ARTH 6507 - [Topics in Contemporary Art]

The 21st century gave rise to the phenomenon of the art super star, international celebrity artists, whose brands and markets were forged and maintained by their participation in a novel form of art tourism. Strategically traveling the globe between biennales, art fairs, auctions, designer museums, and blockbuster exhibitions, the new generation artists mapped hitherto uncharted routes for contemporary art. Along the way, the constellation of art world personalities – dealers, collectors, curators, scholars, and critics – got on board to praise the artists and their works, contributing to the aura of the art super star while transforming the global art economy. Students in this seminar study the presence of the art superstar in the global art economy by examining the factors that produce and maintain a star system star and the present mode of global art tourism in which she/he thrives. Through a series of case studies, we examine the popular modes of aesthetic practice (photography, installation, performance and video); the commonly recurring themes of work championed (the body and sexuality, the social condition and inequality, the artist’s origins or shared environmental concerns); and the nodes of commerce in art tourism (the artists’ studio, the biennial, the art fair, and so on). Class trip to NYC art fairs and auctions.