A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.
Selfie of Weronika Malek-Lubawski, an adult person with a medium-fair skin tone and long dark hair, smiling.

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Weronika Malek-Lubawski

Lecturer

Contact

Bio

Education: School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA with an Emphasis in Art History, Theory, and Criticism), University of Chicago (MA in Humanities), and University of Southern California (Ph.D. in Art History, "Between Moscow and Paris: Poland and Transnational Avant-Garde Networks, 1921–1967"; Visual Studies Graduate Certificate). 

Awards

Cohen-Tucker Dissertation Completion Fellowship (Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies); Fulbright Fellowship to Poland; Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship (declined); The Malevich Society Research Grant, Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation European Studies Fellowship; Wolfsonian–Florida International University Research Fellowship; Visual Studies Graduate Certificate Anne Friedberg Memorial Grant; Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Dissertation Grant; Ralph and Jean Hovel Travel Award; Center for Teaching Excellence Mentored Teaching Fellowship (USC); Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Academic Year Fellowship in Russian Language and Russian/Eastern-European Area Studies; Kosciuszko Tuition Scholarship; School of the Art Institute of Chicago Excellence in Leadership Award; DAAD Undergraduate Scholarship.

Personal Statement

I'm an art historian of modern art, with a background in visual studies and interdisciplinary humanities. I study artistic networks and institutions to trace the international circulation of art, visual media, and art theories. Currently, I focus on international avant-garde movements and the transnational connections that artists forged through print media, correspondence, translations of theoretical manifestoes, pedagogical curricula, and museum curation.

I teach classes on modern art, modern sculpture, and the intersections of art with modern life––most recently, 20th Century Art Under Dictatorship.

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

This class offers one survey of how artists have responded and adapted to moments of severe political, economic, and social uncertainty. Some, like Albert Speer in Nazi Germany and Antonio Ferro of the Estado Novo in Portugal proudly shaped the images of dictatorial regimes. Others, like Pablo Picasso, created works that spoke to the horrors committed under Francisco Franco of Spain; others, like Malangatana Ngwenya, made drawings while imprisoned and awaiting trial. We will look at a spectrum of artists whose responses to their circumstances vary widely. 
Together, we ask: how does one cultivate and protect free expression? How do we historicize art made during moments of crisis, censorship, and severe oppression? Each week, we will concentrate on a particular time and regime within the twentieth century across five continents. We will begin in Ancient Rome to explore the concept of the dictator perpetuo, and will explore one regime per week in the following countries: Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Italy, the Soviet Union, Germany, Cuba, Cambodia, North Korea, China, and Sudan. Texts will primarily consist of primary sources, artist interviews, documentaries and art-historical articles and book chapters. Secondary texts include Mary Beard's 'Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern' (2021); Claudia Calirman's 'Brazilian Art Under Dictatorship: Antonio Manuel, Artur Barrio, and Cildo Meireles' (2012), and Douglas Gabriel's 'Over the Mountain: Realism Toward Unification in Cold War Korea, 1980-1994' (2019, diss.). 
Assignments include one 5-page exhibition proposal and one final exam.

Class Number

2263

Credits

3

Description

What is sculpture, and what separates it from other media? How did modernity and modernism change the artists¿ understanding of sculpture and its relationship to the human body, scale, and space? This course will present an overview of modern sculpture, from Rodin¿s figurative work to Smithson¿s land art, concluding with discussions about the role of contemporary sculpture in society. We will examine how technological innovations, societal transformations, and the myths of modernism influenced the artists¿ approaches to the medium. The course will primarily focus on European and North American sculptors but will also explore their understanding of colonialism and globalization.
The course will overview various examples of artworks by Auguste Rodin, Karl Ioganson, Naum Gabo, Kurt Schwitters (Merzbau), Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Richard Serra, Robert Smithson, and other representatives of late 19th-20th century sculpture. Secondary readings will include Rosalind Krauss¿ ¿Passages on Modern Sculpture,¿ selections of Megan Luke's and Maria Gough's monographs on Kurt Schwitters and Constructivism, as well as relevant academic articles. We will also discuss and contextualize primary texts and manifestos by Naum Gabo, Carola Giedion-Weckler, Katarzyna Kobro, Barbara Hepworth, and Johann Winckelmann (some read in their entirety, some as selections).
Formal analysis of a selected sculpture ¿ 1000-1500 words
Presentation ¿ 5-10 minutes
Final essay comparing three sculptures and relating them to concepts from class ¿ 3000-4000 words

Class Number

2484

Credits

3