ARTH 387 Issues in Art and Criticism: Spaces of Critique

• Wednesdays, 8:45am - 11:30 am
• Instructor: Dr. Tracy Valcourt

In this course, we will consider contemporary art writing in a variety of contexts such as art museums, digital platforms, and print magazines to identify and discuss current trends and issues. We will look at a range of modalities of art criticism including print reviews; museum labels and wall text; TikTok and Instagram posts; podcasts; and curatorial essays to reflect on the relationship between platforms and critique. Students will be exposed to Western and non-Western art critical theory, and will consider the influences of feminism, social history, geography, critical race art history, and post-colonial theory in conjunction with case studies. The exhibition The Lives of Documents: Photography as Practice at the CCA, is one such case study, which will involve an on-site visit where students will be prompted to consider a variety of textual aspects, including writing situated in the galleries, along with wider discourses, such as reviews appearing online and in print. Some course topics will be introduced by guest speakers such as magazine editors and curators, while others will arise from the assigned readings The course will emphasize theory and practice, so that students will be given ample opportunity to develop their writing by applying art critical theory explored in the lectures. At the end of the course students will be familiar with contemporary examples of art criticism across a range of contexts and have developed writing technique so that they will be able to confidently merge art critical theory and writerly practice.