Avant-garde Art, 100 Years On

Technology, cinema, fake news, Ikea, #metoo, revolution, visual culture…One hundred years on, we are asking ourselves: what was the historic relevance of the avant-garde art movements? What features of their intellectual vitality remain in 21st-century cultural practices?

Based on these considerations, the course asks six experts to analyze six of the foundational art movements and to offer their own views on the artistic events of the time.

Just over a century ago, strong winds of change blew across the world of the arts in Europe. Rebel voices and revolutionary manifestos sprang up everywhere, with such force that they put an end to the dictates of the academic norms hitherto imposed by Academies of Fine Arts. As a result, the fractured images of Cubism were painted, ideology overcame aesthetics in major cities, discontent and rebellion occupied the stage, the urgent need for art for all was proclaimed and light was cast onto the dark side of creativity. Movements gave way to anti-movements, and style was in danger of self-destruction.

These lectures and debates will enable both professionals and those interested in culture to hear the opinions of experts on the most relevant 20th-century art movements, in terms of today’s globalized world. Prior to each live session participants will be given abundant theoretical, bibliographic and multimedia material. The sessions will be held online and have a total duration of 25 hours.

Course organized in collaboration with Fundación General de la Universidad de Málaga.

Programme

Thursday 29th October
Cubism: Art and its Double.
Eugenio Carmona. Universidad de Málaga Watch the lecture here..

Thursday 5th November
Defeating the Sun. Natural language in Expressionism.
Javier Arnaldo. Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Watch the lecture here..

Thursday 12th November
On the Tip of Your Tongue. Dadá: Discontent and Rebellion.
Fernando Castro. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Watch the lecture here..

Thursday 19th November
Total Bauhaus: Teaching, Design and Architecture for Everyday Life.
Joaquín Medina Warmburg. Karlsruher Institut für Technologie
Watch the lecture here..

Wednesday 25th November The Anxieties of the Conscious. Automatism and Defamiliarization in the Surrealist Tradition.
Luis Puelles Romero. Universidad de Málaga
Watch the lecture here..

Thursday 3rd December
The Feminist Revolution.
Patricia Mayayo Bost. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Watch the lecture here..