Contemporary Art in the 1990s - HOA00111I

«Back to module search

Module summary

This module looks at the shifts in art making and display between 1989 and 2001. This period is often thought of as one in which the neo-liberal agenda triumphed with globalization as a watchword. Much of the discontent with this new world order can be found in the artistic practices that developed during this time.

In the lectures we will look predominantly at the work of the period through a range of exhibitions - from small gallery shows to large biennials - which have had an effect on subsequent practice. In the seminars we will discuss significant theoretical texts that underpin particular types of practice and look at specific artists, critics, and curators in greater depth.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 1 2026-27

Module aims

This module aims to give a broad grounding in the development of artistic practice in the 1990s. Diverse ideas continue to have a purchase in contemporary art today (such as audience participation, abject art, art reflecting globalisation, art as media spectacle) developed significantly in this period: this module will introduce these ideas within a critical framework.

Students will develop skills in academic writing, where they will be required to address a clearly demarcated historical period - bringing to bear aspects of social history on the works they are looking at, and a variety of local, national, and international contexts - which they will be expected to address in their regional, racial, and sexual diversity.

Students will develop skills in class discussion, both presenting clearly and listening carefully.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should have acquired:

• A broad working knowledge of major questions that are raised by art works produced across the long 1990s.
• A broad knowledge of the social context in which the works studied were produced.
• A broad understanding of the debates within art criticism from the period and the development of artists' writing in this context.
• The skill to choose an appropriate artwork in order to make a clear and concise argument in a brief essay.
• The skill to write clearly and concisely about complex ideas.
• The ability to articulate their own position on the topics we have discussed in the seminar and locate those opinions within the critical literature that we have read in class.

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Module feedback

You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Supervisor during their Office Hours.

Indicative reading

• Jack Bankowsky, ‘Slackers,’ Artforum, 30, no. 3 (November 1991): 96-100.
• Nicolas Bourriaud, Relational Aesthetics, (Paris: Les Presse Du Reel, 1998).
• Sunil Gupta, We Were Here: Selected Writings by Sunil Gupta, (New York: Aperture, 2022).
• Okwui Enwezor, Selected Writings, Volume 1: Toward a New African Art Discourse, (Durham NC: Duke, 2025).
• David Harvey, ‘Globalization and the “Spatial Fix”,’ Geographische Revue 2 (2001): 23-30.
• Amelia Jones, Seeing Differently: A History and Theory of Identification in the Visual Arts, (London: Routledge, 2012).
• Kellie Jones, EyeMinded, (Durham NC: Duke, 2011).
• Mike Kelley, Foul Perfection, (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2003).
• Roxana Maroci and Phil Taylor eds Wolfgang Tilmans: A Reader, (New York: MoMA, 2021).
• Stuart Morgan, What the Butler Saw: Selected Writings by Stuart Morgan, (London: Durian, 1996).
• Lisa Philips et al NYC 1993: Experimental Jet Set Trash and No Star, (New York: New Museum, 2013).