Courses

This course explores some of the main visual trends, movements, and concerns that were discussed and performed in Latin America during the 20th and 21st Centuries. The class is structured around clusters of visual and literary production that have women artists at their core. We will devote each module to an in-depth study of one female artist and the ripple effects that her work and ideas produced in their spheres of influence—from visuality to politics. We will consider questions like: How did women artists inhabit the artistic space as one of emancipation and critique? How did Latin American artists incorporate and transform the artistic influences coming from Western Europe and North America? How did artistic practices influence and reflect local and regional contexts? How do these women engage with conceptualism and how does this engagement affect their work? Some of the artist we will review are: Tarsila do Amaral (Brazil, 1886 – 1973); Frida Kahlo (Mexico, 1907-1954); Lygia Clark (Brazil, 1920 -1988); Gego (Venezuela, 1912-1994); Beatriz González (Colombia, 1938); Marta Minujín (Argentina, 1943); and Diamela Eltit (1949). The course will incorporate talks by museum practitioners that have dealt with exhibiting and presenting the work of these women in non-Latin American contexts. Students are expected to visit local museum and engage directly with the objects of study of the class.