Introduction to Art of the United States (230-0-1)

Instructors

Risa Aja Puleo

Meeting Info

Block Pick-Laudati Auditorium: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

Our study of the Native American art begins in 1848, with settler expansion into the American West, and ends in 1992 with the 500th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the United States. Within this period, we will consider a diverse range of media, including basketry, ceramics, textiles, jewelry, painting, sculpture, and performance, installation, video, film, photography and institutional critique to understand:

- How engagements with settlers, scientists, and tourists placed aesthetic demands of "tradition" on Native art in the earliest moments westward expansion
- How the political policy of assimilation worked in tandem with cultural appropriation in the early 20th century
- How Native insistence on sovereignty and the Red Power Movement broke the established expectations settlers placed on Native artists
- How Native artists have navigated the complexities of presenting their work within settler institutions
- How Native art expresses Gerald Vizenor's idea of "survivance," the "renunciation of dominance, tragedy and victimry."

Each week, students will also be introduced to contemporary Native artists working over the past 20 years whose research-based practices shed new light on history.

Class Materials (Required)

There is no required textbook for this course.

Class Attributes

Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area