COLLEGEVILLE, PA.- Ursinus will present a Distinguished Artist lecture by Bill Gaskins titled “Black Men and Cadillac Cars” on Monday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. in Musser Auditorium, Pfahler Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

An artist, writer and professor in photography and critical studies at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City , Gaskins interviewed and photographed African American males in the area of Newark , N.J. , who own and drive Cadillac cars, and mounted a major exhibition of large-scale color portraits.

Gaskins says, “The objective of my project is to challenge, humanize, disrupt and at times, affirm many of the stereotypes commonly associated with black men and the Cadillac, and to explore some 21st century questions I have about photography and the portrait. A centerpiece of this project is for me to engage the city in a conversation about my work, my life as an artist, and to share the lessons I learn with the people of Newark .”

As an artist, Gaskins has focused on the complexity of American life through the diverse and complex gestures and rituals of African American people through the medium of photography. His work has garnered critical attention through numerous commissions, fellowships, residencies, grants and awards, as well as solo and group exhibitions, exhibition catalogs, anthologies, a monograph (Good And Bad Hair: Photographs by Bill Gaskins) and other publications.

Born in Philadelphia , Gaskins received his B.F.A. degree from the Tyler School of Art, a master’s degree from The Ohio State University, and an M.F.A. degree from the Maryland Institute, College of Art . As a cultural critic, his writing has appeared in New Art Examiner, Afterimage, Dialogue, and other journals and anthologies, and as an invited speaker and panelist.

Ursinus College is a highly selective, independent coeducational liberal arts college located on a scenic, wooded 170-acre campus, 28 miles from Center City Philadelphia. The college is one of only 8 percent of U.S. Colleges to possess a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Its web site is located at . The College is located on Main Street in Collegeville.