PENN LIGHTBULB CAFÉ

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, associate professor and undergraduate chair, History of Art Department “What is American Art?” As we move toward an increasingly pluralistic society in the United States, one in which political and social parity is being achieved by greater segments of society, the idea that works of art should be discussed in separate groups based on a perception of a shared “identity” among the objects’ makers (blacks, women, queers), rather than on the works’ thematic or conceptual affinities, seems increasingly regressive. And yet, such practices persist. Prof. Shaw's talk will examine the contemporary art historical, curatorial, and critical strategies and tactics for using such markers as race, gender, sexuality and regional identity to interpret art today.