Selected Artists of the 20th and 21st Centuries (1960-present) (Online)

Pre-requisites for enrolment

Students will need to be able to confidently use videoconferencing software and be comfortable with using websites.

Special Information

In order to participate in this course, you will need access to a computer with a speaker, microphone and a good internet connection. An internet browser is required to access the online learning platform. Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are the recommended browsers.

Content of Course

Each session will focus either on a single artist or a pair of related artists. The choice of artists will vary from year to year. The following areas will be covered:

1. Conceptual art.

2. Performance art.

3. New materials, techniques and processes in sculpture.

4. Installation art.

5. Different uses of the photographic image.

6. Artists’ film and video.

7. Post-modernist painting, and the continuing practice of Modernist painting.

Teaching method(s)

This course will be delivered via live online sessions.

Slide lectures allowing plenty of time for critical discussion. 

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course students should be able to:

• Communicate a historical overview of the important developments in 20th- and 21st-century art;

• Assess critically the motivations and creative processes underlying works by key individuals;

• ‘Read’, analyse and interpret works of art.

Sources

Core Readings

Students should not purchase books until the course is confirmed to run, and their teacher instructs them to do so.

Recommended:

• Harrison, C. and Wood, P., eds., 2002. Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

• Fineberg, J., 1995. Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being. London: Laurence King Publishing.

• Stallabrass, J., 2004. Art Incorporated: The Story of Contemporary Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Sylvester, D., 2002. About Modern Art: Critical Essays 1948-2000. London: Pimlico.

• Thornton, S., 2015. 33 Artists in 3 Acts. London: Granta Books.

• Ward, O., 2014. Ways of Looking: How to Experience Contemporary Art. London: Elephant Books.

There are also valuable collections of artists’ own writings, for example:

• Gormley, Antony, 2015. Antony Gormley on Sculpture. London: Thames and Hudson.

• Richter, Gerhard, 1995. The Daily Practice of Painting: Writings and Interviews, 1962-93. London: Thames and Hudson.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.