Summer at City Lit

Discover international, interdisciplinary ‘anti-art’ movement Fluxus and explore the use of ‘shock’ tactic in their revolutionary video art and performances.

Explore and discuss contemporary art on show in London. Each week we’ll visit 1-2 commercial galleries or a public gallery and examine specific exhibitions of contemporary art across a range of media including painting, works on paper, photography, new media and sculpture.

It is generally accepted that medieval illuminated manuscripts are very beautiful things. Something to do with all that gold-leaf maybe. While we cannot hold them in class, close-up digital reproduction will allow us to see if they really are as beautiful as we are told. Indeed, are none of them ugly? Join this course to find out.

Costume from the past rarely survives, except in the depiction of it in paintings. Explore 500 years of costume in European art across a range of subject matter and decode the socio-political contexts and cultural identities contained within the choice of dress. This course takes place in London-area museums.

Explore a selection of European films that draw on cinematic traditions of fantasy, horror and surrealism, but which have also acquired significant critical reputations, with their striking visual styles, dreamlike narratives and dark themes lending them an enduring place in both film and popular culture in general. Strange tales and dark dreams to fascinate, horrify and astound you.

After the release of Spielberg’s Jaws, Hollywood was transformed once again. In the age of



the blockbuster, stars again found a new type of fame and arguably became one of the key



points of interest for the movie-going audience. However, as blockbusters grew, so did



independent American cinema. The indie stars represented a very different version of



stardom, and in particular, drew attention to the appreciation of an actor’s performance.

Explore the home and art collection of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.