To mark the Barbican鈥檚 forthcoming exhibition听Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty, the first of the artist in the UK in over 50 years, The Courtauld Research Forum is hosting a conversation between acclaimed鈥art historian Hal Foster (Princeton) and Dubuffet scholar Kent Minturn (Institute of Fine Arts, New York University). Based on Hal Foster鈥檚 2020 monograph听Brutal Aesthetics: Dubuffet,听Bataille,听Jorn,听Paolozzi, Oldenburg听(Princeton University Press).听
In听Brutal Aesthetics, leading art historian Hal Foster explores听how听postwar听artists and writers searched for a new foundation听of culture after the massive devastation of World War II, the听Holocaust, and the atomic bomb. Inspired by the notion that听modernist art can teach us how to survive a civilization become听barbaric, Foster examines the various ways that key听figures听from the early 1940s to the early 1960s sought to develop a听鈥渂rutal aesthetics鈥 adequate to the destruction around them.听With a focus on the philosopher Georges Bataille, the painters听Jean Dubuffet and Asger听Jorn, and the sculptors Eduardo听Paolozzi听and Claes Oldenburg, Foster investigates a manifold听move to strip art down, or to reveal it as already bare, in order听to begin again. What does听Bataille听seek in the prehistoric听cave paintings of Lascaux? How does Dubuffet imagine听an听art brut, an art unscathed by culture? Why does听Jorn听populate听his paintings with 鈥渉uman animals鈥? What does听Paolozzi听see听in his monstrous听figures assembled from industrial听debris?听And why does Oldenburg remake everyday products from听urban scrap? A study of artistic practices made desperate听by a world in crisis, Brutal Aesthetics is an intriguing听account听of a difficult era in twentieth-century culture,听one that has important implications for our own.听
Hal Foster is the author of numerous books, including, mostly recently,鈥What Comes After Farce? Art and Criticism at a Time of Debacle鈥(Verso, 2020), 补苍诲鈥Brutal Aesthetics鈥(Princeton University Press, 2020), his 2018 Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery in Washington. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he teaches at Princeton University, co-edits the journal鈥October, and contributes regularly to the鈥London Review of Books鈥补苍诲鈥Artforum.听
Kent Minturn is a New York-based art historian and critic, currently teaching for Columbia听University鈥檚 鈥疉rt听Humanities program. He has published widely on Art Brut and Jean Dubuffet, including a recent essay in鈥October鈥on the artist鈥檚 relationship with the late French philosopher, Hubert听Damisch. In the spring of 2019 Minturn led a seminar on 鈥淢odernism鈥檚 Reception of the Art of the Insane鈥 at The Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.鈥听
Organised by Professor David Peters Corbett (The Courtauld) and Eleanor Nairne (The Barbican)听
