Feminism in modern and contemporary art
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
Course Code: VB536
Duration: 6 sessions (over 6 weeks)
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Center for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
In this 6-session art history course we focus on the modern and contemporary artists whose work is directly engaged with feminist politics and thought, or addresses some of feminist concerns implicitly. The course is structured around lectures and class discussions exploring how material changes and transformations of our ideas are reflected in the examined artworks. The artists we cover include Jeanne Memmen, Hannah Höch, Liubov Popova, Dora Maar, Claude Cahun, Carolee Schneemann, Shigeko Kubota, Hannah Wilke, Ana Mendieta, Valie Export, Sanja Ivekovic, ´ Nancy Spero, Judy Chicago, Barbara Kruger, Guerrilla Girls, Cindy Sherman, Martha Rosler, Pipilotti Rist, and Mona Hatoum. We discuss early 20th century representations of ‘New Woman’, the role of women in the Bauhaus, the body-related practices proliferated in the 1960s and 1970s along with the development of Feminist Art, and how women artists employed new media such as video as a means of critique of patriarchal society. We finish by looking at recent art that thematises the impact of technological development on women’s bodies, and by reflecting on its implications for feminism.
Please note: This course contains some visual material that is explicit and may be considered disturbing.
This is a live online course. You will need:
- Internet connection. The classes work best with Chrome.
- A computer with microphone and camera is best (e.g. a PC/laptop/iMac/MacBook), or a tablet/iPad/smart phone/iPhone if you don't have a computer.
- Earphones/headphones/speakers.
We will contact you with joining instructions before your course starts.
What will we cover?
• Painting, sculpture, photography, installation, performance, and moving image artworks from the avant-garde movements to most recent art, discussed in the context of feminism.
• How artists have been addressing some of the political and philosophical issues of concern within feminism.
• The social, political and cultural context in which these works were created, and the impact of women artists on the development of art movements and the use of new media.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
• Demonstrate improved visual analysis skills and an ability to situate the key works of art discussed in a broader cultural context.
• Describe at least two works by women avant-garde artists, two works by feminist artists from the 1970s and two works by more recent artists that can be linked to the feminist project.
• Evaluate the political and cultural relevance of artworks under consideration.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is suitable for all levels.
You should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions, demonstrations, hand-outs and health and safety informationas well as basic functions of Zoom, specifically microphone and camera.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
You will be taught by lecture with slide images and you will be invited to participate in group discussion. There will be handouts provided by your tutor; these handouts will be available digitally via a Google Classroom. You will be invited to join the Google Classroom within a week of your course start date.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
You might wish to purchase a notebook for taking notes. You might wish to buy some of the books on any reading list provided.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
You might also be interested in:
Art and critical theory: feminism and post-colonialism
German art 1910-1960: art, politics & culture in the wake of war
Art, politics & culture in East and West Germany, and after the Reunification.
Irina Chkhaidze completed her PhD in Art History at University College London. Prior to this, she studied Liberal Arts and gained an MA in Humanities in Germany. Irina has published articles on contemporary art, theories of posthumanism and human-animal relations. She has taught gallery-based courses at UCL, covering 19th to 21st century art. Currently, Irina also lectures on philosophy and social theory at Leeds Beckett University, and teaches on Critical Studies programme at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
