ARTH 391 Art & its Changing Contexts: Women of the New York Art World, 1945-1990

• Instructor: Dr. Béatrice Cloutier-Trepanier

Departing from normative discourses (white, male) that have shaped the history of American art, this course examines the changing context of the New York art world between 1945 and 1990 by centering the contributions of women artists, critics, and art workers to its development, and, most importantly, to its politicization. Looking closely at art practices (Yoko Ono, Ana Mendieta, Howardena Pindell), art criticism (Lucy R. Lippard, Jill Johnston), exhibition spaces (Just Above Midtown, A.I.R. Gallery, The New Museum), and art and/as activism (Art Workers Coalition, Ad Hoc Women Artists’ Committee, Black Emergency Cultural Coalition) by women pushing against their historical exclusion and erasure,  we will think through the profound social movements of the long mid-century—the civil rights movement, gay and lesbian liberation movement, anti-war activism, and feminist organizing—and how they intersected with and challenged the art world post-WWII. Structured thematically, weekly classes will trace unconventional, feminist histories of the New York art world by refocusing traditionally marginalized voices, and troubling conventional art history and historiography by engaging anecdote, gossip, and other improper objects (Latimer) as methodological tools.