Contemporary Art Commons^™

Artists' Genres: A Brief Introduction To Post-Medieval Western Art History, Robert Jensen

Art & Visual Studies Faculty Book Gallery

Artists' Genres is a brief introduction to the history of post-medieval Western art organized by the major genres. The book is designed as a basic textbook for high school- or introductory college-level courses or for individuals simply looking for an interesting guidebook into the art of this period and geographical region.

Fallen Fruit: How Social Practice Art Adapts To Success, Caroline Marie Giepert

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis will discuss the development of socially engaged art collective Fallen Fruit (active 2004 – present) in regards to their community-oriented projects, museum exhibitions, and recent online artwork Endless Orchard (2017). Fallen Fruit presents an interesting example of a social practice art group since they straddle both an activist agenda as well as the commercial world of mainstream institutions and the Internet. This paper will analyze the rationale for Fallen Fruit’s manner of adapting to commercial success by considering their progression from localized projects in the communities of Los Angeles to curated exhibitions in well-known museums and venture into ...

Strange Woods, Song Park

Graduate School of Art Theses

I am interested in searching for images of women that have not been adequately represented in visual art. As a visual artist, I am directed by my sense of sight to investigate and know something. I like to challenge myself to visualize things that do not already have a visual representation. It has been frustrating for me to create images of women, and I have experienced a deep ambivalence in response to the different images of women I have encountered. The socially and culturally constructed images of women that I have internalized and those that have developed from my own ...

Misassembled Monsters, Jenn Brown

Graduate School of Art Theses

This thesis is a narrative of personal and material history. Through my work in painting, sculpture, and installation, I seek to share my story of emotional armoring in an attempt to connect to an audience. In my work, I look to my personal memories of growing up in a small, midwestern town and armoring myself with emotional barriers against its social construct of “normalcy.” Inspired by Medieval suits of armor and the characteristics of Goth culture throughout history, I employ my work to present the stage of a theatrical battleground. Creating each of my pieces is a fight for the ...

Cellist, Catalyst, Collaborator: The Work Of Charlotte Moorman, Saisha Grayson

All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

When classically trained cellist Charlotte Moorman (1933-1991) moved to New York City in 1957, she swiftly positioned herself at the intersection of experimental music, performance, video, and the visual arts. She interpreted works by composers like John Cage, collaborated with artists such as Nam June Paik, and founded and organized the New York Avant Garde Festival from 1963 to 1980. This dissertation argues that Moorman’s career sheds new light on what it meant to be an artist in this post-medium-specific moment and proposes that Moorman’s deterritorialization of authorship exerts pressure on traditional art histories. The generative dynamics of ...

The Commodity Club: Commodity Fetishism In Modern Art And Tattoos, Shelby Maiden

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The current culture of commodity fetishism that surrounds both modern art and tattoos are disproportionately a part of the perpetuation of an artificial sense of society and community. It promotes the notion that by simply by inking the deeper layers of their skin or by spending millions on a painting that somehow one becomes elevated and enters an elite space, or club, of people like them.

Lauretta Vinciarelli In Context: Transatlantic Dialogues In Architecture, Art, Pedagogy, And Theory, 1968-2007, Rebecca Siefert

All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation centers on the interdisciplinary work of Italian-born artist, architect, teacher, and theorist Lauretta Vinciarelli (1943-2011), a key yet relatively unknown figure who occupies a historic place in the 1970s revival of architectural drawings, Columbia University’s housing studio, Peter Eisenman’s influential Institute of Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS) in New York, and architectonic trends in contemporary painting. She was the first woman to have drawings acquired by the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA, in 1974), she was among the first women to teach architecture studio courses at Columbia University (hired ...

Think Natural ! Une Nécessité Qui Ne Se Cache Plus, Cedrick Nzolo Ngamobu

Artl@s Bulletin

This contribution raises questions regarding the search for mediation and transition found in pedagogy and the creative process. This can be posed as a response to an affirmation of identity, coupled with a search for philosophical autonomy. The need for mediation or transition is a necessity that we all seek in different ways and according to our respective contexts. In teaching in a school of art or fashion, it is a question with different variables that leaves the field open to all forms of questioning and brings to the fore the confrontation of modes of expression.

Au-Delà Des Rivalités Provinciales : Poétiques Visuelles Tropicalistes Et Autres Projets D’Art Étendu Depuis La Perspective Du Nord-Est Brésilien, Ayrson Heráclito

Artl@s Bulletin

This text is a compilation of writings published during the course of our research for the 3^rd Biennale of Bahia (2014), for which we worked in the curatorial team. These investigations reflect on the genealogy of Northeast Brazil’s contemporary art, seeing this region as unrestricted and non-essentialist. The production of certain artists is considered within an expanded context. To this end, we employed the idea of PEBA (Pernambuco-Bahia), while attempting to come to terms with the possibility of existence of a family, united by the desire for a poetic turn in the tropics.

The Lubumbashi Biennial: Towards New Protagonisms, Daniella Géo

Artl@s Bulletin

This article reflects on the role and relevance of the Lubumbashi Biennial (DR Congo), taking into account its specificities, context and modus operandi, as well as making brief parallels with other recurring art events in an attempt to situate the Congolese biennale within the histories of contemporary art biennales. The text provides first-hand commentary on the Lubumbashi Biennial, in particular its fourth edition in which the author formed part of the curatorial team.

Histoire Picturale De Laurent-Désiré Kabila (1997-2001), Donatien Dibwe Dia Mwembu

Artl@s Bulletin

This article considers the story of the late Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as told by the popular painters of the city of Lubumbashi. Its shows how popular painting contributes to the knowledge of LD Kabila's reign, by serving as a support for oral history. Indeed, the commentaries of the paintings made by their authors or by critics unveil a chapter of history. Placed next to each other according to their theme and chronological order, popular paintings depict the highlights of the history of a given region in a specific area such as politics, economy ...

Le Paradigme « Art Africain » : De L’Origine À Sa Physionomie Actuelle, Henri Kalama

Artl@s Bulletin

This study relooks at the problematic concept of "African Art". The conceptual evolution of "African Art" coincides with three realities: firstly, that the art discovered in Africa was described as uncivilized; secondly, that this art capitulated with the colonial past of Africa; finally, that this art of an underdeveloped continent. In such a context of emergence, this art has been or is still exploited by ambitious and interested promoters. Hence, there is an imperative need for contemporary artists to overcome all these influences to produce works whose ontological values and universality cannot be challenged.

Les Nouveaux Défis Du Métier D’Artiste En République Démocratique Du Congo, André Yoka Lye

Artl@s Bulletin

The history of art institutions in D.R. Congo is relatively old compared to the rest of Africa. This justifies the know-how of Congolese artists since 1930-40’s, even if the general trend was, for a long time, reliant on amateurism and mimetism of European production. With the integration of art institutes into university education level since 1971, the issues and challenges became precise and appeared to be possible to overcome: professionalization, rooted and applied research, community building and international competitiveness, with the urge of solidarity with countries and experiences from the South.

Strange Multitudes, Becky Deihl, Julianne Gortakowski, Sammy Holden, Megan Mcculloh, Amanda Patterson, Rowan Price, Lucy West, Anthony Cervino, Trout Gallery, Dickinson College

Student Scholarship & Creative Works By Year

Catalogue of an exhibition at the Trout Gallery, April 27 - May 19, 2018

Senior Exhibit, Art and Art History Department, Prof. Anthony Cervino, Dickinson College.

The seven graduating studio art majors chose Strange Multitudes as the title of the exhibition not only to allude to their shared devotion to making art, but also to their personal identities and modes of expression. While the seniors work together as a community of artists, the artwork that emerges from their own studios varies widely in both content and creative media. Yet, more than a few common threads unite the students’ ambitious approaches to ...

How To Be The Perfect Asian Wife!, Sophia Hill

Art and Art History Honors Projects

“How to be the Perfect Asian Wife” critiques exploitative power systems that assault female bodies of color in intersectional ways. This work explores strategies of healing and resistance through inserting one’s own narrative of flourishing rather than surviving, while reflecting violent realities. Three large drawings mimic pervasive advertisement language and presentation reflecting the oppressive strategies used to contain women of color. Created with charcoal, watercolor, and ink, these 'advertisements' contrast with an interactive rice bag filled with comics of my everyday experiences. These documentations compel viewers to reflect on their own participation in systems of power.

I Am A Magic Carpet: Life In A Liminal Space, Yasmin Mazloom

Art Practices MFA Theses

The life of immigrants is discussed in two chapters: living in the country of origin and living abroad. The space that exists in between these two countries and places, is diminished and not discussed because it is not physical but more of a mental space that is rarely recognized unless it is experienced firsthand. Even though only a minority of people will understand this liminal space, it is important to be aware of its existence. Those who reside in this space need to recognize they are not alone, even if their liminal space is different from others, so that they ...

Collecting, Organizing, And Teaching The Ephemera Of Art Biennials, Alexander Watkins, Jane Thaler

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Contributions

Art fairs and biennials have become an essential part of the story of contemporary art and architecture. Ephemeral handouts, pamphlets, and posters—a hallmark of these gatherings—have the potential to help students and researchers understand these events if preserved for future use. However, libraries and archives that want to collect ephemeral material from biennials face several challenges, including the difficulty of collecting these materials remotely, developing appropriate methods to best organize this type of material, and determining the best way to present these materials to students and scholars. This article describes a case study at the University of Colorado ...

The Influence Of Politics On Modern Art: A Curated Exhibit Of Art Reflecting The 2016 Presidential Election, Naama Malomet

Senior Honors Projects

This project explores the ways in which recent politics in America has inspired contemporary artists to engage in the current political climate and use art as a means of expressing political ideals. Art has been, and always will be, used as one of the ways artists express opinions and ideas. Art engages individuals in visual dialogue, creating conversations between the artist and viewer. It has the power to influence and inspire viewers, directing them towards new ideas and opinions as well as new perspectives on social and political issues. Throughout the history of art, politics and social issues have inspired ...

Socially Engaged Practice: Three Artists, Susan Ashbrook

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

In recent years many artists have turned to ‘socially engaged practice,’ striving to effect social or political change through community-based or participatory projects outside of traditional gallery spaces. In my presentation I will review projects by three contemporary artists who work with underserved communities to develop creative responses to social injustices they face and to help them develop powerful tools to impact their lives

Suzanne Lacy, one of the original California feminists of the 1970s, is well-known for her performance pieces and installations that engage with social issues through conversation within communities. Rape and violence against women have been a ...

Ode To The Sea: Art From Guantanamo, Erin L. Thompson, Charles Shields, Paige Laino

Publications and Research

Exhibition catalogue for “Ode to the Sea: Art from Guantánamo” (October 16, 2017-January 26, 2018, President's Gallery, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York). Detainees at the United States military prison camp known as Guantánamo Bay have made art from the time they arrived. The exhibit displays some of these evocative works, made by eight men: four who have since been cleared and released from Guantánamo, and four who remain there. They paint the sea again and again although they cannot reach it. The catalog includes contributions by Trevor Paglen, Solmaz Sharif, Natasha Trethewey, Jericho Brown, and current ...