London is one of the world’s most vibrant centres of contemporary art. Full of enterprising galleries and artists’ spaces that have burgeoned across the capital, it has attracted artists of many different nationalities to live and work here.

This intensive course is aimed at students seeking to experience the art scene in London at close quarters and to learn about the wider historic and cultural implications of contemporary art in context, perhaps with a view to working in the field or to pursuing further study of the subject.

Students are introduced to the world of contemporary art in special talks given by artists, curators, academics and art critics. The market for contemporary art and the role of the contemporary art curator and the collector are also addressed, and visits are made to a wide range of commercial, public and studio spaces.

Through a variety of seminars and assignments, the course seeks to develop visual and critical abilities in relation to contemporary art practice, to foster reflectivity and independent research potential, and to assist students in the acquisition of knowledge and skills that are appropriate to the art world.

The course is introductory and requires no prior knowledge of the field.

Sample Topics

• British art, 1945-78
• Art of the 1960s
• Conceptual art and the return to painting, 1970-80
• Appropriation to installation, 1980-90
• British art, 1994 to the present
• Globalism
• Contemporary art sales
• Art since relational aesthetics
• The portrait in contemporary art
• Art and photography
• The rise of the curator
• Art of the millennium
• Monumentality in contemporary art
• Alternative spaces in London
• Performance art and its revival

• Tate Modern
• Tate Britain
• Hayward Gallery
• The Curve
• White Cube Gallery
• Serpentine Gallery
• Saatchi Gallery
• Whitechapel Gallery
• Haunch of Venison
• Barbican Art Gallery
• East End and West End galleries
• Alternative/artist-run spaces