ARTH 398 Special Topics in Art and Society: Contemporary Latin American Art

• Tuesdays, 12:15-14:45
• EV-1-615
• Instructor: Dr. Nuria Carton de Grammont

This course will give an overview of Latin American art, spanning the 1960’s, with its notable Latin American avant-gardes, all the way to the present, with its many manifestations in a range of globalization processes. The course proposes to expand students’ understanding and knowledge of the construction of nation-specific identities through the post-colonial avant-gardes in Latin America like Tropicalismo. We will also examine how conceptualism and pop art were employed as a strategic tool for contesting authoritarian regimes and dictatorships in countries like Brazil, Argentina and Mexico and analyze the impact of drug trafficking and violence in Colombian and Mexican post-minimalist art. We will also discover the importance of the Havana and Sao Paulo Biennials in the consolidation of a pan-American art circuit and the more recent skyrocketing value of Latin American art in international art markets and museums. The course will conclude with an overview of the Canadian Latin-American art and how this thriving movement is gaining ground in the national art scene.