ARTH 284
The Postwar Avant-Gardes Spring 2024
Division I

Artistic discourse in the Western hemisphere dramatically changed course in the wake of the Second World War. The mass trauma inflicted by the war prompted artists and critics throughout the region to reassess the role and potential of art in society. But the war’s mass displacement of communities also displaced the centers for artistic activity, and avant-garde practices soon expanded vigorously throughout the Americas. Through comparative studies, this course will analyze the artistic avant-gardes that emerged simultaneously in the United States and Latin America after 1945. We will place these myriad practices in dialogue, to elucidate the complexity, richness, and vitality of artistic practices in the postwar era.