Asia Society Philippines, together with the Ateneo Art Gallery and the Ayala Museum invite both veteran and budding art history enthusiasts to WHEN CONTEMPORARY ART BECAME GLOBAL (1986 to 2017), a lecture series on contemporary art, to be held every Tuesday and Wednesday at the Ayala Museum from March 7 to 29, 6-8pm.

WHEN CONTEMPORARY ART BECAME GLOBAL (1986 to 2017) focuses on the way contemporary art has veered away from the dominance of New York and Western Europe after key events and exhibitions in the late eighties. This series of eight lectures will look at artists across the world, including Southeast Asia, tackling issues such as the creation of art for public spaces, the growing split between Biennale Art and Auction Art, and the role of art in today’s society. The series promises to be an insightful dive into art history, intended for both casual and devoted art enthusiasts.

Professor Tony Godfrey serves as the lecturer for this series. Working in the contemporary art world since 1978, he has taught in several universities including Yale, NYU and Oxford, and headed the Master’s Program in Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s Institute London. Godfrey is based in Manila where he teaches part-time while working as a writer and curator with artists from South East Asia and the rest of the world. Professor Godfrey has also headlined other lecture series with the Ateneo Art Gallery to much success.

Program syllabus is as follows:

March 7. LECTURE 1: 1986: Did Contemporary Start Now?

• What does the death of Warhol and Beuys in this year signify?
• The heyday of Neo-expressionist painters, Baselitz, Kiefer, Clemente
• The advent of Jeff Koons and Neo-conceptualism

March 8. LECTURE 2: Sculpture and Public Projects

• Can you make sculpture after Minimalism?
• Anish Kapoor, Anthony Gormley, Thomas Schutte, Montien Boonma 1987/1997 Munster Skulptur projekte
• Places with a past, Charleston 1991

March 14. LECTURE 3: The Others

• Is this the point when art became global - or sort of?
• Magiciens de la Terre, Paris 1989, Whitney Biennial 1993
• Ilya Kabakov, Sophie Calle, Xu Bing

March 15. LECTURE 4: Thinking and Participation

• Is art about thinking and interacting rather than looking at objects and pictures?
• Thinking: Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Roberto Chabet
• Participation: Carsten Holler, Rikrit Tiranavija, fog, slides, green curry

March 21. LECTURE 5: Installation Art & Video Installation

• Are these actual art forms?
• What does video art do that film and TV don’t do better?
• Matthew Barney, Ann Hamilton, Sooja Kim, Isaac Julien, etc.

March 22. LECTURE 6: Biennale Art

• Is this the age of the curator?
• Is there such a thing as “International Biennale Art” as opposed to “Auction Art.”
• What is the best art shown at biennales?
• Sara Sze, William Kentridge, Danh Vo, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, etc.

March 28. LECTURE 7: Painting at This Moment

• Is anything new, interesting or excellent happening in painting now?
• Neo Rauch, Agus Suwage, Nigel Cooke, Aytjoe Christine, etc.

March 29. LECTURE 8: Who Are the Great Artists of Our Age? What Next?

• Are Gerhard Richter, Cy Twombly, Marina Abramovic, Yayoi Kusama, etc. great artists?
• Are there older artists now who have a profound late style like Rembrandt or Cezanne?
• What are the next generation of young artists bringing into the world?

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Tickets are priced at Php 1,200 per session, Php 1,000 prepaid for 4 sessions, and Php 800 prepaid for 8 sessions.

For reservations, please contact:

• John Balaguer of Ayala Museum at [email protected]
• Tricia Raya of Ateneo Art Gallery at [email protected] or (02) 426 6488