Courses

This course examines the politics of identity in visual art of the United States from the 1990s to the present alongside the development of sensory studies. We will consider the rise and fall in multicultural initiatives and the subsequent emergence of post-identity discourse in the arts that marks this period. Our focus is on artistic practices that challenge the visual rhetoric of race, gender, class, sexuality, and ethnicity. Students will read texts that fall under the rubrics of feminism, performance studies, musicology, African American and African Diaspora studies, and critical race theory among others. At the same time, literature on the history and social construction of the senses will provide a framework for us to explore how smell, sound, taste, and touch affect our experience of works of art as well as how we engage with one another. Key developments and exhibitions—such as the significant entry of practitioners from the African diaspora into the international art world, advancements in technology, the 1993 Whitney Biennial, and “Freestyle” (2001) at the Studio Museum in Harlem-—will anchor our discussion.