Part 9 - Second discussion, before closing

Part 5 - First discussion - before lunch

Part 2 - Matthew Gale

Starting from the surrealist context of Miró’s art it moves to the broader theme of the complex relationship between art and politics. Speakers address a range of issues, from the specific contexts in which Miró worked, to the ‘radicalism’ of surrealism. Curators, academics and artists contribute to the debates. Speakers include artists Frederic Amat and Eva Bosch, art historians and curators Jon Bird, William Jeffett, Robert Lubar and Gill Perry, philosopher Nigel Warburton, and curators of the Miró exhibition Matthew Gale and Marko Daniel.

Part 6 - Round table discussion and Q&A chaired by Gill Perry

This study day is dedicated to the memory of Professor Charles Harrison, Emeritus Professor of the History and Theory of Art at The Open University. On the occasion of two major exhibitions of abstract art, Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New World and Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, this study day considers some of the broad issues and ideas associated with the concept of 'abstraction'.  

Part 11 - Round table discussion and Q&A chaired by Marko Daniel

This study day is dedicated to the memory of Professor Charles Harrison, Emeritus Professor of the History and Theory of Art at The Open University. On the occasion of two major exhibitions of abstract art, Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New World and Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, this study day considers some of the broad issues and ideas associated with the concept of 'abstraction'.  

Part 7 - Matthew Gale: 'Arshile Gorky: A World Equal to Nature'

This study day is dedicated to the memory of Professor Charles Harrison, Emeritus Professor of the History and Theory of Art at The Open University. On the occasion of two major exhibitions of abstract art, Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New World and Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, this study day considers some of the broad issues and ideas associated with the concept of 'abstraction'.  

Discussion 1 This symposium explores the controversial status of Futurist movements in art history, and some of their ‘avant-garde’ practices. Speakers engage with various forms of Futurist art, performance and film, including the use of manifestos and demonstrations. Italian Futurism will be viewed in relation to other radical art practices across Europe. The Futurists’ disdain for traditional values and their pursuit of an ‘art of modern life’ will be explored in relation to prevailing concepts of modernity and ‘avant-garde’ utopias.

Matthew Gale and Gill Perry, ‘The raging broom of madness’: making an exhibition of Futurism  The presentation covers some of the ideas, issues and decisions that went into making Futurism at Tate Modern. It covers a range from conception to installation, including such concerns as how to present the manifestos and what happened to Balla's dog?

Sophie Howarth, Paul Wood, Matthew Gale, Dominic Willsdon, Discussion 1

Matthew Gale, Carving out a Reputation  Brancusi has a reputation as a skillful peasant camping in the milieu of Montparnasse modernism. Purity and innocence are habitually used to describe both the artist and his work. However, it is clear that this can be traced back to the complex myth that Brancusi constructed for himself. Matthew Gale, curator of Tate Modern's exhibition Brancusi: The Essence of Things, considers some of the questions of validity that accumulated around Brancusi's work, as it generated controversies around the world, and how the sculptor came to embody ideas of authenticity.