Avant-garde American art of the 1960s was dominated by two contradictory impulses. On one side, a group of young artists returned to representational art with a cool and decidedly modern twist known as Pop. At the same time, the so-called Minimalists created a new kind of abstraction, paring down their works to a few carefully considered colors and forms.
Then, beginning in the 1970s, artists explored an enormous range of new materials, techniques, and styles. That pluralistic experimentation encompassed forms from conceptual and Super-Realistic art to environmental and performance art, all of which still resonate today.
In this richly illustrated series of lectures, art historian Nancy G. Heller, a professor emerita at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, looks at the roots and later influences of radical American art from the last five decades.
February 11 Soup Cans and Comic Strips: The Revolution of Pop Art and Minimalism
Topics include the paintings and sculptures of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, and Marisol; the eloquent subtleties inherent in the paintings of Ellsworth Kelly and Agnes Martin; and the sculpture of Richard Serra.
February 18 Introduction to Pluralism: The Extremes
Contrast the stunning photo-realist paintings of Chuck Close and Audrey Flack and parallel sculptures by Duane Hanson with the slyly challenging conceptual art of John Baldessari.
February 25 Taking Art Out of the Gallery and Museum
Heller examines the land (or Earth) art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and traces how the graffiti paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring evolved from works regarded as vandalism to art that set new auction records.
March 4 Feminist Art and the Influence of Identity Politics
Topics include Judy Chicago’s groundbreaking installation “The Dinner Party” and art focusing on a variety of traditionally marginalized groups including Americans of African, Latinx, Asian, and Native descent, as well as LGBTQ individuals. Works by Kara Walker, Luis Jiménez, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Robert Mapplethorpe are discussed.
March 11 Erasing Boundaries: Redefining Art
Heller concludes with a survey of the extraordinary range of materials and innovative techniques that myriad artists have recently explored in imaginative, sometimes controversial, ways.
She looks at the photography of Cindy Sherman; Jeff Koons’s contemporary approach to kitsch; performance art; artists’ books; Faith Ringgold’s painted story quilts; stained glass by Judith Schaechter; and Liza Lou’s astonishing sculptures made from colored glass beads.
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