VSA2230

Australian art: 1880s to the present

(ART)

Leigh Astbury

8 points + 3 hours per week + Second semester + Clayton + Prerequisites: Two subjects at first-year level in visual culture or a comparable discipline

Synopsis: A study in major issues in Australian art from the 1880s to the present. After some discussion of relevant issues in the nineteenth century, the subject will concentrate on selected themes in twentieth-century art. Themes include the landscape as subject matter and the changing attitudes towards nature; the search for an Australian identity through art practice; the emergence of particular Australian myths; the influence of American abstract art in the 1960s; the manifestation of pluralism and the appearance of feminist art in the 1970s; the return to figuration in the 1980s; and the rise of contemporary Aboriginal art.

Assessment: Seminar paper (1500 words): 25% + Essay (3000 words): 50% + Visual test (1.5 hours): 25%