Gallery Talk: Daniel Heyman

As part of his two-day visit to Iowa City, Daniel Heyman gave a lecture about his work in the Eye Witness exhibition on Thursday night. In the Old Capitol Senate Chamber, the artist spoke about the development of his art in addressing issues of torture at Abu Ghraib, as well as his personal experiences meeting the former detainees and listening to their stories.



Heyman said he was driven to devote his artwork to the topic after he saw Seymour Hersh’s article in The New Yorker in 2004.

“It really struck me, as an American,” Heyman said in his lecture, “the idea that this war was such a failure from the American ideal.”

After Heyman’s presentation, the audience asked questions and toured the exhibit with the artist.

Heyman will also participate in a broadcasted panel discussion on Iowa Public Radio’s “Know the Score LIVE!,” tonight at the Old Capitol from 5-7 p.m. Other panel participants include UI Playwrights Workshop and Nonfiction Writing Program student Joshua Casteel (author, Letters From Abu Ghraib, 2008), UI Professor Paul Kramer (author, The Blood of Governments: Race, Empire, the United States, and the Philippines, 2006), Nancy Pearson, director of the New Tactics in Human Rights Project for the Center for Victims of Torture, and former U.S. State Department Attorney-Advisor Damon Terrill.

The panel is free and open to the public, so make sure to attend to hear what will undoubtedly be a thought-provoking discussion on art, human rights, and current political issues.