Modern and Contemporary Art in London

This module focuses on art works exhibited in London collections and temporary exhibitions, discussing and theorising the evolution of the modern art object from the nineteenth-century to present. Through a series of seminar- and gallery-based classes, the module will closely scrutinise a broad range of art objects, including painting, sculpture, photography, and video, to consider how the development of visual technologies, materials and techniques are negotiated by artists and have impacted on the critical methodologies developed by art historians. Each week will take a different thematic category to foreground discussion, helping to address changing cultural, social, and historical contexts in the making of visual art and its relationship to current sites of exhibition and mechanism of display.

Course leader

Dr. Tom Snow

Target group

This is a level one module (equivalent to first year undergraduate). No prior subject knowledge is required to study this module but students are expected to have a keen interest in the subject area. Students must have completed at least one year of undergraduate study by the start of the module in order to enroll.

Course aim

Upon successful completion of this module, students will:

have developed a good understanding of London’s major collections and cultural institutions.
have acquired knowledge regarding art’s relationship to the moment of its making and current site of exhibition.
have obtained a good understanding of historical shifts in materials and the materiality of modern to contemporary art.
have gained skills in comparative and alternative ways of seeing and critique.
have obtained a good introductory understanding to theoretical notions of production and consumption, and systems of social and cultural valuation.