Art history

Pop Life: After Modern Art

Module code: V4134B
Level 5
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay

This module examines developments in western art from 1945 to the present, placing them in a variety of social and cultural contexts. It begins with Pop Art and its relation to 1950s consumerism, before charting the rise of conceptual art practices in the context of 1960s counter-culture. It goes on to explore the emergence of post-modernism, and the challenge presented to a predominantly white, male, Eurocentric art establishment by identity politics and feminism in the 1980s. The module concludes by looking at `relational' art practices in the 1990s and 2000s, along with the rise of the art biennial.

Module learning outcomes

• Demonstrate a broad knowledge of art works and the essential characteristics of art production in this period.
• Demonstrate critical evaluation of principal art-historical literature on this period.
• Apply underlying concepts to independently researched topic.