Art & Art History
Department

ARTH 331: Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art                     back to courses index
Cristin Cash

A study of the visual qualities, symbolism, cultural contexts and conceptual frameworks of major stylistic movements in 20th century Latin America. Topics vary and countries considered may include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, and Mexico.

Past Course Topics

Art of Mexico - From Olmec to Orozco

An overview of the history of Mexican art from the ancient Olmec, Maya and Aztec civilizations, through the colonial period and the 19th century Academies, to the birth of the avant-garde in the early 20th century. The historical breadth of the course allows us to address the fundamental question: What is Mexican art? Are there identifiable forms and concepts that characterize the creation and reception of Mexican art over time? How did Mexican artists balance artistic tradition with innovation within the context of a changing social, political, and cultural landscape? The overall focus of the course is on how artistic production shaped and was shaped by the dynamic history of the Mexican nation.

Art and Revolution in Latin America

This team-taught course explores the historic events and artistic movements of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and Cuban Revolution of 1959. The primary focus is the active role of visual culture in the construction and advancement of revolutionary politics and new national identities. The course moves chronologically, starting with the history of artistic production and political activism before the Revolutions, and ends examining the successes and failures of these two nations as they struggled to overthrow aristocratic societies and dictatorial regimes. Students will investigate Revolutionary history and visual culture across a variety of media including painting, graphic art, sculpture, performance, photography and film. We will consider individuals, organizations and artists that were protagonists or antagonists in these movements to examine the tenuous relationship between public policy, national identity and artistic production. Through written assignments, oral presentations and creative projects, students will develop and hone skills in the formal and contextual analysis of visual media, the assessment of primary documents, and critical thinking across the disciplines of art history and history.  (Team-taught with Adriana Brodsky, Dept. of History)

Political Repression and Artistic Expression in Latin America

This team-taught course investigates select historicalinstances when the arts became an organizing force in moments of political and cultural crisis in Mexico, Chile and Argentina. Through a series of case studies across media, students will examine how art movements and visual imagery forcefully articulate ideas of political change, dissent, or oppositionto repressive ideologies and policies. Specifically, the course will explore art as forms of social, political and cultural resistance to authoritarian control over personal expression. All assignments and course content will encourage students to think critically about the complexities of crafting an effective political argument through artistic media, the relationships between political texts and images, the forceful rhetoric of activist writing (manifestoes), action (protests) and imagery, within the context of the complex network of historical and social forces that shape artistic production and political activism. (Team-taught with Adriana Brodsky, Dept. of History)