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Avant-Guardian Musings

  • Spring 2025
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“Art is an outlet toward regions which are not ruled by time and space”
— Marcel Duchamp

Avant-Guardian Musings is a curated space of ideas and information, resources, reviews and readings for undergraduate and graduate students studying modern and contemporary art history and visual art theory, film and photography studies, and the expanding field of visual culture and screen studies. For students currently enrolled in my courses or the field school, the blog and associated social media links also serve as a place of reflection and an extension of the ideas and visual material raised in lecture and seminar discussion.

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Blog
From the Archives | How (And Why) To Take Excellent Lecture Notes
From the Archives | How (And Why) To Take Excellent Lecture Notes
about 10 months ago
Weekly Musings + Round Up... And A Few More Things
Weekly Musings + Round Up... And A Few More Things
about 2 years ago
Weekly Musings + Round Up... And A Few More Things
about 2 years ago
Weekly Musings + Round Up... And A Few More Things
Weekly Musings + Round Up... And A Few More Things
about 2 years ago
Top 10 Modern and Contemporary Art Exhibitions Worth Visiting In 2023
Top 10 Modern and Contemporary Art Exhibitions Worth Visiting In 2023
about 2 years ago

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Delighted to find these iconic Tom Ford Whitney’s deep in my closet over the weekend ✨☀️🕶️Anyone else remember these sunglasses from back in the day? I want to say these are well over 15 years old and they were a very big splurge, but I loved
Delighted to find these iconic Tom Ford Whitney’s deep in my closet over the weekend ✨☀️🕶️Anyone else remember these sunglasses from back in the day? I want to say these are well over 15 years old and they were a very big splurge, but I loved rediscovering and wearing them today. Great design is timeless. Invest in things you love— your future self will thank you✨ . . . #tomford #sunglasses #tomfordwhitney #whatiwore #shamelessselfie
If Seoul was a colour, it would be neon and bright, and if it was a shape, it would be curved and post-structural.
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#artanddesign #odetoacity #urban #seoul #korea #design #contemporaryart #architecture
If Seoul was a colour, it would be neon and bright, and if it was a shape, it would be curved and post-structural. . . . #artanddesign #odetoacity #urban #seoul #korea #design #contemporaryart #architecture
Visited the stunning Leeum Museum of Art today and took in the spatial delights of Korean architecture married to modern art. What I love most is how the familiar European and American “masters” (i.e. Rodin, Giacometti, Rauschenberg, Hess
Visited the stunning Leeum Museum of Art today and took in the spatial delights of Korean architecture married to modern art. What I love most is how the familiar European and American “masters” (i.e. Rodin, Giacometti, Rauschenberg, Hesse, Flavin, Rothko, Andre, Lewitt, Stella, etc…) are curated both in dialogue with Korean modern artists such as Lee Ufan and Kim Chong-yung, but also in juxtaposition to the beautiful natural setting that is showcased through large windows throughout the complex. A must see gallery if you visit Seoul. . . . #seoul #korea #modernart #contemporaryart #koreanart #arthistory
Flaneur for the day in Seoul ✨🇰🇷 A global city of high contrast, beauty, and living history around every corner.
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#seoul #korea #flaneur #daytripping #streetart #contemporaryart #modernart #urbanart #arthistory #urban #globalcity
Flaneur for the day in Seoul ✨🇰🇷 A global city of high contrast, beauty, and living history around every corner. . . . #seoul #korea #flaneur #daytripping #streetart #contemporaryart #modernart #urbanart #arthistory #urban #globalcity
Hello Seoul! 🇰🇷🛬✨안녕하세요 서울 Lucky me, I am incredibly excited to have arrived in South Korea today and staying smack dab in the middle of the stylish Gangnam District at the COEX Conference Centre. It is my first time in this beautiful city and I ca
Hello Seoul! 🇰🇷🛬✨안녕하세요 서울 Lucky me, I am incredibly excited to have arrived in South Korea today and staying smack dab in the middle of the stylish Gangnam District at the COEX Conference Centre. It is my first time in this beautiful city and I cannot wait to begin exploring, especially the contemporary art and design scene. I am here to attend and give a paper at the #IPSA2025 International Political Science Association World Congress, the largest global gathering of researchers and academics working on all things political and international relations oriented. IPSA as an academic association was founded under the auspices of UNESCO in 1949 and is devoted to the advancement of political science in all parts of the world and promotes collaboration between scholars in both established and emerging democracies. The 2025 Conference theme is “Resisting Autocratization in Polarized Societies” and I was invited to present a paper on my ongoing work on Trumpism, the neo avante-garde, and visual culture on a panel examining the role of cultural actors during periods of democratic backsliding. I only had a few hours after I arrived to my hotel to check out COEX, but I had to see the world famous library housed inside the shopping complex. It was a very cool sight for a book nerd like me 🤓 . . . #seoul #korea #southkorea #politicalscience #arthistory #academiclife #conference @kpuarts @kwantlenu

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© Dorothy Barenscott, Avant-Guardian Musings, and dorothybarenscott.com, 2010-2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Dorothy Barenscott, Avant-Guardian Musings, and dorothybarenscott.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Street artist ELLE from Brooklyn, New York 08.2014 Flick by @scene_in_nyc

Street artist ELLE from Brooklyn, New York 08.2014 Flick by @scene_in_nyc

25 Street and Graffiti Artists (Besides Banksy) From Around the World to Follow Today

October 17, 2015

Street art, just like any other subversive visual arts form, has to contend with both the popularization of its practice and the changing styles and influences that shape the contours of its development both locally and globally. Teaching a special topics course on Urban, Street, and Graffiti Art this semester has provided a tremendous opportunity to further explore where the similarities exist between the aims and shared goals of the historical avant-garde (from the early to mid twentieth century) and the many groups of contemporary street artists located in major cities around the world.

Most recently, I asked the students in my class to complete a questionnaire to help me assign them a specific artist to follow and research for a larger term project in the course, and I was struck by both the incredible diversity and global reach that the final group of assigned artists represents in connection to my student’s own unique interests. I am sharing the assigned artists here with you  (and they can also be located on this dedicated Pinterest Board) in the hopes that I can spark further curiosity in an art form that attracts so much undeserved derision from many art historians and even from within the more mainstream art world (Jerry Saltz, I am looking at you!). Do people simply forget the story and legacy of Jean-Michel Basquiat? Perhaps that is only a further sign that this kind of art deserves even more serious attention. That said, I invite you to explore the following artists by clicking on the images below and following them on social media to see where their next projects take you.

In order from top to bottom, left to right: 

BTOY (Barcelona, Spain); ETAM KRU (Warsaw, Poland); ELLE (Brooklyn, USA); D*FACE (London, UK); WRKLESS (Vancouver, Canada); SWOON (New York, USA); LADY AIKO (Tokyo, Japan); Magda Sayeg (Houston, USA); FAITH47 (Cape Town, South Africa); Alec Monopoly (New York, USA); KEF (Aachen, Germany); INTI (Valparaíso Chile); ARTISTRASH (Barcelona, Spain); 281_ANTI-NUKE (Tokyo, Japan); Ron English (New York, USA); a1one (Tehran, Iran); SAMSAM (New Delhi, India); RETNA (Los Angeles, USA); Tatyana Fazlalizadeh (Brooklyn, USA); HANKSY (New York, USA); DALEAST (Beijing, China and Cape Town, South Africa); Shamsia Hassani (Kabul, Afghanistan); LIK ME (Bogota, Columbia); DAKU (New Delhi, India); AXEL VOID (Miami, Florida); I HEART (Vancouver, Canada)

BTOY (Barcelona, Spain)
ETAM KRU (Warsaw, Poland)
ELLE (Brooklyn, USA)
D*FACE (London, UK)
WRKLESS (Vancouver, Canada)
SWOON (New York, USA)
LADY AIKO (Tokyo, Japan)
Magda Sayeg (Houston, USA)
FAITH47 (Cape Town, South Africa)
Alec Monopoly (New York, USA)
KEF (Aachen, Germany)
INTI (Valparaíso, Chile)
ARTISTRASH (Barcelona, Spain)
281_ANTI-NUKE (Tokyo, Japan)
Ron English (New York, USA)
a1one (Tehran, Iran)
SAMSAM (New Delhi, India)
RETNA (Los Angeles, USA)
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh (Brooklyn, USA)
HANKSY (New York, USA)
DalEAST (Beijing, China and Cape Town, South Africa)
Shamsia Hassani (Kabul, Afghanistan)
LIK ME (Bogota, Columbia)
DAKU (New Delhi, India)
AXEL VOID (Miami, Florida)
I HEART (Vancouver, Canada)
← Courses for Spring 2016: Topics in American New Wave Film, Contemporary Art, and Film Studies CALL FOR PAPERS: Canadian Culinary Imaginations, A Symposium of Literary and Visual Fare →
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© Dorothy Barenscott, 2010-2025