Brief History of Art from Latin America during the 20th century - Part I & II

2-part course. Each part contains six classes (twelve classes in total). They can be taken together (I & II) or separately. Part I will run from 8 March- 12 April. Part II will run from 26 April - 31 May. To see the full schedule click "Read More" below. 

This course will provide you with an overview of the key historical elements that shaped the art scene from Latin America over the 20th century. Each class is driven by active student participation, stimulating debate and group discussion. We will study over 100 works of art from artists such as Tarsila do Amaral, Wifredo Lam, Lygia Pape, Belkis Ayon, Frida Kalho, Cildo Meireles, Marta Minujin, Cecilia Vicuña, Doris Salcedo, Carmen Herrera, Gyula Kosice, Remedios Varo, Adriana Varejao, among many others.

Art historian Daniela Galán will guide a critical discussion of the patterns, dissonances, similarities, and tensions that determined the construction and the importance of the idea of ​​Latin American art in the global contemporary art scene. We will focus on the social, political and economic context from which the different artistic discourses were built and produced. We will explore concepts such as universalism, primitivism, postmodernism, decolonialism, political and historical criticism, racial and gender politics, among others, from the Latin American perspective. 

Each lesson will include a one-hour lecture, a one-hour question and answer discussion and will be accompanied by a suggested reading list

Reviews: 

'Unlike other online courses, Amalgama offers a hands-on formative experience that significantly helps process information about a very complex subject. Its exceptional format allows reading from the right sources and gives a voice to all students, stimulating debate and reflection. Daniela's open-mindedness and dedication definitely facilitate the engagement of the class participants and leave in them a desire to keep investigating the subjects discussed.' Rosita Mariella

"Thank you so much for this evening's session and last week's too. Erudite, intellectually stimulating, the content is both inspiring and accessible, and the suggested readings have opened up a whole new area of study for us to dive into. Really, really enjoying it! Irene Fanning

Part I: Avant Gardes from Latin America. 8 March- 12 April

• Session 1, 8 March at 6:30 pm. Universalism or National Identity?
• Session 2, 15 March at 6:30 pm: Dream or Reality? Dismantling the fantastic.
• Session 3, 22 March at 6:30 pm: Chi'ixi: Indigenism or the gesture of returning the gaze. 
• Session 4, 29 Marchat 6:30 pm: Creating Illusions: Geometric Abstraction & Op Art.
• Session 5, 5 April at 6:30 pm: Figuration, Expressionism and Environments
• Session 6, 12 April at 6:30 pm: Performative practices: why women artists employed performance to express resistance.

Part II: Contemporary art from Latin America. 26 April - 31 May

• Session 7, 26 April at 6:30 pm: Consolidating Cultural Infrastructure. Sao Paulo and Habana Biennales. 
• Session 8, 3 May at 6:30 pm: Building a new model: Neo-Avant Gardes from the mid-1960s
• Session 9, 10 May at 6:30 pm: Conceptualism as a political device.
• Session 10, 17 May at 6:30 pm: Reconsidering History, the Latin American perspective on postcolonial studies and postmodernism.
• Session 11, 24 May at 6:30 pm: Towards internationalisation: the impact of globalisation in Latin American art.
• Session 12, 31 May at 6:30 pm: Entering the 21 century: new media and practices. 

"Latin American artists approached the avant-garde not as a style or as a school, but as a critical attitude. One that questioned the nature and meaning of art while expanding its formal and conjectural parameters" Utopias inverted by Mari Carmen Ramirez.