Introduction to: Introduction to American Art

Dr. Lori Kent, Visiting Fulbright Lecturer2009-2010

LORI KENT was born in New Orleans

She has a degree in • INTERIOR DESIGN

• CRITICAL & CREATIVE THINKING

and • THE COLLEGE TEACHING OF ART, Ed D Columbia University NYC

She has worked in • MUSEUMS, SCHOOLS, and UNIVERSITIES

She is a professor of • VISUAL STUDIES and alsoWorks as a • ARTS WRITER, ARTIST, and ARTSRESEARCHER in NYC And Pennsylvania

What is America?

What is American

Art?

Michele Pred (2004)Airport Confiscated Knifes

credit to SaneSMITH & PINK & graffiti.org

David Hammons

Samantha Pearsons

Myein (1999)Ann Hamilton

Colbert by Lockwood

Faith Ringgold (1967) The Flag is Bleeding

Anton Kandinsky (2005)

Georgia O’Keefe

New American Flag (2007)Thomas Bell

Flag (1954-55)Jasper Johns

Introduction to American ArtGoals: • Overview late 1800s–

Present• Discuss multiple forms of

art • Make connections to art

and overall cultural contexts•  Discuss the creative

strategies of American artists•  Look at transferability

to your art production•  Offer resources for

further research

American Mythmaking?

Thomas Cole (1836) The Oxbow (The Connecticut River near Northampton) Hudson River School – mid 19th century

Lowell, Massachusetts textile mill (1840).

Albert Bierstadt (1868) Lake Tahoe Hudson River School – mid 19th century

Fredrick Remington

Jeff Koons(1988)Michael Jackson and Bubbles

Jacob Riis (1889)5 Cents a Night Lodging, Bayard

Street

New York Stock Exchange

Introduction to American ArtGoals: • Overview 1880–Present• Discuss multiple forms of

art • Make connections to art

and overall cultural contexts•  Discuss the creative

strategies of American artists•  Look at transferability

to your art production•  Offer resources for

further research

America’s Diversity Art FormsDiversity of Expression

Norman Rockwell (1946)Freedom from Want

Painting

Dorothea Lange(1933)White Angel Breadline, San Francisco

Photography

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CVKU3ErrGM

Architecture

Gees Bend Quilt(mid 20c)

Craft

Mose Tolliver

Folk or Outsider Art

Martha Rossler(1975)Semiotics of the Kitchenhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zSA9Rm2PZA

Performance/Video

Mike Kelley(1987)“More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid" and "The Wages of Sin”

Installation

Cindy Sherman

Hybrid Form

Cindy Sherman

Lucille Ball

Scene from The Little Colonel(1935)

Bill Bojangles Robinson and Shirley Temple

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjCFYpWDmfM

Cinema

Genesis (2009)R. Crumb

Comics

Introduction to American ArtGoals: • Overview 1880–Present• Discuss multiple forms of

art • Make connections to art

and overall cultural contexts•  Discuss the creative

strategies of American artists•  Look at transferability

to your art production•  Offer resources for

further research

Background orContext

Social, political, historical

Easy Rider(1969)Dennis Hopper, Director

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in5uA5YXHIg

Film

Jackson Pollock(1950)Autumn Rhythm

Thomas Hart Benton

Lee Krasner(1960)Gothic Landscape

Paul Strand(1918)Wall Street

Ellis Island

Downtown New York (1900)

Meirle LadermanUkeles

Introduction to American ArtGoals: • Overview 1880–Present• Discuss multiple forms of

art • Make connections to art

and overall cultural contexts•  Discuss the creative

strategies of American artists•  Look at transferability

to your art production•  Offer resources for

further research

Creativity Encouraged?

Risk-taking, Capital, Pluralism

Sarah SzeInstallation at the Asia Society

Sarah Sze(detail)

Andy Warhol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REbZO82tkgw&feature=related

Walt Disney(1928)Steamboat Willy

Frank GehryArchitect

http://tu.tv/videos/simpson-gehry-sin-sub

Vik Muniz(2000)Clouds

Tom Friedman(2000)Eraser Shavings

Tom Friedman(2000)Eraser Shavings

Janine Antoni (1992) Gnaw

Clint Eastwood asDirty Harry(1971)

Coco FuscoAndGuillermo Gómez-Peña

The Year of the White Bear (1992)

Tara Donovan(2003)

The Year of the White Bear (1992)

Tara Donovan(2003)PinsThe Year of the White Bear (1992)

Introduction to American ArtGoals: • Overview 1880–Present• Discuss multiple forms of

art • Make connections to art

and overall cultural contexts•  Discuss the creative

strategies of American artists•  Look at transferability

to your art production•  Offer resources for

further research

Artur Żmijewski (2006) Dorota

Monica Sosnowska (2007)At the Venice Biennale

Introduction to American ArtGoals: • Overview 1880–Present• Discuss multiple forms of

art • Make connections to art

and overall cultural contexts•  Discuss the creative

strategies of American artists•  Look at transferability

to your art production•  Offer resources for

further research

http://jacksonpollock.org/

http://artcat.com

http://www.collegeart.org/guidelines/

Foundations: Histories, Personalities, and Methodologies* Schedule is subject to change 2

Lecture One: The Subject of American Art, An Overview

Oct 21 Lecture Two: The “Gilded” Age

Oct 28 Lecture Three: The New Century and its Promises

Nov 4 Lecture Four: Depression Art

Nov 11 Lecture Five: no lecture this week (At Venice Biennale)

Nov 18 

Foundations: Histories, Personalities, and Methodologies 2

Lecture Six: The War and Post-War BoomNov 25

 Lecture Seven: Abstract Expressionism and Competing Styles

Dec 2 Lecture Eight: The Explosions of the 1960s

Dec 9 Lecture Nine: Minimalism, Feminism, and other New Voices

Dec 16 Lecture Ten: New York in the 1980s

January 

PART 2Contemporary Practices 3* Schedule is subject to change

Lecture One: The 21c AcademyFeb 17

 Lecture Two: Seeing Contemporary Art

Feb 24 Lecture Three: The Business of Art

Mar 3 Lecture Four: New Media Art and a Possible Future

Mar 10 Lecture Five: Popular Culture and the Division of High and Low

March 17 Lecture Six: The Theme of Identity

March 24 

PART 2Contemporary Practices

4

Lecture Seven: The Themes of Place and SpaceMarch 31

 Lecture Eight: The Themes of Narrative and Myth

April 7 Lecture Nine: The Themes of Green and Ecology

April 14 Lecture Ten: The Themes of Power and Protest

April 21 Lecture Eleven: The Themes of Humor and Loss

April 28  Lecture Twelve: The Themes of Romance and Realism

May 5 Lecture Thirteen: Artists to Watch into the Millennia

May 12 

In Memoriam

Nancy Spero1926- 2009

Take No Prisoners(2007) Installation at the Venice Biennale