The Last Art College: Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1968-1978

Presented by

Curated by: David Diviney

Looking to Garry Neill Kennedy's 2012 published book (MIT Press/NSCAD/AGNS) of the same title as the foundation for this exhibition, The Last Art College: Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1968-1978 aims to provide an in-depth examination of how a small art college in Nova Scotia became the epicenter of art education—and to a large extent of the post-minimalist and conceptual art world itself—in the 1960s and 1970s. This exhibition will showcase the confluence of artists and ideas brought together during this formative 10 year timeframe.

A partial list of visiting artists and faculty members at NSCAD during this period would include Joseph Beuys, Sol LeWitt, Gerhard Richter, Dan Graham, Mel Bochner, Lucy Lippard, John Baldessari, Hans Haacke, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Frank, Jenny Holzer, Robert Morris, Eric Fischl, and Dara Birnbaum. Kasper Koenig and Benjamin Buchloh ran the NSCAD Press, publishing books by Hollis Frampton, Lawrence Weiner, Donald Judd, Daniel Buren, Michael Asher, Martha Rosler, and Michael Snow, to highlight some. The Lithography Workshop produced early works by many of today's masters, including John Baldessari, Vito Acconci, Joyce Wieland, and Claes Oldenburg.

This exhibition will feature more than 100 objects of various media produced by these and other artists between 1968-1978 as a direct result of their dialogue with NSCAD. In addition to presenting important examples of artwork made in Halifax, the exhibition will illustrate the experimental impulses of the period through archived video interviews, publications, and related ephemera.