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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "EXP 1010"
COURSE NAME: "The Exhibition Review"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2025
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Adrienne Drake
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: FRI 9:00AM 1:00PM AND 2:00PM 6:00PM Course meets on: September 19 and September 20
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 15
CREDITS: 1
PREREQUISITES: Students can take a maximum of three 1 credit courses within the 120 credit graduation requirement.
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Grading: This course will be graded on a PASS/FAIL scale

The course is designed to introduce students to exhibition review techniques and to practice them. It consists of visits to current exhibitions in Rome, where students will learn skills for analytical viewing and active engagement with art exhibitions. Exhibitions are increasingly numerous and spectacular features in the art-historical landscape. They give us first-hand contact with a vast array of artworks, and they often introduce us to unfamiliar works. But they are also difficult to negotiate. How do we take in the many, carefully orchestrated stimuli and keep a critical distance? How do we analyze the narrative that is being proposed? How do we focus? Exhibition reviews exist to help viewers with these questions.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

Over the course of four meetings, we will visit several art exhibitions on view in Rome and each in different contexts, including commercial galleries, public museums, non-profit private institutions, and art in the public sphere. When looking at these exhibitions, we will focus our attention on the development of skills to understand, analyse and write about both individual artworks and exhibitions as an intricate whole.

We will be looking intently for what the artist is trying to say and what they are actually saying, what the work reveals about society and our current condition. Thinking critically, we will also examine the nuances of display, studying a show’s framing of the artist, and how institutions sculpt artists’ biographies and practices to engage with current ideas in art and presumed affinities of the art audience. 

While developing the ability to describe, analyse and interpret artworks and exhibitions, we will also look at examples of significant art criticism to see how critics’ written words affect the ways we see and understand art. Today, art criticism no longer adheres to a single, dominating approach; rather, contemporary criticism is marked by a plurality of perspectives, including feminist, social, political, literary and personal. We will focus on examples in which criticism is written more experimentally, to encourage students to develop their own unique writing style.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

- Cultivate an understanding of the development and chronology of contemporary art criticism.

- Recognise key writers, theoreticians and cultural figures and their contributions to critical thinking about art.

- Understand how art critics’ written words affect the ways we see and understand art today.

- Learn to examine and think critically about the politics of exhibition display.

- Develop skills in the describing, analyzing and interpreting of artworks and exhibitions.
TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Exhibition reviewStudents will be asked to draft a c. 500 word review or critical text about one of the exhibitions that we will visit during the course.Pass/Fail

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Grading: This course will be graded on a PASS/FAIL scale

The course is designed to introduce students to exhibition review techniques and to practice them. It consists of visits to current exhibitions in Rome, where students will learn skills for analytical viewing and active engagement with art exhibitions. Exhibitions are increasingly numerous and spectacular features in the art-historical landscape. They give us first-hand contact with a vast array of artworks, and they often introduce us to unfamiliar works. But they are also difficult to negotiate. How do we take in the many, carefully orchestrated stimuli and keep a critical distance? How do we analyze the narrative that is being proposed? How do we focus? Exhibition reviews exist to help viewers with these questions.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

Friday, September 19 - from 9am to 6pm
brief introduction to contemporary criticism and site visits to exhibitions in Rome

Saturday, September 20 - from 9am to 6pm
continued introduction to contemporary criticism and site visits to exhibitions in Rome

* The complete list of exhibitions and art spaces will be posted on Moodle prior to the first meeting.


Bibliography:
Barnet, Sylvan. A short guide to writing about art. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. (Frohring Library)

Earnest, Jarrett. What it Means to Write About Art: Interviews with art critics. David Zwirner Books, 2018.

e-flux Journal

https://www.e-flux.com/journal/

Elkins, James. What Happened to Art Criticism? Prickly Paradigm Press, 2003.

Elkins, James. What Is Interesting Writing in Art History? The University of Edinburgh, 2014.

Groys, Boris. Art Power. The MIT Press, 2013. (Frohring Library)

Heartney, Eleanor. Out of the Ivory Tower: Social Responsibility and the Art Critic, 1996 (republished on Artnet).

http://www.artnet.com/magazine_pre2000/features/heartney/heartney3-18-96.asp

Hickey, Dave. Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy. Art Issues Press, 1997.

Hickey, Dave. The Invisible Dragon: Essays on Beauty and Other Matters: 30th Anniversary Edition. Art Issues Press, 2023.

hooks, bell. Art on My Mind: Visual Politics. The New Press, 1995.

HYPERALLERGIC

https://hyperallergic.com

Laing, Olivia. Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency. W W Norton & Co Inc, 2020. (Frohring Library)

Lippard, Lucy. From the Center: Feminist Essays on Women's Art. Plume, 1976. (Frohring Library)

Lonzi, Carla. Self-portrait. Divided Publishing, 2021 (English translation). (Frohring Library)

McEvilley, Thomas. Doctor Lawyer Indian Chief: “Primitivism in 20th Century Art.” Artforum, 1984 (republished in Artforum).

https://www.artforum.com/features/primitivism-in-20th-century-art-at-the-museum-of-modern-art-in-1984-207620/

Nelson, Maggie. On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint. Vintage Publishing, 2021. (Frohring Library)

Nelson, Maggie. The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning. W.W. Norton & Co, 2011. (Frohring Library)

Nochlin, Linda. Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists. ARTnews, 1971 (reprinted in ARTnews May 30, 2015).

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists-4201/

Rubinstein, Raphael. Where Is the Audience for Art Criticism Now? Art in America, 2019.

https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/where-is-the-audience-for-art-criticism-now-63661/

Solnit, Rebecca. A Field Guide to Getting Lost. Penguin Books, 2006.

Solnit, Rebecca. Men Explain Things to Me. Haymarket Books, 2014.

Tate, Greg. Cult-Nats Meet Freaky-Deke. The Village Voice, January 10, 2020 (originally published December 9, 1986).

https://www.villagevoice.com/cult-nats-meet-freaky-deke/

Tate, Greg. Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America. Touchstone; reprint edition 2015 (first published in 1992).

Wallis, Brian. Art After Modernism (Art Criticism and Theory). David R. Godine, 1992.

Wilde, Oscar. The Critic as Artist. David Zwirner Books, 2019 (first published in 1891). (Frohring Library)

Williams, Gilda. How to Write About Contemporary Art. Thames & Hudson, 2014.