GATEWAYS TO ART

Understanding The Visual Art

Learning Objectives:
How do we define art? What does it mean to be creative? Why do we create art? What is the nature of art? What is the function of art? How can we appreciate art?

Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand the song of a bird? Why does one love the night, flowers, everything around one without trying to understand them? But in the case of painting, people have to understand.

Pablo Picasso

Some Truths About Art

1. There is no agreed-upon definition of art 2. Art does not necessarily have to be beautiful 3. Art has been used to placate the gods and to create order and chaos 4. One contemporary artist sold a 2-inch part of his driveway as art

What Are the Purposes of Art?

Art Creates Beauty

1. Art adds beauty to our lives by looking to nature 2. Western concepts of beauty 3. Non-Western concepts of beauty

LEONARDO DA VINCI. Mona Lisa (c. 15031505). Oil on wood panel. 30 1/4 x 21.

Art Creates Beauty

However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, whether in Western civilizations or nonWestern civilizations

Kenyan woman, Masai tribe. Standards for beauty can differ from culture to culture.

A Portrait in the Flesh

Sometimes artists try to improve on nature thereby creating an alternative standard

French performance artist Orlan

French performance artist Orlan, who has dedicated herself to embodying Western classic beauty as found in the works of Leonardo, Botticelli, and Boucher through multiple plastic surgeries. Here Orlan is being prepped for one in a series of operations.

SANDRO BOTTICELLI. The Birth of Venus (1486). Detail. Tempera on canvas. 58 78 x 91 17.

Art Enhances Our Environment

1. Art can delight our senses 2. Art can also create new environments

JOYCE KOZLOFF. Galla Placidia in Philadelphia (1985). Mosaic installation. 13 x 16

DALE CHIHULY. Fioridi Como (1998). 70 x 30 x 12.

Art Reveals Truth

1. Art can replicate fine details 2. Art can be used to trick the eye 3. Art reveals the world around us

FRIDA KAHLO. Diego in My Thoughts (Diego y yo) (1949). Oil on canvas, mounted on Masonite. 24 x 36.

Art Immortalizes
1. Art immortalizes people and events throughout the ages 2. Art can bring people together from different periods of time

Art Expresses Religious Beliefs

1. The quest for immortality 2. Finding answers for the unanswerable 3. Creating forms for the unseen and housing them

JESSIE OONARK. A Shamans Helping Spirits (1971). Stonecut and stencil. 37 16 x 25 16.

AARON DOUGLAS. Noahs Ark (c. 1927). Oil on masonite. 48 x 36.

ANTHEMIUS OF TRALLES AND ISIDORUS OF MILETUS. Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), Turkey (532537 CE). Interior view.

Art Expresses Fantasy

1. Art serves as a vehicle for our innermost fantasies 2. Art can represent images in our minds

Art Stimulates the Intellect and Fires the Emotions

1. Art has the power to make us think profoundly 2. Art can make us feel deeply about something or someone 3. We can reflect upon the purposes of the artist 4. We search for the sources of our own emotional responses

ALL THE THINGS I KNOW BUT OF WHICH I AM NOT AT THE MOMENT THINKING 1:36 PM; JUNE 15, 1969
Wordwork by Robert Barry

Art Creates Order and Harmony

1. Artists and scientists try to find the underlying order of nature 2. Compositions may be used to create order and harmony

Art is harmony. Georges Seurat

Ryoanji Zen Temple, Japanese sand garden, Kyoto, Japan.

The Piano Lesson(s) by Matisse and Bearden

Creating harmony through different means: searching for balance

HENRI MATISSE. Piano Lesson (1916). Oil on canvas. 812 x 611 34.

Can order ever pose a threat to harmony and psychological well-being?

Laurie Simmons Red Library does just that!

LAURIE SIMMONS. Red Library #2 (1983). Color photograph. 48 12 x 38 14.

Art Expresses Chaos

1. Harmony can presume the existence of chaos 2. Chaos does not need to have specific content

JAUNE QUICK-TO-SEE SMITH. Eclipse (1987). Oil on canvas. 60 x 60.

Art Records and Commemorates Experience

1. Art can record and communicate experiences and events 2. Art can be used to honor people and commemorate events 3. Art can help us to recall memories from the past

LOUISA CHASE. Storm (1981). Oil on canvas. 90 x 120.

ALFRED STIEGLITZ. The Steerage (1907). Photograph.

FAITH RINGGOLD. Tar Beach (1988). Acrylic paint on canvas and pieced fabric. 74 x 68 12.

Diego Rivera

Art Reflects the Social and Cultural Context

1. Art can record events of social and cultural natures 2. Art can record experiences from a specific time and place 3. Art can reflect particular fashions, trends, and beliefs 4. Art can also record various states of the crafts and sciences throughout time

EDWARD HOPPER. Nighthawks (1942). Oil on canvas. 30 x 60.

RICHARD HAMILTON. Just What Is It That Makes Todays Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956). Collage. 10 14 x 9 34.

ZAHA HADID. Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Abu Dhabi, completed in 2006. Designed by Zaha Hadid.

Art Protests Injustice and Raises Social Consciousness

BETYE SAAR. The Liberation of Aunt Jemima (1972). Mixed media. 11 34 x 8 x 2 34.

Art can achieve this by:

Recording experiences and objects of a certain time and place Recording specific cultural experiences Recording traditions throughout time Creating time-capsules with art

EUGNE DELACROIX. Liberty Leading the People (1830). Oil on canvas. 86 x 1010.

SUZANNE LACY AND LESLIE LABOWITZ. In Mourning and in Rage (1977). Performance at Los Angeles City Hall.

Art Elevates the Commonplace

1. Art represents certain aesthetics of a period or culture 2. Art can be readymades or assemblages

MIRIAM SCHAPIRO. Wonderland (1983). Acrylic and fabric collage on canvas. 90 x 144 (framed).

Art Meets the Needs of the Artist

1. The need for selfactualization 2. Satisfying aesthetic needs 3. Satisfying emotional and psychological needs

JOS CLEMENTE OROZCO. Epic of American Civilization: Hispano-America (c19321934). Fresco. 10 x 911.

MATTHEW I. SMITH. Untitled (n. d.). Graphite on paper. 8 12 x 11.

Art provides a stimulating opportunity to explore the various conditions of our lives and experiences.

Art is the persistent quest for beauty, for truth, and for self-expression!

Discussion Questions:
Why is there no single answer to what is art? Who forms the audience for works of art? What are the meanings of art? What are the purposes of art? What is the concept of art, and why should we study art?

Examples of the MUD project