Gender and Identity in Modern and Contemporary East Central European Visual Arts

Catalog description

While issues of gender and identity are commonplace in Western modern and contemporary art discourse, due to isolation from the west for a better part of the twentieth century, East Central European modern and contemporary art has not been privy to similar conversations. This course will explore modernity in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary through discussions on Expressionism, Primitivism, Cubism, and Surrealism. Discussion on the role of the avant-garde artist, his manifestoes and art during heightened nationalism; the role of women as subject of modernity, significant female artists within the avant-garde context, especially in DADA and surrealist circles. Enrollment limited to 20.