LARTS 345 — Contemporary Artists of Color

3 credits
Spring
Desirée Alvarez

This course is a deep dive into works by artists of color. With an emphasis on the contemporary, we will look at artists exploring beauty, formal visual concerns, social justice issues, class, power, gender, and conceptual issues. We will explore the work of El Anatsui, Frank Bowling, Maya Lin, Ana Mendieta, Takashi Murakami, Wangechi Mutu, Shirin Neshat, Yoko Ono, Martin Puryear, Jean Shin, Shahzia Sikander, Joan Quick-to-See Smith, Alma Thomas, Carrie Mae Weems, and Jack Whitten, among many others. We will also encounter artists such as Torkwase Dyson and Milford Graves, who cross disciplinary lines to integrate music, performance, and dance. We will consider the aesthetics of art movements such as the Superflat postmodern movement, Earth Art, and the Black Arts Movement. Students will be asked to create their own multidisciplinary works in addition to engaging with traditional writing assignments and research.