How have the societal stakes of “contemporary art” evolved since 1945, in local, regional, and global terms? This special edition of Art since 1945, tied to the 58th Carnegie International (September 24, 2022-April 2, 2023), will address this question through a close examination of Carnegie Museum of Art (CMOA)’s approach to collecting and exhibiting art since 1945. The Carnegie International is the second-oldest multiannual exhibition of contemporary art in the world and remains among the most consequential to take place around the globe. The fact that it takes place across the street from Pitt’s Frick Fine Arts Building, and that Pitt students can visit the museum anytime for free during the academic year, provides us with an unparalleled opportunity to study the most urgent tendencies and debates in contemporary art firsthand. We will meet in the galleries at CMOA most weeks, to examine works currently on display from the permanent collection of art produced since 1945 alongside the projects included in the 58th Carnegie International. We will compare and contrast developments in painting, sculpture, and photography, as well as conceptual, performance, and installation art. Works by artists from around the world will be analyzed in the context of the shifting political and technological circumstances of the post-World War II era. By the end of the semester, students will be able to relate contemporary artistic strategies to specific historical and cultural contexts, and to critically assess works of art and exhibitions in terms of broader identity-based, mass media, and economic concerns and phenomena.
