While early modernism worked to discredit conventions that had long constrained the professional practice of art, it also contributed to the creation of new hierarchies that tended to marginalize artists who did not live and work in the established centers of the avant-garde. Taking the artists’ colony in Skagen, Denmark, as a case study, this talk examines ways in which artists from the periphery came together to negotiate a place of legitimacy for themselves in the mainstream.
Thor J. Mednick earned a PhD in 2009 from Indiana University, Bloomington, School of Fine Arts, Department of the History of Art, specializing in the areas of 19th and 20th century European Art, with minors in African art, as well as European and American History. In 2003, he earned an MA in Art History/Museum Studies, with a Museum Studies Certificate, from the University of Southern California, Art History Department. Prior to that, in 1993, he earned a BFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California, School of Cinema/Television. In Spring 2003, he also studied at Denmark‘s University of Copenhagen, Institute for Fine Arts, taking written examination in Modern Danish Art. He is an internationally recognized expert with a solid record of publications, presentations, exhibitions, awards, fellowships, and numerous works in progress.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Michelle Facos