This course will survey contemporary art, starting with the 1960s and concluding in 2010. While the focus is on Western art and culture, we will also explore a selection of contemporary art and artistic practices around the globe, which have become increasingly influential in the definition of contemporary art today.
In common conversation, we often use the phrase “contemporary art” to refer to current artistic production—the art being produced today. However, in the art history field, the phrase denotes a specific period of art and artistic practice starting in the 1960s and continuing today. It is characterized by a break from the modernist artistic canon and a desire to move away from the dominant Western cultural model, looking for inspiration in everyday and popular culture. More specifically, many contemporary artworks reject traditional modernistic artistic media (such as painting or sculpture) in favor of a more collaborative, ephemeral, and multimedia approach that further blurs the boundaries between high and mass culture. In its subject matter, this art also tends to reflect a shift away from purely aesthetic issues to more socially oriented concerns. Finally, it is important to note that contemporary art should not be seen as a progression of different artistic styles but as series of different cultural, social, and political inquiries that occupied contemporary art practice over the course of the past 50 years or so. We will examine these important aesthetic and cultural changes within their historical and social context as we progress through this course.
Each of the units will examine a set of specific aesthetic and social issues and look at the different strategies contemporary artists proposed and used in their work. By the end of this course, you should be able to recognize and interpret most important aspects of contemporary art and contemporary visual culture while better understanding some of the cultural and social aspects of our daily life in today’s global world.
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Identify significant works of contemporary art and visual culture.
- Describe the difference between modernist and contemporary works of art.
- Explain the geographical shift of artistic centers from Europe (Paris) to the United States (New York), and then in the 21st century to a global spreading (Asia and Africa).
- Define and discuss the development of contemporary art as a series of different cultural, social, and political inquiries over the past 50 years.
- Identify and discuss multiple and vital relationships between contemporary art and such broader social and cultural issues as ideology, gender, race, or ethnicity.
- Describe and explain a relationship between different contemporary art strategies, such as performance or installation, and their immediate social and cultural context.
- Discuss how important contemporary artworks relate to their social and historical contexts.
- Define contemporary art as a continuing, international artistic project.
- Identify and define the importance of contemporary art and contemporary visual culture in today’s increasingly globalized world.
Requirements:
Have completed all courses listed in the Core Program of the art history discipline: Art Appreciation and Techniques, Introduction to Western Art History: Prehistoric to High Gothic, Introduction to Western Art History: Proto-Renaissance to Contemporary Art and Art Historical Methodologies.
