(Anti-)Fascism & Avant Garde Movements

In preparation for the 2024 Reckford Lecture on Feb. 29, the Center for European Studies will host a panel discussion about the relationship between fascism, anti-fascism, and avant-garde art movements.

During the interwar period, a plethora of avant-garde movements took hold of Europe. From futurism and surrealism to expressionism and dada, the shock of World War I motivated artists across the continent to interrogate older notions of art and rethink art’s relationship to society. In this panel discussion, Profs. Curley, Langston and Sherman will give us an introduction to some of these art movements and explain the artists’ position vis a vis the rising threat of fascism. While the Italian futurists embraced Mussolini’s rise to power, Nazis considered German expressionism “degenerate art.” In a contemporary moment charged with debates around art and politics, what can we learn from this intriguing historical moment? And what remnants of these movements persisted into the postwar period?

The panelists will be:

• John Curley, Professor of Art History, Wake Forest University
• Richard Langston, Professor and Chair of the Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literature Department, UNC-Chapel Hill
• Priscilla Layne, Director, Center for European Studies, and Professor, Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literature Department, UNC-Chapel Hill
• Dan Sherman, Lineberger Distinguished Professor, Art and Art History Department, UNC-Chapel Hill

Eligible for CLE credit. Light refreshments will be served.

Sponsored by the Center for European Studies, the Institute for the Arts and Humanities and the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures.

RSVP for the Reckford Lecture on Feb. 29 with Christine Poggi.