Post modern art

Course Content:
Over this course, we will look at 6 specific artists and various themes of Postmodernist art and elements of Postmodernist theory. We will look at the beginnings of the movement, its upsurge and its supposed end. We begin with Marcel Duchamp setting the scene, before moving onto Andy Warhol the icon of pop art and his relationship to commercialism. This will be followed by an examination of Robert Smithson’s work that challenged the idea of medium based categories within a Postmodern landscape and was entrenched in the political context of the time. We then move onto Kara Walker’s work, which reframes and reclaims the stereotype. And finally we arrive at the group called the Young British Artists, including Ron Mueck with his uncanny sculptures that are unnervingly familiar and Tracy Emin and her propensity to shock with detritus and mess.

Following a brief introduction to the artist and their work; the approach to the course will be conversational, and will do its best to remain jargon free as we focus on specific work and engage on a process of discovery together.
The course tutor is Ella Shrubsall who has a History of Art degree from the University of Manchester. She was a board member for the acclaimed Manchester Art Group and coordinated workshops with artists such as Raqib Shaw and established curators for example Lauren Wright. In London she worked at The Fine Art Society Contemporary on the seminal exhibition ‘What Marcel Duchamp Taught Me’ alongside Gallery director Kate Bryan (One of the judges on Sky TV’s ‘Portrait Artist of the Year’) and she also worked with Kate and international Gallery Directors at the major art fair Art15. She has also written for The Flaneur and Channel Magazine.
Assessment Methods: