Primitivism is one of contemporary art constitutive aspects, even though its importance has not been considered sufficiently. The results of investigations carried out by this research group in their previous Primitivism projects, mainly centered on Europe, have brought to light that: 1) there is not only one aspect of Primitivism, but several, 2) that this is a polyhedron phenomenon, 3) that its features greatly depend on different historic, cultural and social contexts that define it, and 4) it receives nourishment from different roots and it responds to different realities. Therefore, this project aims to position and analyze comparatively the phenomenon from the artistic relation between Europe and America, through its similarities and differences, which allows suggesting a definition of the Primitivism phenomenon in a wide sense but in a more specific and detailed way.

In Europe, Primitivism was distinguished by its subversive load towards moral and esthetic precepts of Old Europe. Accepting and embracing Primitivism, Primitivist artists tried to abolish their own cultural and historic legacy, denying the alleged supremacy of cultural identity and thus forging a critical or controversial attitude towards their own Western society roots.

On the contrary, in this new American context, the concept of Primitivism acquires a wide spectrum of hints that makes it different from the European one. Firstly, North and Soth America offer a complex melting pot of contexts that require an extension of this notion's meaning, in order to distinguish the countless internal phenomena, defined based on their geographic zone, countries, cultural or historical contexts, etc. Therefore, we reformulate the notion of "Primitivisim" (singular) to "Primitivisms" (plural), differentiating phenomena that allow casting light on the differences in a wide territory such as America. Secondly, American Primitivisms open an enriching outlook keeping in mind that in America there is a dialogue with one's own endogenous tradition, both pre-Columbus and indigenous, which adds to the links arising from the relation with European Primitivism through the relationship between American and European avant-garde artists. Lastly, the subversive, renegade, and critical burden remain in American Primitivisms since they confront the imposition of European culture by affirming and building a new cultural identity that arises from the roots of primitive, endogenous and African-heritage societies.

Although Primitivism, in the international field, is a topic that occupies more and more space in specialized bibliography and in expository proposals of renowned institutions, in Spain it is of particular interest because it is a very little explored field and its comparatives relations have never been dealt with.

This project follows the trail of previous projects funded by the MEC and carried out by the Research Center for Primitive Art and Primitivism (www.upf.edu/ciap), from which arise the comparative issues with America that are intended to be addressed. It also maintains the same theoretical framework, based on History and Art Theory in dialogue with Anthropology, Philosophy, History of Culture, and Colonial and Postcolonial studies.  

Starting date: 01/01/2014

Finishing date: 31/12/2017