|
The Museum of Modern Art seeks submissions for the Third Annual Graduate Symposium in Modern and Contemporary Art, “The Revolution Will Not Be Curated: 21st Century Perspectives on Art and Politics.” Art and politics are contested and overlapping fields that are complexly manifested in the theory and artwork of 20th and 21st century artists. In the 19th century, Henri de Saint-Simon famously coined the military term “avant-garde” to describe his charge for advanced artists to seek radical aesthetic innovation, enlighten audiences, and engage them into political action through new art and ideas. Throughout the history of modern art, various political impulses have nurtured a consistent vein of inspiration that have found diverse expressions though a wide range of media: architecture, drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture, as well as photography, film, and new media. Recent art, scholarly research, critical writing, as well as the curatorial organization of international exhibitions, reveal that a biding belief in the possibility of art to provoke political insight and change is still very much alive. This symposium seeks to investigate the historical and contemporary activities of artists to deploy art as a means of political force and to critically engage with radically changing conditions of modern and contemporary life. This tradition stretches across media and time from the visual strategies of the historical avant-garde in the early 20th century to more recent artistic work emerging in opposition to globalism, and the ensuing political, economic, and military domination of the new world’s super-powers.
The symposium seeks papers from a variety of disciplines and theoretical approaches. Students are encouraged to focus on specific works or projects that can be thoroughly analyzed within the limited time of a ten-page paper. Graduate students from the U.S. and internationally are encouraged to submit papers that examine, for example:
· New interpretations and historical understandings of the political significance of early modern artists and movements
· Artistic strategies often associated with political intent, from photomontage and appropriation to detournement and agit-prop
· Theories of the avant-garde and neo-avant-garde, and most importantly the art, artists and groups that these categories seek to theorize
· Art that emerged concurrently with social movements such as civil rights, gay rights, and the feminist movement
· The impact and effectiveness of art as a means of promoting and disseminating political ideas
· Artistic and political strategies of contemporary artists, from “relational aesthetics” to educational activities such as artist projects and conferences
· New understandings of political modernism based on close readings of work, art criticism, historiography, identity, institutions, and/or markets
· The development of architecture globally, its technical and aesthetic innovations, and its symbolic meanings
· The dominance of photography, film, and new media in culture
Eligibility is limited to graduate students who hold at least an MA in art history or other related disciplines. PhD candidates who have completed their MA requirements, PhD’s, and recent postdoctorates (within the last two years) are also encouraged to apply. The Museum of Modern Art will cover the cost of transportation, accommodations, and expenses for the selected participants.
|
