CONTEMPORARY ART

The course is part of the core educational activities for art-historical disciplines in the degree course "Economics and Administration of Arts and Culture (EGART)". The main course objective is to provide students with a knowledge and understanding of the contemporary art system of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The 12 credit course in Modern and Contemporary Art consists of two parts, each of 6 credits. The first part (Modern Art) is held by professor Roberta Bartoli in the third period as well. Students obtain 12 credits when passing both partial exams in whatsoever order. The final grade is given by the average of the two partial grades. Both parts must be passed within the same academic year, under penalty of forfeiture of the partial credits accrued.

The course will provide an in-depth knowledge of the contemporary art world, introducing students to key artists, works, theories and institutions that regulate today's art system. Classes will encompass the fundamental arts structures, processes and stakeholders, as well as their critical reception and theoretical framing.

The main objective of the course is to enhance skills in the following fields:
- to recognize the works and artists discussed in class and place them in a theoretical, historical and cultural context
- to develop critical skills and analyze an artwork within its historical context and from multiple perspectives, including its technical, iconographic and stylistic features
- to get familiar with key actors and institutions governing the contemporary art system
- to strengthen communication skills and acquire a vocabulary appropriate to the given context

Basic knowledge of contemporary art history and practice

The module will offer an investigation into the contemporary art system from an historical perspective and in an international context. A comparative analysis of the topics addressed in class and devoted to art theories, professions and institutions will be conducted in the framework of the Exhibition Studies, Cultural Cold War Studies and Global Art Studies.

Notes taken during the lessons.

Anu Allas, Beata Hock (eds), Globalizing East European Art Histories. Past and Present, Routledge, New York 2018, pp. 1-9; 39-52.

Bruce Altshuler, Biennials and Beyond: Exhibitions That Made Art History, 1962-2002, vol. 2, Phaidon, London-New York 2013, pp. 11-24, plus the exhibitions analyzed in class

Bruce Altshuler, Exhibition History and the Biennale, in Starting from Venice, edited by Clarissa Ricci, et al., Milano 2010, pp. 17-27

La Biennale di Venezia, The General Four-year Plan of Activities and Events (1974-1977), 1974, “Annuario 1975: Eventi del 1974”, Venezia, La Biennale, pp. 71-75

Achille Bonito Oliva, Cardinal Points of Art, exh. cat. (La Biennale di Venezia, 45. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte, 14 June – 10 October 1993), Marsilio, Venezia 1993, vol. 1, pp. XXIII-XLI

Joel Robinson, Folkloric Modernism: Venice’s Giardini Della Biennale and the Geopolitics of Architecture, “Open Arts Journal”, no. 2, Winter 2013-2014, pp. 1-24



Chapters of the following texts, to be announced at the beginning of the class:

Hans Belting, Art History after Modernism, University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2003.

Hans Belting, Andrea Buddensieg, Peter Weibel, The Global Contemporary and the Rise of New Art Worlds, MIT Press-ZKM, Cambridge-London-Karlsruhe 2013.

Anthony Gardner, Charles Green, Biennials, Triennials and Documenta, John Wiley & Sons Ltd-Wiley Blackwell, Chichester-Malden 2016.

Elena Filipovic, Marieke van Hal M., Solveig Øvstebø (eds), The Biennial Reader. An Anthology on Large-scale Perennial Exhibitions of Contemporary Art, Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2010.

Clarissa Ricci (ed.), Starting from Venice, et al., Milano 2010.

Non-attending students are required to fully read: Hans Belting, Art History after Modernism, University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2003.

The final grade comes from the sum of two components:
1. Active and regular participation in the classes
2. The evaluation of a written exam
The use of books, notes, and electronic media is not allowed during the test.

Non attending students are kindly asked to contact me in advance to agree on a specific programme for the written exam.

Lessons open to the discussions and commentaries of the slides and texts presented in class.
Webinars and talks with selected guests according to the current health situation.

The materials presented in class will be available on the Moodle e-learning platform together with additional sources.

English

Students with disabilities or those with special needs are kindly asked to contact the relevant offices by the start of the course.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development