COMP 272
The Brazilian Avant-garde of the 1960s Fall 2015
Division I Writing Skills Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed ARTH 271
This is not the current course catalog

Experimental practices happening worldwide in the 1960s had extensive effects, sparking debates still relevant in contemporary art. This course centers on the case study of Brazil to analyze its distinct contribution to postwar cultural developments and to the notion of the “avant-garde.” Focusing on Brazilian artworks and films from the 1960s, we will go beyond the United States and Europe to complicate the canonical histories of the avant-garde and of contemporary art. We will begin with an introductory overview of the history of the notion of “avant-garde,” to better understand what has been at stake, historically and politically, when artists and critics distinguished particular ideas and practices as being at the forefront of Art. We will then focus on the explosive moment that was Brazil in the 1960s–one of economic prosperity, cultural exuberance and increasing political repression, as a military dictatorship seized control of the country in 1964. This was a period of radical experimentation in the visual arts and in film, generating subversive works that remain touchstones for contemporary artists in Brazil and beyond. We will devote much of the course to close analyses of these works so as to define the strategies of this avant-garde and the deep cultural rifts it unleashed. No previous knowledge of art history or Brazilian history is required, and we will incorporate readings and discussions to establish context. This course meets two categories of the Exploring Diversity Initiative: we will attend to Empathetic Understanding by situating ourselves within the cultural and political events that defined the volatile period of the 1960s in Brazil, so as to map the unique maneuvers of its avant-garde as it sought aesthetic and social renovation. The course also addresses Critical Theorization, using the Brazilian case to challenge the “map” created by the established histories and theories of the avant-garde and of artistic innovation after 1945¿for, it is crucial to look beyond Europe and the United States to have a richer understanding of the drastic shifts that permanently altered artistic practice in the postwar era.