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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.

Ruth Asawa, Spring (1965). Artist, activist, and art education advocate Ruth Asawa learned to draw and paint as a child in the Japanese internment camps during WWII. 

Ruth Asawa, Spring (1965). Artist, activist, and art education advocate Ruth Asawa learned to draw and paint as a child in the Japanese internment camps during WWII. 

Weekly Flipboard Links and Media Round Up

March 11, 2018

As spring is just around the corner, the art world's attention has shifted this week to New York where Armory Arts Week opened to kick off the 2018 art season. With over 200 exhibitors representing international galleries, artist collectives, and public art programs, the Armory show often sets the tone for what can be expected in terms of themes, issues, and yes, fashion and taste, for the year to come. This year, mirroring my own experience at the College Arts Association conference in LA last month, the event has been overshadowed in many important, but also cynical (and some would argue potentially destructive) ways, by the spectre of the Trump administration and the abject fear of how shifting US government policies may impact art activism and the role art can play in speaking truth to power.

At a time when the art market is once again breaking records (as it did this same week at the Sotheby's auction in London), there is the everpresent disconnect between art valuations and the value of subversive thought that underpins many of the works at auction. Still, one of the ironies of the overheated art market is renewed focus and attention that is being paid to artists who have often fallen just off the radar of conventional art histories. Case in point is my artist in focus this week, Ruth Asawa.

Artist, activist, and art education advocate Ruth Asawa learned to draw and paint as a child in the Japanese internment camps during WWII. She would go on to challenge visual arts boundaries and make her unique mark in the American art scene. I highly recommend a recent New Yorker article that touches on her important legacy and body of work within the context of a recent commercial art exhibition promoting her works for sale:

"The addition of Asawa to art’s overwhelmingly white-male hit parade comes at a critical time in our country, as the policies of the current Administration challenge the undeniable fact that the United States is a nation of immigrants. Asawa’s parents were farmers, who emigrated to rural California from Japan. (“Sculpture is like farming,” the artist once said. “If you just keep at it, you can get quite a lot done.”)"

Enjoy this week's links, and get out into that spring sunshine!

"Someone Yarn-Bombed a Guggenheim Museum Toilet with Gold Crochet"
"Someone Yarn-Bombed a Guggenheim Museum Toilet with Gold Crochet"

hyperallergic.com

"Ai Weiwei Will Make the Refugee Crisis Personal in His Upcoming Qatar Show"
"Ai Weiwei Will Make the Refugee Crisis Personal in His Upcoming Qatar Show"

artnet.com

"Jean-Luc Godard’s Models for a Scuttled Exhibition Are Artworks in Their Own Right"
"Jean-Luc Godard’s Models for a Scuttled Exhibition Are Artworks in Their Own Right"

hyperallergic.com

"How the 1913 Armory Show Dispelled the Belief that Good Art Had to Be Beautiful"
"How the 1913 Armory Show Dispelled the Belief that Good Art Had to Be Beautiful"

artsy.net

"A Flag Is a Flag Is a Flag"
"A Flag Is a Flag Is a Flag"

nybooks.com

"New Adventures in Old Masters: How Art Historical Detective Work Gives Dealers at TEFAF an Edge"
"New Adventures in Old Masters: How Art Historical Detective Work Gives Dealers at TEFAF an Edge"

artnet.com

"What Is the Perfect Color Worth?"
"What Is the Perfect Color Worth?"

nytimes.com

"The Handmaid's Tale costume designer Ane Crabtree on the feminist power of fashion (PODCAST)"
"The Handmaid's Tale costume designer Ane Crabtree on the feminist power of fashion (PODCAST)"

cbc.ca

"Identifying art through machine learning with the MoMA #GoogleArts (VIDEO)"
"Identifying art through machine learning with the MoMA #GoogleArts (VIDEO)"

googlearts

"The Spring Break Art Show: A Good Time Show Disrupted by the Specter of Trump (PODCAST)"
"The Spring Break Art Show: A Good Time Show Disrupted by the Specter of Trump (PODCAST)"

explainme

"Someone Yarn-Bombed a Guggenheim Museum Toilet with Gold Crochet" "Ai Weiwei Will Make the Refugee Crisis Personal in His Upcoming Qatar Show" "Jean-Luc Godard’s Models for a Scuttled Exhibition Are Artworks in Their Own Right" "How the 1913 Armory Show Dispelled the Belief that Good Art Had to Be Beautiful" "A Flag Is a Flag Is a Flag" "New Adventures in Old Masters: How Art Historical Detective Work Gives Dealers at TEFAF an Edge" "What Is the Perfect Color Worth?" "The Handmaid's Tale costume designer Ane Crabtree on the feminist power of fashion (PODCAST)" "Identifying art through machine learning with the MoMA #GoogleArts (VIDEO)" "The Spring Break Art Show: A Good Time Show Disrupted by the Specter of Trump (PODCAST)"
  • Someone Yarn-Bombed a Guggenheim Museum Toilet with Gold Crochet
  • Ai Weiwei Will Make the Refugee Crisis Personal in His Upcoming Qatar Show
  • Jean-Luc Godard’s Models for a Scuttled Exhibition Are Artworks in Their Own Right
  • How the 1913 Armory Show Dispelled the Belief that Good Art Had to Be Beautiful
  • A Flag Is a Flag Is a Flag
  • New Adventures in Old Masters: How Art Historical Detective Work Gives Dealers at TEFAF an Edge
  • What Is the Perfect Color Worth?
  • The Handmaid's Tale costume designer Ane Crabtree on the feminist power of fashion (PODCAST)
  • The Spring Break Art Show: A Good Time Show Disrupted by the Specter of Trump (PODCAST)
  • Identifying art through machine learning with the MoMA #GoogleArts (VIDEO)

 

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© Dorothy Barenscott, 2010-2025