Global Issues in Contemporary Art

Key information

Status
Module not running
Module code
154900191
FHEQ Level
6
Credits
15
Department
School of Arts & Department of History of Art and Archaeology

Module overview

To what extent might ‘contemporary art’ be understood as ‘global art’? How have artists around the globe read and articulated ‘the contemporary’?

In the years since 1989, and the so-called ’global turn’ in contemporary art, artists and sites that had previously been deemed peripheral to the Euro-American art industry are now actively participating in international art circuits. But on what terms are these artists engaged in these circuits? Do these changes really mark a radical shift in the power relations of the art world? And how do specific works of contemporary art speak to, and confront, these questions? In this module we will explore the central debates of contemporary art through a series of thematic case studies. Students will engage with artworks, exhibitions, art criticism and art theory to gain critical understanding of the key issues and concepts of contemporary art in its global scope.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

On successful completion of this module a student will be able to

  • Demonstrate broad knowledge of important movements and issues in the development of contemporary art in its global context.
  • Articulate the relationship between contemporary art, globalisation, and the notion of ‘the global’.
  • Apply critical understanding of key concepts and methodological analysis to contemporary art in a comparative and transnational scope.

Workload

  • Lectures: 1 hour per week  
  • Seminars: 1 hour per week 

Method of assessment

  • 500-word literature or exhibition review (worth 30% of marks)
  • 1,500-word essay or exhibition proposal (worth 70%)

Suggested reading

  • Berghuis, Thomas et al. Suspended Histories. Amsterdam: Museum Van Loon, 2013.
  • Clark, John, Maurizio Peleggi, and T. K Sabapathy, eds. Eye of the Beholder: Reception, Audience, and Practice of Modern Asian Art. Sydney: Wild Peony, 2006.
  • Desai, Vishakha, ed. Asian Art History in the Twenty-First Century. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2007.
  • Hsu, Claire, and Chantal Wong (eds.), Mapping Asia. Hong Kong: Asia Art Archive, 2014.
  • Nakamura, Fuyubi, Morgan Perkins, Olivier Krischer, and Howard Morphy, eds. Asia through Art and Anthropology: Cultural Translation across Borders. London: Bloomsbury, 2013.

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules