This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

 

Modern Art and Mass Culture

A black and white photo of President Carter and Andy Warhol.

President Jimmy Carter receives a portrait from the artist Andy Warhol. (Image courtesy of the US National Archives and Records Administration.)

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

4.602

As Taught In

Spring 2004

Level

Undergraduate

Translated Versions

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Course Features

Course Description

This class provides an introduction to modern art and theories of modernism and postmodernism. It focuses on the way artists use the tension between fine art and mass culture to mobilize a critique of both. We will examine objects of visual art including painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, and video. These objects will be viewed in their interaction with advertising, caricature, comics, graffiti, television, fashion, folk art, and so-called "primitive" art.