The qualification of collective absolutes and the individuality of persons and events in mid-nineteenth-century Spain

This article argues, on the basis of intellectual, literary, and art history, against the view that mid-nineteenth-century notions of individuality in Spain were products of a social structure based around a bourgeoisie, or, in other accounts, based around a failed effort to establish a bourgeoisie. Instead, it argues that an emphasis on individuality could take radically different forms, that there was no core shared idea of 'individuality'. The article argues that the key motivating factor in these varying notions of individuality was a conflict between and concerning different factions within an oligarchic elite over the future of that elite

Processes of legitimization in contemporary art: the young British artists phenomenon

The Young British Artists (YBAs) was a generation that incorporated elements from media, advertising and cultural industry into the art world in the late 20th century. Based on a case study of the group and the distinctive phases of its meteoric trajectory, we analyze the circumstances and agents involved in the processes of legitimization in contemporary art. As an instrumental tool, we use the model presented by Alan Bowness in his 1989 publication, which outlines the process that allows artists to access certain social recognition. This outline provides us with a model of reference upon which to reconstruct the pattern of the YBAs trajectory with the intention of determining the sociocultural circumstances surrounding the media phenomenon. These results also correct and modify certain aspects of Bowness’ model to adapt it to the current socioeconomic context that sustains the processes of legitimization of art today