interpenetrating’ plane,” read the Villa Aurora website. “For Sternburg, this was an innovation. Many of the photos here are imbued with a similar planar elision, often to breathtaking effect.”

Sternburg captured people and places around her adopted home of San Miguel de Allende, in Guanajuato, Mexico, as well as Mexico City and Mérida, with an iPhone 10, without manipulation.

Sternburg is a writer of memoirs, essays, poetry and plays, and also a fine art photographer. Kienzle studied photography in Rome and Berlin. He is a Villa Aurora Fellow of the Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Berlin.

General admission is free, and tickets can be reserved via Eventbrite.

“Villa Aurora maintains and cultivates the historic landmark home of exiled German-Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife Marta as a residence for an international body of artists,” read a bio provided by Villa Aurora. “We are a transatlantic bridge-builder, promoting intercultural exchange and enabling dialogue between the arts community in Los Angeles and our resident artists.”

There is a variety of arts and cultural programming that takes place at Villa Aurora throughout the year, including public lectures, concerts, screenings, performances and more.

The event will take place at Villa Aurora, located at 520 Paseo Miramar in Pacific Palisades.