A Brief History of Art in Latin America in the 20th Century - Part I (Jun 2024)

"Latin American artists approached the avant-garde as neither a style nor a school but a self-critical attitude. One that questioned the nature and meaning of art while simultaneously expanding its formal and conjectural parameters."

Inverted Utopias by Mari Carmen Ramirez.

This 6-week course will provide you with an overview of key historical elements that shaped the Latin-American art scene of the 20th Century. Despite the current debate over the use of the term "Latin American Art", art historian Daniela Galan will guide an in-depth critical discussion on the patterns, dissonances, similarities and tensions that determined Latin America’s importance in the global contemporary art scene. Through analysing 50 artworks, we will study concepts such as modernism, post-colonialism, the relationship between social realism and politics, universalism, primitivism and the construction of the fantastic, abstraction vs concretism, among others.

Each lesson will include a one-hour lecture and one-hour Q&A discussion and will be accompanied by a suggested reading list.

Session 1: Universalism or National Identity?

Session 2: Dream or Reality? Dismantling the fantastic.

Session 3: Chi'ixi: Indigenism or the gesture of returning the gaze. 

Session 4: Creating Illusions: Geometric Abstraction & Op Art.

Session 5: Figuration, Expressionism and Environments

Session 6: Art & Activism: conceptualism as a political device. 

Bonus: performative practices by women artists. 

This online course (via Zoom) will start on Monday, 3 June, at 7:30 pm and lasts 6 weeks, with weekly, 1:30 to 2-hour sessions. You will receive the recording upon registration if you missed the first session. 

Upon completion, you will receive a certificate of assistance.