rattled to the bone - Art Gallery of Alberta

Transcription

Interpretive Guide & Hands-on Activities
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Travelling Exhibition Program
...rattled to the bone
Real beauty...goes against the common, which is one of the reasons it is
spellbinding...Oh, yes, I’m rattled to the bone by beauty.
Harley Brown, artist
youraga.ca
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program
The Interpretive Guide
The Art Gallery of Alberta is pleased to present your community with a selection from its Travelling
Exhibition Program. This is one of several exhibitions distributed by The Art Gallery of Alberta as part
of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program. This Interpretive Guide has been
specifically designed to complement the exhibition you are now hosting. The suggested topics for
discussion and accompanying activities can act as a guide to increase your viewers’ enjoyment and to
assist you in developing programs to complement the exhibition. Questions and activities have been
included at both elementary and advanced levels for younger and older visitors.
At the Elementary School Level the Alberta Art Curriculum includes four components to provide
students with a variety of experiences. These are:
Reflection:
Responses to visual forms in nature, designed objects and artworks
Depiction:
Development of imagery based on notions of realism
Composition: Organization of images and their qualities in the creation of visual art
Expression: Use of art materials as a vehicle for expressing statements
The Secondary Level focuses on three major components of visual learning. These are:
Drawings:
Examining the ways we record visual information and discoveries
Encounters: Meeting and responding to visual imagery
Composition: Analyzing the ways images are put together to create meaning
The activities in the Interpretive Guide address one or more of the above components and are generally
suited for adaptation to a range of grade levels. As well, this guide contains coloured images of the
artworks in the exhibition which can be used for review and discussion at any time. Please be aware
that copyright restrictions apply to unauthorized use or reproduction of artists’ images.
The Travelling Exhibition Program, funded by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, is designed to bring
you closer to Alberta’s artists and collections. We welcome your comments and suggestions and invite
you to contact:
Shane Golby, Manager/Curator
Travelling Exhibition Program
Ph: 780.428.3830; Fax: 780.421.0479
Email: shane.golby@youraga.ca
Front Cover Images:
Left: Pamela Thurston, Time Heals, 2012, Oil on canvas, Collection of the artist
Top Right: Caroline Stanley, The way of the weasel, 2015, Oil on canvas, Collection of the artist
Bottom Right: Lisa Turner, I want you to want me #5, 2012, Woodcut, screenprint on paper,
Collection of the artist
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479
youraga.ca
Table of Contents
This package contains:
Curatorial Statement
Visual Inventory - list of works
Visual Inventory - images
Talking Art
Art Curriculum Connections
Artist Biographies/Statements
Artist Interviews
The Quest for Beauty and Art History: an overview
Artistic Inspirations
Art Processes
Visual Learning and Hands-on Projects
What is Visual Learning?
Elements and Principles of Design Tour
Reading Pictures Tour
Perusing Paintings: An Art-full Scavenger Hunt
Exhibition Related Art Projects
Glossary
Credits
The AFA and AGA
youraga.ca
Curatorial Statement
...rattled to the bone
In 1970 the American singer Ray Stevens
crooned that everything is beautiful in its own
way and the appellation ‘beautiful’ is certainly
freely used. We are told, for example, that
nature is beautiful; all babies are beautiful; and
we are presented annually with lists of the most
beautiful people and places in the world. While
we seem to accept these appraisals without
question, implying that there are universally
accepted characteristics which make
someone or something beautiful, we also affirm
that beauty is in the eye of the beholder: that
what is beautiful is open to personal opinion.
This apparent contradiction begs one to
question the entire construct. Does beauty
exist? If it does, what makes one thing beautiful
as opposed to another? In the spring of 2014
the AGA Travelling Exhibition Program (TREX)
embarked on a search for beauty in the hope
of answering such questions. The exhibition
...rattled to the bone is the result.
As expressed by Ray Stevens and
artists in other fields, however, beauty as an
idea still exists so AGA TREX determined to
discover whether this concept had any
bearing on the work of visual artists in the
twenty-first century. Accordingly, artists
throughout Alberta were invited to express,
through exposition and visual imagery, their
thoughts concerning this theme and the
questions it presents. Over forty artists
accepted this call demonstrating that,
regardless of critical assessments to the
contrary, the consideration of beauty is still
relevant to many artists. At the same time,
however, these submissions disclosed that
beauty, as concerns both artistic style and
subject matter, is truly in the eye of the
beholder with art works ranging from
geometric abstraction to representations of the
human form.
Despite this plethora of approaches a handful
of artists, while engaged with different
subjects and modes of expression, shared
similar notions concerning where beauty is
From ancient Greece to the 19th century beauty to be found and the qualities which make a
was one of the most enduring and controversial subject beautiful. The exhibition ...rattled to
the bone presents the art works of Jean-René
themes in Western philosophy and the
rendering of beauty was a dominant concern in Leblanc, Lesley Roy, Caroline Stanley,
Pamela Thurston and Lisa Turner. Whether
the visual arts. Throughout these centuries
dealing with the natural world or focusing on
philosophers debated whether beauty was
more domestic environments, these artist
objective or subjective in nature: whether what
combine formal and emotive concerns with
was beautiful could be determined by
universally accepted standards or whether such sound theoretical opinions to discern beauty in
assessments were entirely based on individual subjects either overlooked or entirely
unexpected. Going against the common and
taste. By the late 19th century personal
the clichéd, through their works they rattle us
aesthetics had triumphed - beauty was
to the bone by exploring the world in intriguing
determined to be in the eye of the beholder and ultimately humbling ways.
and because of this bias philosophers and
artists alike came to view the concept as
meaningless. As a result, throughout the
twentieth century, ‘beauty ‘ was in decline as a
The exhibition ...rattled to the bone was
subject of philosophical inquiry and in the visual curated by Shane Golby and organized by the Art
arts was considered an aim unworthy of serious Gallery of Alberta for the Alberta Foundation for the
Arts Travelling Exhibition Program.
pursuit.
youraga.ca
Visual Inventory - List of Works
Jean-René Leblanc
My Paradise #2, 2013
16 inches x 24 inches
Digital infrared photography
Jean-René Leblanc
Jean-René Leblanc
Jean-René Leblanc
Lesley Roy
Nature’s Jewels (Red Cross Stink Bug), 2009
Photography
Lesley Roy
Waiting for Dinner (Dung Fly), 2013
Photography
Lesley Roy
Just Starting Out (Spittle Bug Nymph), 2011
Photography
Lesley Roy
A Symbiotic Relationship (Pollen-covered
bee), 2012
Photography
Caroline Stanley
Remains, 2015
Oil on canvas
Caroline Stanley
8 am with toast, 2015
Oil on canvas
Caroline Stanley
The way of the weasel, 2015
Oil on canvas
Caroline Stanley
This side of the down and out, 2015
Oil on canvas
Pamela Thurston
Chopping Block, 2012
Oil on canvas
Pamela Thurston
Object of Interest, 2012
Oil on canvas
youraga.ca
Visual Inventory - List of Works
Pamela Thurston
Decomposition in Blue, 2012
Oil on canvas
Pamela Thurston
Time Heals, 2012
Oil on canvas
Lisa Turner
I want you to want me #4, 2012
Woodcut, screenprint on paper
Lisa Turner
Lisa Turner
Heading for the Sun, 2013
22 inches x 21 1/8 inches
Inkjet print
Lisa Turner
Strange Love, 2010
10 inches x 13 1/2 inches (x 3)
Screenprint
Total Works: 20 2D art works
youraga.ca
Visual Inventory - Images
Jean-René Leblanc
Digital Infrared Photography
Jean-René Leblanc
Jean-René Leblanc
Jean-René Leblanc
youraga.ca
Lesley Roy
Nature’s Jewels (Red Cross Stink Bug), 2009
Photography
Lesley Roy
Photography
Lesley Roy
Just Starting Out (Spittle bug Nymph), 2011
Photography
Lesley Roy
A Symbiotic Relationship (Pollen-covered bee), 2012
Photography
youraga.ca
Caroline Stanley
Remains, 2015
Oil on canvas
Caroline Stanley
The way of the weasel, 2015
Oil on canvas
Caroline Stanley
8 am with toast, 2015
Oil on canvas
Caroline Stanley
This side of the down and out, 2015
Oil on canvas
youraga.ca
Pamela Thurston
Time Heals, 2012
Oil on canvas
Pamela Thurston
Object of Interest, 2012
Oil on canvas
Pamela Thurston
Chopping Block, 2012
Oil on canvas
Pamela Thurston
Decomposition in Blue, 2012
Oil on canvas
youraga.ca
Lisa Turner
Lisa Turner
Lisa Turner
22 inches x 21 1/8 inches
Inkjet print
Lisa Turner
Strange Love, 2010
10 inches x 13 1/2 inches (x3)
Screenprint
youraga.ca
Talking Art
Oh, beauty, ever ancient and ever new.
St. Augustine
Caroline Stanley
Remains, 2015
Oil on canvas
CONTENTS:
Artist Interviews
The Quest for Beauty and Art History
Artistic Inspirations: The Bugs of Lesley Roy
Art Processes - Infrared Photography
- Printmaking Methods
youraga.ca
youraga.ca
Art Curriculum Connections continued
youraga.ca
youraga.ca
youraga.ca
youraga.ca
Jean-René Leblanc
Jean-René Leblanc is an Associate Professor of Digital Arts at the University of Calgary. He
is president of the board of and Production Society and co-founder of the Sensorium Lab, a
cross-disciplinary research group focusing on research that develops systems of interaction that
encourage kinesthetic perception and interpretation. He was born in Montréal in 1967, and
attended Concordia University, which he left in 1993 with a Bachelor in Studio Arts. In 1996 he
graduated from the University of Windsor, Ontario, with a Masters of Fine Art in Multimedia and
Photography and in 2006 completed a PhD in study and practice of art from the Université du
Québec à Montréal. His artworks have been presented in exhibitions in Canada, the United
States and Europe.
Artist’s Statement
As a visual artist engaged with cultural issues, critical theory and digital media, I often use a
variety of media to best express the concepts with which I am working. My artistic research
interests gravitate around notions of the photographic image, video, interactivity, sound and
visualization as a means of exploring the concept of presentification (to make visible the
invisible).
My Paradise: This body of work explores the conceptual use of digital infrared photography as a
means to investigate new ways of looking at the world we live in. The concept behind the use of
Digital Infrared Photography in photographing the landscape in Hawaii is based on the notion of
photographing what the eyes cannot see, thus photographing the ‘Unseen Beauty of Paradise’.
As an artist, I use the camera as a means to connect emotionally with the environment in order
to express something personal. In My Paradise I am expressing a deep personal connection I
have when immersed in the overwhelming beauty of the landscape of Hawaii. In Susan Sontag’s
book On Photography, she describes the way tourists feel compelled to put the camera between
themselves and whatever is remarkable that they encounter. By presenting infrared
photographic images of landscapes in the gallery, I am symbolically transporting the viewers on
a trip where they are able to experience the splendor of a place in a way they have never seen
before.
youraga.ca
Lesley Roy
I was born in Edmonton where I spent my formative years growing up on the south side. As
a young woman I travelled to England where I stayed for five years. My adventures included
holidaying with my mother in Spain, biking in Ireland, hiking in the Lake District, and climbing a
waterfall in Scotland. Of course I took lots of photos.
For a while I settled at the YMCA in Croydon where I met people from all parts of the world and
shared some wonderful times, including a trip to Pakistan. Eventually I returned to Edmonton to
get a B.Sc. with a Specialization in Psychology at the University of Alberta and later a Masters
Degree in Educational Psychology. Several years later I married and moved to Morinville where
I lived for 10 years. In 2011 I headed to Nova Scotia to explore that wonderful part of Canada.
My camera went with me wherever i was.
I have been taking pictures from as far back as I can remember. Photography is one of my
greatest passions even though I only recently began to take it more seriously. Much of my
photography has focused on insects and other arthropods.
My work has been exhibited at the gallery in Morinville as well as a feature during Art Days at
their library and as the main exhibit at the Morinville Cultural Centre for several months. I was
also part of a show at the Art Gallery of St. Albert. One of my drawings was chosen by Chocola
Tas, a provider of the finest Belgian chocolates, to use in the production of one of the limited
release ‘Masterpieces’.
Beauty is an attribute that we generally think of as pleasing to the senses or stimulating to the
mind. Perhaps it is the line or texture or perhaps the colour or form of an object. Maybe it is the
behaviour or attitude that we find beautiful. There are certain characteristics that most people
would accept that make a thing beautiful. But sometimes there is something more. A man may
fall in love with a woman because she is kind and compassionate. It is her inner beauty that
attracts him. There are other things, too, that can make a thing beautiful.
When I think of beauty I often think of blue skies with rolling plains of green grass on which
gentle sheep are grazing amidst small patches of daffodils and daisies. Or I may envision
water cascading over rocky cliffs hundreds of feet to a precarious landscape below where birds
circle and dive into the choppy waters. Perhaps I see the gentle curve of a veiled cheek with
turquoise-green eyes peeking out from beneath. These are some things that most of us would
accept as beautiful. But there is more.
I find insects and other arthropods beautiful and awe inspiring. When I think of how long they
have inhabited the planet I realize how amazing they are just in that fact. Without these small
creatures we would not survive. They pollinate our flowers and clear our rotting garbage. They
can delight us with their acrobatic flying and speed or scare us with their buzzing sounds and
big eyes staring back when we spy them. Some of the go through incredible changes that
youraga.ca
man can only marvel at. Some build cocoons around their bodies only to undergo miraculous
changes emerging later looking like totally different animals. Or they may go through growth
states in which they become too big for their own skins that they then must shed, usually several
times over.
A photograph is an attempt to capture a small part of this evolution while freezing time for a
fraction of a second. Perhaps in doing so a sense of wonder of what life may be like for these
resourceful animals can be realized. Perhaps it even gives us a glimpse into our own existence.
Insects and other arthropods don’t sit and wait for you to take their photo and they often choose
to be out and about at the most inopportune times. They can be wary as well as curious. They
are incredibly complex as well as beautiful.
Insects and related animals are the most numerous animals on earth. They comprise 76% of all
living things, including plants. They have also been around for over 300 million years and are
incredibly diverse in and of themselves but also in the areas they inhabit which is almost every
corner of the globe. And yet they often go unnoticed. These animals with delicate wings or tough
bodies are more often ignored or put in danger of annihilation.
I hope with my photographs to convey to others the beauty is what I see, knowing that the scene
will never be the same again while at the same time will likely be repeated over and over in the
future. I want others to get a glimpse into the lives of these smallest creatures, to capture the
colours, the behaviour, the versatility as well as complexity of these very beautiful animals that
share planet earth with the rest of us.
youraga.ca
Caroline Stanley
In December 1984 Caroline May Stanley emerged in Cape Town, South Africa, and shortly after
was relocated to Calgary, AB., where she still resides. After many years of scribbling on scrap
paper, she attended the Alberta College of Art + Design and in 2007 received a Bachelor of Fine
Arts Degree with a major in painting.
Caroline is fascinated by nature. While most people would enjoy a spectacular view, she is likely
to be found hovering around a tree trunk or kneeling by a lake. Her unique way of capturing
nature in paint focuses in on and saturates details found in the bigger picture. They hold intricate
moments of beauty, creating a surface to explore and experience things often passed by, over
looked or simply stepped on.
Most days Caroline can be found in her studio at the Burns Visual Arts Society, Calgary’s
oldest artist cooperative in the cozy community of Ramsay. Here she plays with paint, dances
to Michael Jackson and occasionally takes a nap on the floor. Her work can be seen in houses
scattered across the country and at Gibson Fine Art Gallery in Calgary.
Artist Statement
Amidst the must do’s
Of forward momentum
Gaze caught in completion
Through proceedings strung together
In the eternal story of growth and decay
Colors, patterns, textures, design
In a moment of still being
Regarding the simple, small, ordinary, the beautiful
An arrangement of silent hymns
Disclose interlocking treasures rooted in the same account
- Caroline Stanley, 2013
Kitsch. Cliché. That’s how I’ve heard it described.
Perhaps some forms have been worked over to the point of old news.
Or perhaps we’ve become blind to the reality of it in nature at all.
And yet beauty remains.
I see it.
Subtle and telling.
In the commonplace.
It lays subdued in the fallen leaves by the roadside,
hidden in the trees passed by on the everyday commute,
lingering quietly along the shore of a nearby lake.
youraga.ca
But as life keeps body busy,
confined to the to-do list,
the seemingly monotonous gives birth to immunity,
that the little things lack importance,
we keep on moving
and often fail to notice.
In the book The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, Anne writes about the beauty she knows
is just beyond the walls of the dark and dingy Annex she’s been hiding in for almost two years.
Laying in bed one night, she’s filled with joy as she considers das Schöne (the beautiful): ‘the
world, nature, and the tremendous beauty of everything, all that splendor’ (pg. 211). Through
wearisome confinement her teenage soul still sensed beauty and longed for the value of its
presence. Perhaps she was onto something.
These beauties, the ordinary and simultaneously extraordinary, are the ones I seek to paint into
view, to expand the simplicities in nature that surround us and present a moment to see and
perhaps appreciate more than before. There’s really nothing special about a pile of rocks or a
tree. On any given day we can choose to see such subjects. And yet perceiving their beauty
requires sensitivity in our perspective.
Such beauty, whether found in big or small spaces, does not get old. It can not simply be over
stated or replicated into oblivion. It eternally wants to share itself with us, if only we could give a
moment of ourselves and delve into it.
youraga.ca
Pamela Thurston
After a two-year CEGEP course at Concordia University, Montreal, I studied photography at
Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. I worked as a graphic artist and photo artist until 1986
when I enrolled in the University of Alberta’s Fine Art Degree Program, graduating in 1992 with
honours level grades. I worked initially upon graduation as a contract graphic designer and then
instructor of adult training programs. I have painted exclusively since 2008 and have been
building my career through local representation.
Kandinsky purported that beauty ‘...springs from the soul’; that from spiritual ‘inner need’ an artist
can create ‘that which is beautiful’. Beauty is often described as the perception of something that
is in harmony and balance with Nature. Isn’t Nature, then, the source of beauty? Kandinsky may
have gotten it backwards - it is beauty itself that nurtures soul, thus creating that inner need to
create.
My paintings are inspired by my own response to the harmony and balance of Nature’s beauty.
I believe that awe is not only the appropriate response to nature’s beauty, but it is a necessary
one.
The relationship between humans and nature has become strained to the point where our
attitudes towards the physical world have become soulless. The ubiquity of this soullessness in
our culture is evidenced by the fact that archetypal psychologists are taking the lead in a push
for a renaissance of beauty. An awareness of and reverence for the beauty of the natural world
has a proven restorative effect - awe expands perceptual parameters. Attention Restoration
Theory (ART) affirms that living in isolation from nature makes it harder to focus and interferes
with self-control thus creating angry, distracted and spiritually lost human beings. It has shown
that nature is the cure; nature offers intrinsic interest, a sense of fascination and wonder, which
releases one from all ego-driven concerns. It is this sense of fascination, of awe as a natural and
necessary response to Nature’s beauty, with which my work is concerned.
“In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty. This statement made by musician Phil Ochs
during the 1960’s also describes the ‘state of emergency’ which New York performance artist Guillermo Gomez-Pena believes we are now living in. But post-modernism’s use of parody
and irony to shock its audience into recognizing the need for social change only creates further
ambivalence toward art and makes art less digestible to the general public (an effect which is
contrary to the movement’s agenda), and it does nothing to diminish the ugliness of our time.
Post-modernism provides shock without the awe, and its legacy is a desire for art which seeks
out and acknowledges the beauty in the world and in ourselves. As psychologist Nicholas
Humphrey says, we now have ‘a responsibility to awe’ in order to re-awaken our souls to the
beauty of being alive.
The act of truly looking, of being absorbed in noticing, brings us closer to our selves and to an
appreciation of our connection to all things. The role of the artist is to observe beauty where
youraga.ca
others miss it and help them to see it to. The natural objects which are my subject matter may
seem insignificant to some, yet without our attention to them we minimize ourselves. When
examined closely, nature is a teacher of beauty and inwardness. While beauty itself may be
subjective and defined culturally, the experience of appreciating beauty is a universal one. The
natural world is available to all, everywhere on this earth, who are interested enough to engage
with it. My work attempts to encourage that engagement and it is, as well, a statement that awe
as a response to the beauty of the natural work is a necessary balm for the unrest and
soullessness that has accompanied us into the twenty-first century.
youraga.ca
Lisa Turner
Lisa Turner, an Edmonton based artist, holds an MFA specializing in Printmaking from the
University of Alberta, and a BFA from NSCAD University. Lisa has exhibited nationally and
internationally, and has received numerous awards and grants including Visual Arts and New
Media Project Grants from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts , and a Project Grant from the
Canada Council for the Arts. Turner’s creative practice integrates a variety of printmaking
methods and mediums to explore ideas surrounding mass media, material culture, and
consumption.
Artist Statement
Beauty in relationship to art and culture continues to be an extremely controversial topic opinions are a result of an individual’s background, education, personal taste, biases, and
willingness (or lack thereof) to define beauty. Beauty does not have one definition, and
therefore it is hard to pinpoint meaning. Historically a work of art that was ‘beautiful’ meant that
the artwork could induce the viewer by its pleasing or attractive features. In today’s art world
an artist can not deny this topic: for some the goal is to make a work of art that negates beauty,
and is solely based on concept, whereas others fully embrace beauty in hopes that the artwork
pleases the eye, and is popular in commercial markets.
My ultimate goal as an artist is to create artwork that is thought provoking, aesthetically and
conceptually. For the past seven years my artistic practice has been concerned with using
popular imagery to examine mass media, material culture, and consumerism. In particular I am
interested in the vast number of products available for purchase online today, and the
contemporary buying behavior that results from computers offering a 24 hour shopping window.
This modern convenience of online shopping has led me to create work that reinterprets this
experience and the items for sale, while exploring themes of desire, security, and happiness
within contemporary culture.
While I set out to explore these topics, I cannot help but reflect on the items I am representing.
Through Google image searches I select products based on my personal attraction to
various forms. The selected products are then transformed through collage and drawing, and
new objects are created. By enhancing the aesthetic qualities of the object, including using
animate features, or characteristics, I aim to entice the viewer and distract from the objects
purpose. The bodily traits or characteristics also imply that the objects have the ability to
advertise themselves, while reflecting consumerist desire. In advertising and product design the
suggestion of a bodily relationship is a common marketing ploy used to enhance the salability of
products by making them more desirable. In this context desirability and beauty may be viewed
interchangeably - the consumerist dream is driven largely by the promise that through the
acquisition of beautiful things life itself becomes more beautiful and happiness follows.
youraga.ca
Artist Interviews
Jean-René Leblanc
Jean-René Leblanc
For Calgary artist Jean-René Leblanc the function
of art is to create experiences and as stated by the
artist, ‘ ...this is very much the essence of who I am
as an artist’. In his works in the exhibition ...rattled
to the bone Leblanc uses digital infrared
photographic processes to share his experiences
and perceptions with the viewer in the hope that
they will experience the same things he did; that
they will, in a sense, ‘embody’ his own
experiences.
For Leblanc, beauty is defined as a strong emotional connection to something he connects to in
the specific time and place he is in. He sees beauty in a lot of things: in the complex relations we
have with each other as people; in the human experience of the world we live in; or in a specific
place. As expressed by Leblanc, he seeks beauty in everyday life and sees it in a lot of things
that others might not recognize. His aim as an artist is to share his experiences and emotions of
a subject with the viewer and enable them to see what he saw. The art objects he creates, then,
have a specific function; servings as tools to create experience.
In his works in the exhibition Leblanc explores the conceptual use of digital infrared photography
as a means to investigate new ways of looking at the world we live in. Infrared photography has
existed for a long time and derives from the use of infrared technology in film making. Leblanc
states that digital photography has allowed for the re-interpretation of this means of imagemaking, allowing artists to tap into the conceptual side of art making rather than just the
aesthetic side. The use of infrared filters while photographing a subject reveals the infrared rays
of light that the human eye can not see and has enabled Leblanc to explore the concept of
presentification - making visible the invisible.
The ‘magic’ of infrared photography is clearly recognized in Jean-René Leblanc’s photographs
of Hawaii. The Hawaiian Islands are virtually synonymous with beauty in most peoples’ minds.
It could be argued, however, that because the islands are recognized as being beautiful, this
beauty can be over-looked or taken for granted. The use of infrared photography challenges
this by presenting the reality a viewer is familiar with in a new way. As expressed by Leblanc,
this technique heightens reality and ...captures the inherent beauty that we’ve come to take for
granted and really don’t see anymore. Put another way, Leblanc’s works, showing the beauty of
Hawaii in a new way and a way that is really impossible for the human eye to register, force the
viewer to really recognize this beauty.
youraga.ca
Artist Interviews continued
Lesley Roy
Lesley Roy has been taking photographs...as far back as
I can remember. For this artist photography is a means
of capturing something and ‘locking adventures’ in her
memory. As described by Roy, the act of taking a picture
makes one focus on what they are taking a picture of. In
taking a picture the photographer often does not see their
subject clearly but, later, they see it in much more vivid
detail and this can lead to other investigations and
studies. Photography, then, becomes so much more than
a hobby and, for Lesley Roy, it has become a passion.
Lesley Roy
Just Starting Out (Spittle bug Nymph), 2011
Photography
Roy initially began her investigations in photography by focusing on composition. Over time,
however, she has become much more conscious of her subject matter and, while composition is
important, she is primarily concerned with how something is seen and presented. In
pursuing this goal she straddles the line between documentary photography with more
picturesque concerns, ‘manipulating’ composition, depth of field, lighting and if necessary
colour, in order to reflect what she actually sees and striving to influence the perceptions of
viewers. These manipulations, however, are often very slight and are primarily made at the point
of making the photograph in order to concentrate on what is actually seen. In explaining her
working methods and aims Roy states:
A photograph is not a perfect reflection of what we see. In my work I try to create an image that
is as close to what is actually seen as possible. (Through my work I hope) to capture some
moments of life and stimulate reflection of things probably never considered.
Lesley Roy remembers taht as a child she was always fascinated by insects and over the past
few years this subject has become an important aspect of her art practice.
Insects are probably not a subject matter that one would associate with the theme of beauty,
generating in many people feelings of fear or revulsion. Instead of reflecting on these creatures
many are more likely to swat them. According to Roy, however, there are universals that most
people would consider beautiful such as colour, detail, and an aesthetically pleasing
composition. These are the focus in Roy’s works where she draws the viewer’s attention the
these in the subject and overall photograph. In doing so her works invite the viewer to think twice
about how we view the world and where we fit in to the world around us. Through her
photographs of insects Roy wants viewers, through considering their often unnoticed beauty, to
see them as fellow creatures and contemplate the important roles they play and how vital they
are to human life and existence.
youraga.ca
Caroline Stanley
Calgary artist Caroline Stanley believes that
beauty can be found anywhere; one just has to
have the eyes to see it. At this moment of her
life and art practice, however, she finds beauty
most readily in nature. As she has stated,...
there’s something in nature we find peaceful
and grounding...there’s a peace in the forest
one just doesn’t find in the city.
Caroline Stanley
Depends on how you look at it, 2014
Oil on canvas
The belief that beauty is found in nature is one probably shared by most people. For Stanley,
however, recognizing this beauty is not some casual observance but gets to the root of what it
means to be human and to be in the world. As she states,...we are human beings, not human
doings. We get so caught up in doing things and schedules but we’re not really in the moment
and so fail to appreciate what’s right in front of us. Being in nature grounds us and allows us to
be in the moment and appreciate it.
Stanley’s interest in the natural world, however, is not in nature as some ‘abstract’ concept or
as ‘the big picture’ but rather her focus in on the intricate details, such as colours, patterns and
design, often overlooked or unconsidered, which combine to create that picture. As she says
...there’s beauty there (in the big picture) but to think about all the little details that make up that
scene is mind blowing. It’s amazing what one can find when one actually looks, but one does
have to stop and look.
Through her art Stanley strives to get people’s attention back to the ‘bigger picture’; to a more
expansive view of what it means to be alive. By inviting viewers to notice the amazing details
found in nature Stanley aims to expand our sense of perspective and to see beyond ourselves
and our own egos.
According to Caroline Stanley, we need beautiful things in our lives. Without recognizing or
perceiving beauty we easily become jaded, bitter, angry, arrogant and self-centered;
disconnected from others and everything else around us. The recognition of beauty, on the other
hand, does something for our souls and our overall state of mind.
youraga.ca
Pamela Thurston
...through understanding even the smallest thing you recognize
yourself as a part of something and value others as a part of the
same thing. This is the shape of a soulful person.
Pamela Thurston
Pamela Thurston, like other artists in the exhibition ...rattled
to the bone, believes that beauty can be found anywhere - in
people; in the arts; in the urban environment - but one has to
have an eye attuned to it. For Thurston, herself, this recognition
and appreciation of beauty is most often found in nature.
Pamela Thurston
Time Heals, 2012
Oil on canvas
According to Thurston, nature is the only place she has found that ...allows me to reach a place
outside of myself. As intimated by the artist, the feelings of beauty and awe that nature
generates enable a person to think about things larger than themselves and the wonder and
intrigue that result are beautiful. Thurston’s aim as an artist, then, is to encourage the viewer to
see what they might not ordinarily see: to appreciate the beauty and value of seemingly
insignificant things and through absorption in them become receptive to how one is in the world
and a part of everything else.
Thurston’s artistic oeuvre ranges between ‘traditional’ landscape compositions - works with
foreground, mid-ground and background - and close-up studies of natural objects. In these later
works she is inspired by objects which hold a sense of intrigue and visual interest in form,
surface texture and intricacy. As she states ...I enjoy looking at them and so I visually explore
them and they end up becoming a painting.
The ultimate intent of Thurston’s work, however, is not realistic botanical representation but is
related to her beliefs concerning life itself. As expressed by the artist, humans are nature - or a
part of nature - and in failing to appreciate even the smallest things in nature...we’re not
recognizing our place in it and we minimize ourselves by not appreciating that which we are a
part of. This lack of appreciation leads to a state of ‘soullessness’, resulting in anger,
disillusionment, a lack of compassion, a creation of ‘the other’ and greed and conflict. To
recognize and appreciate even the smallest thing, on the other hand, leads to the development
of a ‘soulful’ person; one who understands that they are not more important than others and are
a part of a whole of which we are all a part of. As stated by Thurston, when a person stops long
enough to become absorbed in something outside themselves this isolation with something invites introspection which allows one to learn about themselves, experience ‘wonder’, and value
their own existence and become grateful for being alive.
youraga.ca
In order to invite both recognition of the insignificant and personal introspection, Thurston’s
artistic precess is a laborious one. Using either photographs or real objects she begins a work
with a rough representation of the object. Once she has this guide, however, the object is put
away and the painting goes through many layers with the artist working through visual problems.
In this development colour becomes very important and the work moves from representation to
expressing surrealist qualities where reality is heightened and attention focused. As described
by the artist:
...there’s more beyond what we actually see and through the act of painting - layering, revealing
layers, and an intuitive response to colour - I aim to create a more personal response to the
object and hopefully allow the viewer to reconsider their perceptions of and reactions to the
world.
youraga.ca
Lisa Turner
For Edmonton artist Lisa Turner, beauty is very
malleable and saying everything is beautiful
neutralizes the concept. While stating that certain
colours and textures are attractive and that beauty
begins with an aesthetic appreciation, she also
admits that such beauty could be superficial and so is
not real beauty. According to Turner, there are many
elements which make something truly beautiful and if
one spends time with something or someone they can
uncover the deeper beauty the thing or person
possesses.
Lisa Turner
Inkjet print
Turner’s art pieces exist on both aesthetic and conceptual levels. Aesthetically speaking, she is
drawn to what she considers attractive and intriguing about the objects she chooses to portray.
This may be the overall form, colour, shape and texture of the object. She is also, however,
interested in objects which might reference the body or those which have an intriguing function.
On a conceptual level, meanwhile, Turner creates works which straddle a number of artistic
genre. In some works, the objects she portrays are treated in the manner of a still-life where the
artist focuses on the form and function of the object. As expressed by Turner, by manipulating
the forms and by putting them in a white space she hopes to make the viewer notice things that
are often taken for granted. In other works Turner creates ‘landscapes’ and then combines her
objects with other objects and arranges them so they exist within that landscape. Through this
manipulation the artist strives to create open-ended narratives addressing tensions between the
mechanical and natural worlds.
While Lisa Turner is very much concerned with the concept of beauty - with the attractiveness
of the objects she concentrates on - she uses beauty to entice the viewer to think about more
serious socioeconomic issues. In her works she wants the viewer to be drawn to the work
aesthetically, but then hopes the viewer will question why the objects are there and what their
purposes are and how these objects make them feel. For Turner, there is a strong correlation
between desire, happiness and beauty. As expressed by the artist, what we desire we often find
aesthetically pleasing and we believe that possessing what we desire will make our lives easier
and bring us joy. In essence, then, through portraying aesthetically pleasing consumer objects,
Turner wishes the viewer to think about consumerism and our relationship to objects. There is
thus, despite the bright colours and enticing forms displayed, an undertone of something darker
in her works.
youraga.ca
The Quest for Beauty and Art History
Beauty can be defined as someone or something that gives intense pleasure and deep
satisfaction. It is something all people have the opportunity to witness and experience during
their lifetime. It can range from a small, daily sight to a life-changing vision that leaves the viewer
awestruck. It is often associated with love and happiness, two key emotions in the human
vocabulary. Because of its significance, the search for a definition of beauty has been a topic
that has intrigued philosophers and artists throughout time. From Ancient Greece to the
present day, great minds have dedicated their thoughts towards discovering the root of beauty.
Not surprisingly, art, being a visual medium, often gets included in the discussion of beauty. Is
art beautiful? What makes a work of art beautiful? Throughout the centuries art has reflected
the changing philosophies on beauty. As the mentality around what beauty is evolves, so artists
continue to make their works beautiful (or not beautiful) depending on what is currently in vogue.
Classical Period
Philosophers have troubled themselves with the definition of
beauty since the ancient Greek period. While few could agree
on what beauty was, everyone could agree that beauty could be
found in nearly anything and was not limited to human sexual
attractiveness.
Socrates, the Greek philosopher from the 5th century BC,
struggled with a definition of beauty in his Hippias Major.
He eventually decided that beauty was something that
provided joy. This often came about by being something that
is considered good, as in that which is appropriate or needed at
the time. For example, seeing a particularly colourful sunset at
dusk can both provide joy and be defined as good or
appropriate because one expects to see a sunset at dusk (as
Female Nude, Artist unknown
opposed to seeing a sunset in the middle of the day which might
British Museum, London
be unnerving). This allows room for different things being
beautiful in different circumstances. It also confronts the idea of beauty being up to perception.
While someone at one point might consider a certain work of art beautiful, if someone else
connects to the work in a different way they might not recognize the piece as being of any
notable beauty because it is not appropriate to them during that moment.
This notion of beauty being that which is considered good or appropriate is continued by
the successors of Socrates – Plato and Aristotle. These philosophers had a similar
definition of beauty. They both believed that something was considered beautiful if it was
the ideal representation of its form. If an object looked as it was supposed to look, be it a
sunset or a pencil, it could be considered beautiful. Therefore, if something was broken or
disfigured it could not be seen as beautiful. Plato emphasized this belief by stating that there
was one perfect representation of each form. The closer the object was to the perfect ideal, the
more beautiful it was. Aristotle, on the other hand, did not believe there was a perfect form
guiding all the other likenesses. He believed beauty to be something humans comprehend by
seeing examples of it. We do not know how to judge a beautiful sunset until we have already
seen a beautiful sunset with which to judge all other sunsets by. While Plato believed there was
an otherworldly ideal mankind strove to witness, Aristotle believed the ideal can only be based
youraga.ca
The Quest for Beauty continued
on events experienced here on earth.
It is not surprising that Greek and Roman art aligned closely with
this notion of the optimal form as stated by Socrates, Plato and
Aristotle. Sculptures from the period feature idealized figures
that attempt to reveal the perfect representation of an individual.
Marble statues show athletic, shapely figures with optimal
proportions and no disfigurements. The figures are often
represented as nude to show off their idealized shape. These
objects show that the beliefs of beauty as stated by the
philosophers were firmly held in the belief of the ancient
population.
Belevedere Apollo, Artist unknown
Vatican City
Middle Ages
Individuals in the Middle Ages strongly aligned with Plato’s teachings on beauty. They
believed that beauty was achieved when it was closely related to the object’s ideal form.
As medieval Europe was a strongly Christian region, the population believed that Plato’s
teachings could easily be translated into their beliefs of God. Only items that were as God
intended them could be considered beautiful. Therefore, true, perfect beauty was
something that could never be created by mankind. The only instances of beauty visible
here on earth were usually found in nature since nature was seen as the creation of God.
Not surprisingly, this belief that beauty could only be seen if it was connected to God had a
profound impact on the art world. Artwork usually contained a religious subject matter and would
be found in a church or private chapel. Since beauty could only be created by God, artists did
not put emphasis on creating something they considered beautiful. Unlike Greek and Roman
works, medieval pieces were not true to life and are seen today as very flat and twodimensional. These were functional objects, and nothing more. The artist believed it was his or
her duty to create a work of art that would inspire prayer. As long as the artwork effectively told
a story, it was seen as successful. Therefore, it was not necessary to add extensive detail or to
perfect the ideas of depth and perspective.
During this time many artists did not consider themselves artists at all, but viewed their
profession more as a craft, similar to a blacksmith or baker. They were creating an object that
served a function to bring the attention of the devout to an important event or individual. Most of
the pieces were unsigned since it was seen as unbecoming for an artist to want to be
recognized for his or her skill.
youraga.ca
Renaissance
The Renaissance was the cultural period that
followed the Middle Ages. In art, it was
characterized by a return to many of the same
themes as appeared in the classical age. While art
was still strongly based in the Christian religion,
individuals tried to find ways to fit Greek and
Roman styles into the religious iconography. Unlike
the Middle Ages, which saw artists as craftsmen,
Renaissance painters and sculptors began to take
pride in their profession and experimented with new
ways to make their works appealing and exciting. The
artists were no longer limited to simply telling a story
but could add their own creative flourishes to attract the
viewer and provide a sense of mood in the works. This Michelangelo
Adam and Eve, 1508-1512
emphasis on the classical tradition meant that
artists attempted to make their artworks as perfect Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
as possible. Ideal human forms, monumental architecture and picturesque landscapes
were typical. Artworks also began to look much more life-like. Unlike the Middle Ages, this focus
on perfection led to an increased interest in texture, detail and perspective, all of which helped to
highlight these glorified scenes.
This interest in the ideal meant that beauty was once again something artists aimed to achieve
in their works. Similar to the Middle Ages, The Neo-Platonists of the Renaissance period
believed that the more perfect an object appeared, the closer it was to goodness and
godliness. Unlike the medieval period, this perfection could come out in a work of art. As
a result, those who were deemed ‘good’ in art were often shown with idealized bodies to
help the viewer identify the hero from the villain. These chiseled bodies can be clearly seen
in the works of the well-known Renaissance painter Michelangelo. Here, he shows the stillinnocent Adam and Eve before they had been cast out of the Garden of Eden. Their bodies are
muscular and well-shaped, showing their connection to perfection.
Sandro Boticelli
The Birth of Venus, 1486
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Interestingly, this emphasis on beauty in art
meant that for the first time we begin to see
differences in style appearing between
territories, allowing for a recognition of
stylistic preferences. Different countries and
city states had varying ideals for beauty
based on what was in style in their region.
For example, the images of Venus seen on
the left and on the next page are very
different but would have each been
considered beautiful in their countries of
origin. These depictions were both typical for
the regions in which they were painted.
Unlike the formulaic icons of the Middle
youraga.ca
Ages, art could now clearly be from a specific region, allowing us
insight into the notion of beauty in that particular state.
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Venus and Cupid, The Honey
Thief, 1531
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of
Belgium
Neoclassicism:
The Renaissance was not the last time artists used idealized imagery to depict beauty in
art. The Neoclassical period, beginning in the late 18th century, saw a rebirth of Greek
and Roman styles and motifs. Much of the Neoclassical style was reacting to the excessive
ornamentation of the Baroque and Rococo periods which saw the production of large,
gold-covered artwork and lavish palaces such as Versailles in France. They wanted
simplified works that were more cerebral and less emotive. Neoclassical artists were inspired by
the Classics and by the Renaissance artists who had preceded them. The period saw the rise of
the Grand Tour – an activity taken on as a sort of finishing school for young, wealthy men. These
individuals would travel to Greece and Italy to see the well known classical works of art that they
had learned about during their studies. This renewed interest in ancient art and architecture
began a revival of much of the art styles seen during the classically-oriented Renaissance.
The Neoclassical period saw an emphasis on rationality and mindfulness. Most neoclassical
artists thought art should be about simplified beauty, not sensuality. This appeared both in the
subject matter of their art as well as in their style and execution. A great example of this can be
seen in the work of Jacques-Louis David, one of the best-known neoclassical artists. Most of his
works discuss classical history and myths. Early in his career David travelled to Rome where he
had the opportunity to study many of the great classical buildings and sculptures. The trip had a
profound influence on him, and much of his later work is closely related to this neoclassical
youraga.ca
style.
David
The Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre, Paris
One of his most famous pieces, The Oath of the
Horatii, was painted while he was on this trip.
The piece depicts a Roman legend; three sons
from the Horatii family swear an oath to fight
three sons of a neighbouring town as a treaty to
end a war occurring between the two cities. The
viewer can see the strong lines, vivid colour and
statuesque positioning of the figures, all typical
of the neoclassical period. Just as in the
Renaissance, idealized forms were used to
identify the good. As these three young men
are making a sacrifice for their town, David has
chosen to depict them as well-formed, helping
the viewer see them as beautiful and heroic.
Romanticism
The Romantic period occurred at relatively the same time as Neoclassicism but was
vastly different in terms of its ideas of art and beauty. As the Neoclassical artists were
focusing on order and rationality, the Romantics were passionate about nature and lively
expressions of feeling. Much of the Romantic period evolved as a reaction to the Industrial
Revolution taking over much of Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. As science and
technology were advancing and modern travel was shrinking the globe, citizens looked towards
history for its romance, magic and mystery to provide a reprieve from the modernized age. Much
of this was centered around a revived interest in the Middle Ages. The re-discovery of medieval
culture reminded 19th century citizens of a past full of adventure and heroism. Works of art
often featured picturesque scenes of knights, ladies and mythical creatures. Men were
always seen as handsome while women were fair and attractive. Settings were usually
of castles or ornate living spaces. Artists felt it was their duty to include these emotive
scenes of beauty to free the viewer from their smog-covered existence in the industrial
cities.
youraga.ca
Academic painting in the 19th century was dominated by two styles, Realism or
Naturalism, and Romanticism. The differences between these two styles was expressed
in all genres of the visual arts. This period also witnessed the elevation of landscape
painting to a level rivalling, and later surpassing, history painting and it was in the
expression of the landscape that the concept of beauty reached its fullest philosophical
expression.
The elevation of the landscape to a legitimate genre in the visual arts began during the
Renaissance but in the 16th century landscapes were not particularly realistic in nature.
By the 17th century this had changed and ‘real’ Dutch landscapes became prevalent.
Drawings were made on site and horizons were lowered in order to emphasize the
impressive cloud formations of the region and to capture the quality of light.
The paintings of the French painter Claude
Lorrain and Dutch artists such as Jacob van
Ruisdael found a ready market in England and
had a profound influence on English painters
of the 1700s. One of the most
important British painters influenced by these
artists was John Constable (1776-1837).
Constable combined objective studies of nature
with a deeply personal vision of the countryside
around him. He rejected the accepted hierarchy
of art genres, which ranked idealized landscapes
that told historical or mythological tales above
views observed in nature, and sought recognition John Constable
The Hay Wain, 1821
for humbler scenes of cultivated land and
Oil on canvas
agricultural labour.
National Gallery of London, U.K.
In 1824 Constable exhibited The Hay Wain at the Paris Salon. His strikingly fresh, apparently
spontaneous transcription of the landscape, caused a sensation among French painters and
influenced some of the younger artists of the time to abandon formalism and to draw inspiration
directly from nature.
One artist inspired by Constable’s work was Jean-Francois Millet, who extended Constable’s
focus on nature to include peasant figures, scenes of peasant life and work in the fields. Millet
settled in the Barbizon region of France in 1849 and his new works marked a transition from the
depiction of symbolic imagery of peasant life to a depiction of contemporary social conditions.
youraga.ca
Jean-Francois Millet
The Gleaners, 1857
Oil on canvas
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
One of the most famous of Millet’s works was The
Gleaners, submitted to the Salon in 1857. This
painting portrays the ancient right of poor women
and children to remove the bits of grain left in the
fields following the harvest.The work was received
with hostility as the middle and upper classes
viewed it as an unpleasant reminder that French
society was built on the labor of the working
classes. Despite initial rejection, however, Millet
later achieved financial success, was even elected
to the Salon jury, and was an important source of
inspiration for other artists such as Vincent van
Gogh.
Robert Gallon
Welsh Hills, n.d.
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Art Gallery of Alberta
The second major trend in the visual arts (and also in architecture, literature and music)
during the 18th and 19th centuries was that of Romanticism. Romanticism refers not to a
specific style but to an attitude of mind. The declared aim of the Romantics was to tear down the
artifices baring the way to a ‘return to nature’ - nature the unbounded, wild and ever-changing;
nature the sublime and picturesque.
Romanticism in the visual arts incorporated both the imaginative and the ideal, rather
than the real, and embraced concepts of nobility, grandeur, virtue and superiority. In
British painting of the late 18th and 19th centuries, Romanticism was most clearly expressed in
landscape gardening and in the development and elevation of landscape painting where
artists came to emphasize the sublime or the picturesque in their rendering of the landscape.
To achieve these ends artists used vibrant colours and loose, gestural brushstrokes and often
sacrificed reality for the sake of emotion.
youraga.ca
Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840)
The Abbey in the Oakwood, 1808-1810
Oil on canvas
Alte Nationalgaleerie, Berlin
Otto Jacobi
The Falls at Sunset, 1886
Oil on canvas
Realism and Romanticism in landscape painting came together in the 18th century in the
development of concepts of the sublime and the picturesque in landscape painting.
As described by John Ruskin, THE
LANDSCAPE was the ‘chief artistic
creation of the nineteenth century’, with
the result that in the following period
people were ‘apt to assume that the
appreciation of natural beauty and the
painting of landscape is a normal and
enduring part of our spiritual activity’.
Homer Watson
Meadow Stream, Doon, n.d.
Oil on linen
With the development of the landscape
as a legitimate subject for artists to
pursue came a theoretical discussion
concerning what constituted or made a
‘good’ landscape painting. From the late
18th century through to the early 20th
century art critics and theorists devised
a set of ‘rules’ which artists were
required to follow if their work was to be
accepted by the art institutions of the
day.
youraga.ca
By the 18th century the treatment of the landscape in painting had been formalized and
two of the most important aesthetic ideals of the 18th and 19th centuries were those of
the beautiful and the sublime. According to the philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804),
beauty was inherent in a form. The sublime, in contrast, was a characteristic which attached to
objects an impression of limitlessness, and involved developing a sensibility for the wild,
awe-inspiring and stupendous aspects of natural scenery. Edmund Burke (1757), who restricted
the nature of the word to the emotion of ‘terror’, stated that for a painting to be sublime
...a judicious obscurity in some things contributes to the effect of the picture, because ‘...in all art
as in nature, dark, confused, uncertain images have a greater power on the fancy to form the
grander passions that those which are more clear and determinate.’
According to Burke, beauty creates joy through being well formed, smooth and perfect, whereas
the sublime is the experience of fear and awe which produces an emotion far more intense
than the experience of beauty. Such sentiments had been voiced earlier by the French artist and
art critic Roger de Piles (1635-1709) who stated
...in Painting there must be something Great and Extraordinary to surprise, please and instruct...
Tis by this that ordinary things are made beautiful and the beautiful sublime and wonderful...
(Oxford Companion to Art, Oxford University Press, pg. 1113)
Adolphe Vogt
The Approaching Storm, 1869
Oil on canvas
Adolphe Vogt’s painting The Approaching Storm admirably capures the emotion of ‘terror’ as
elucidated by Burke. The artist’s use of harsh contrast between the sun-drenched foreground
and dark stormy background, and the vague hint of the town in the distance, serve to heighten
the awesome ferocity of the storm which is about to engulf the group of farmers. The danger
they are in is further emphasized by the terrified expressions of the running boy and the horserider who furiously whips his horses in an effort to reach refuge before they are caught in the
fury of nature.
youraga.ca
An aesthetic category which existed between beauty and the sublime was that of the
picturesque. The picturesque came to represent the standard of taste, especially for
landscape painting, design and architecture, during the second half of the 18th and early
19th centuries. One of the earliest proponents of this philosophy was the British artist and
clergyman William Gilpin (1724-1804). Gilpin believed that Claude Lorrain’s paintings were
synonymous with picturesque painting and encouraged artists to emulate the 17th century
master in their treatment of the landscape. In his writings Gilpin spoke of the necessity of the
artist to supply ‘composition’ to the raw material of nature to produce a harmonious design.
According to Gilpin, for a painting to be ‘properly picturesque’, artists should follow four
main specifications:
1/ The scene should be divided into three distinct zones: a dark foreground containing a front
screen of foliage or rocks or side screens; a brighter middle ground; and at least one further,
less distinctly rendered distance.
2/ The composition should be planned with a low viewpoint which emphasized the
sublime nature of the scene portrayed.
3/ The artist could include a ruined building as this would add ‘consequence’ to the scene.
4/ Ruggedness of texture and the distribution of light and dark within the image were
essential considerations.
Gilpin’s ideas on landscape composition were adapted by later writers, such as John
Ruskin, and became the standards against which landscape paintings and artists were
measured. These ideas were transported from Britain to Canada during the mid to late
19th century and determined the approach of artists to the Canadian landscape. In order
to be accepted by the Royal Canadian Academy of Art and to be collected by the National
Gallery of Canada, artists had to conform to the rules of landscape composition that had
been devised by Gilpin and others.
youraga.ca
Realism
The last 200 years have seen a major change in the concept of beauty and its relation to
art. In 1878 Margaret Wolfe Hungerford captured the belief of the period when she stated
that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. The 19th and 20th centuries saw a movement
away from a single, regimented definition of beauty and instead began to look at the
varying perceptions of beauty such as those seen in the Romantic, Neoclassical and
Realism movements. With the Realists in particular, beauty was no longer a perfect ideal
but could be seen in every day life. Instead of idealized scenes, the artwork often focused on
the hardships of the working class and revealed the day-to-day routine of labourers. Many of
these artists saw their work as a reaction against the Romantic period with its perfected
landscapes and nostalgic eye. Since the art was supposed to mimic real life, artists often
included scenes that could be seen as uncomfortable or ugly. Depictions of labourers toiling in
the fields or of lower-class individuals crammed into a public space were commonplace. These
images could sometimes show the beauty in the every-day but did not strive to reveal
picturesque depictions of an idealized world.
Not surprisingly, some wealthier patrons did not
approve of Realism because it reminded them
of the hardships of their employees. While in
previous centuries this would have had a major
impact on the movement, this period saw the
rise of the salon, which removed the need for
artists to seek patronage to support themselves.
Art salons provided a way for artists to display,
discuss and sell their work. Regular exhibitions
were held and artists could be invited to display
their pieces. Since these salons were targeted
at the growing middle class, discussions about
poverty and the division of labour were
supported.
Honoré Daumier
The Third Class Carriage, 1862-1864
Oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Early Modernism
This change in the class system as well as progression of the Realist movement lead to a
period in art called Modernism. Works of art in the Modernist period were often seen to depict
a single moment or feeling. Continuing with the Realist notion of art depicting real life,
modernists strove to capture an emotion directly on their canvas.
Some of the first examples of modern painting can be seen in the work of the Impressionists. Impressionists tried to depict a single moment in time, highlighting the fleeting beauty of life. These
artists like Monet and Renoir, covered their canvas in rich colours in an attempt to reveal the
changing light, and mood. Subject matter could include everything from nature to agriculture to
urban scenes. Similar to Realism, Impressionists rarely depicted the upper classes. The Impressionists hoped that these stylized, colourful scenes of every day life would provide the viewer
with an insight into the idea of human perception and emotion.
youraga.ca
The Impressionists opened a discussion about
feelings and emotions in art, leading a way for
Abstraction. Abstract subject-matter was rarely
about the outside world but often had to do with
the artists’ inner beliefs. The works often involved
the reduction of natural appearances to
simplified forms. This included breaking down
figures to their basic lines, shapes, colours and
textures. These basic elements could often be
changed to tell the observer about the mood
behind the piece and the feelings of the artist.
Abstraction can include, but is not limited to,
distortion or stylization.
Wassily Kandinsky
Composition X, 1939
Oil on canvas
The Abstract movement, and the artistic periods that followed, were seen as a complete
departure from the concept of beauty in art. While beauty can still be found in the
accurate and revealing works of the Realist and Impressionist painters, early abstract
artists completely did away with any notion of beauty. There are many reasons why this
occurred. After the many different styles of art occurring during the 19th century, many artists
thought that there was no longer one right way to create a work. With so many conflicting ideas
of beauty between the Neoclassicists, Romantics and Realists, artists thought it was useless to
try and define beauty in any one piece because there was no longer one single definition.
Furthermore, after the horrors of the First World War, artists believed art should show the
senselessness in the world. They did not think this could be done through a depiction of beauty.
Art became more about the representation of an emotion, memory or belief than the recreation
of something that could be seen with the eyes. Artists looked to challenge the public’s
acceptance of what art could be and how it should be viewed.
Dada
A group profoundly influenced by WWI and this
changing view on beauty was the Dada artists
working in the first few decades of the 20th century.
Dada artists saw their pieces as anti-art; trying to get
away from the aesthetics dominating the art world in
previous periods. These artists would use methods
such as collage, assemblage and readymades to
produce their new styles of art.
The best-known Dada artist is likely Marcel Duchamp.
His key work, Fountain, depicts a urinal turned
upside-down. Not surprisingly, when it caused a great
uproar when it was first displayed. There was no
attempt to make this bathroom object visually
appealing in any way. Throughout his career he
continued to make statements by taking everyday
Marcel Duchamp
Fountain, 1917
Found object
Multiple locations
youraga.ca
objects and turning them into works of art called readymades. Dada works, such as those being
made by Duchamp, highlight the vast change in what was now becoming acceptable as art.
These pieces were intended to poke fun at the art world and discuss the chaos and
upheaval happening around the globe. If an individual found beauty in the piece it was
only because of their unique perspective and not due to any aim of the artist.
Surrealism
Not all artists prescribed to the Dadaist notion of anti-art. The Surrealist movement starting in the
early 1920s did not think that art should be completely random. Just like many of the abstract
artists before them, Surrealists were interested in looking internally as opposed to externally
for inspiration. Many were interested in dream interpretation and the psychological theories of
Sigmund Freud which they saw as important to the human experience. Artwork would include
seemingly random symbols and depictions which would have a specific connection to the artist.
Unlike the Dada and abstract artists, surrealists still concerned themselves with beauty,
but on a very different level from the aesthetic beauty of previous art. Surrealists sought
to achieve what they called convulsive beauty in their artworks. Convulsive beauty was
seen to be an emotional and psychological connection to the work that struck the viewer
when viewing the piece. Upon experiencing convulsive beauty, the viewer would have
a heightened reaction to the work and be able to see the piece from a new perspective.
Upon having this enlightened perspective, the viewer may experience emotions of intrigue, fear,
excitement or disgust. Works of convulsive beauty are supposed to appear eerie or chilling,
possibly even giving the viewer a convulsive shiver when witnessing the piece. Salvador Dali’s
painting Dream caused by the flight of a bee, is a basic example of convulsive beauty. Through
inspecting the work, the viewer comes to realize that there are many images and symbols
hidden within the work. Upon noticing the different animals, people and repetitive shapes, the
viewer gains a new perspective on the piece and its meaning.
Works of convulsive beauty are not limited to seeing hidden symbols. Sometimes a single object
could be angled in a unique way to give it a new dimension. Any time someone could experience
a heightened reaction and new perspective on a work it was considered convulsive beauty.
Many of the surrealists thought convulsive beauty could be the only kind of beauty in artwork. In
the iconic text, Nadja, Surrealist author Andre Breton writes, ‘beauty will be convulsive, or it will
not be at all’, highlighting the importance put on this effect of convulsive beauty when
experiencing art. It is interesting to see how beauty was making a return to art, although on a
very different level as it had been seen in the 19th century and earlier.
youraga.ca
Pop Art
One major change in the concept of beauty and art
aesthetic was the creation of pop art in the mid20th century. Pop art was completely
representational, meaning a very different style of
art from the abstract and surrealist works before it.
Instead of looking internally, pop artists thought the
greatest source of inspiration was the everyday world.
They looked to popular culture such as media,
advertisements and household decorations to discuss
the rapidly changing post-war world. Artists such as
Andy Warhol used images of everyday things, such as
his famous Campbell’s Soup can, to discuss
contemporary culture.
While pop artists did sometimes include beauty
in their works, it was rarely the same moving
beauty of the classical philosophers. If pop artists
chose to include beauty, it was usually in terms
of a sexualized female appearance, as opposed to Tom Wesselmann
the beautiful landscapes, architecture and human Great American Nude #52, 1963
Private Collection
proportion seen in previous centuries.
Pop art could involve pin-up girls, attractive celebrities or strategically placed nudes within the
works. One artist, Tom Wesselmann, included provocative female nudes placed into domestic
still-lifes, showing the movement towards this explicit representation of the human body. Much of
this art was occurring during the sexual revolution of the mid-20th century which saw the
loosening of social behaviour and expectations as well as the expansion of female rights. Artists
saw this inclusion of the sexualized body as a way to comment on this new way of thinking.
Unlike the beauty of a perfect form, sexualized beauty could speak to the mentality of the time
and allow artists to discuss social changes occurring around them.
Beyond Europe
Much of the ideas of beauty discussed here have had a predominantly Western viewpoint.
Beginning in the 19th century, however, some artists began to look elsewhere for their
inspiration. Japanese art began its rise to popularity in the late 19th century and early 20th
century due to the opening of the Japanese borders after 250 years of seclusion during the Edo
period. Unlike the Western artistic ideals of proportion, perspective and symmetry, Japanese art focused more on the notion of wabi-sabi – beauty through imperfection. Ideals of
simplicity, roughness and asymmetry had been revered in Japan in the same way as the
classical tradition had been used in Europe. 20th century.
youraga.ca
Hiroshige (1797-1858)
Rain shower at Shõno
Vincent van Gogh
The Blooming Plum Tree (after Hiroshige)
1887
Ideals of simplicity, roughness and asymmetry had been revered in Japan in the same way as
the classical tradition had been used in Europe. Japanese art consisted of off-centered
arrangements with little or no perspective, light with no shadows, and vibrant colours on plain
surfaces. Japanese artists also thought beauty could be seen in nature which was never perfect.
These elements were in direct contrast to classical European art and so were embraced by 19th
century European artists who believed they freed the Western artistic mentality from academic
conventions. The French Art Nouveau movement and post impressionist artists particularly
connected to the flat, simplified Japanese woodcut prints and attempted to recreate a similar
style in their images. While these images would not have aligned with the traditional European
notion of beauty, their simplicity and asymmetry give them a uniquely pleasing aesthetic and
these ideas had a profound influence on the development of modern art in Europe and America.
African art also had a major impact on modern European artists. Many of the Cubist
painters like Pablo Picasso and George Braque looked away from the historic Euro-centric
artistic practices in the hopes of showing the drastically different environment of the 20th
century. As the French were beginning to colonize Africa, pieces of African culture would make
their way back to Europe for study and observation. Picasso in particular was influenced by
African art during his trips to the Trocadero museum in Paris. Similar to Japanese art, these
pieces were not about a perfect ideal but contained much less detail. Figures often had
accentuated features and angular bodies. These depictions helped Picasso into the Cubist
movement of abstract angles, lines and shapes creating an image. One of the early examples of
Picasso’s interest in African art can be seen in his famous work Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. He
created this work after multiple trips to the Trocadero museum and the influence of African tribal
masks on the faces of the women is apparent.
youraga.ca
Picasso, like other modernists, appreciated the creative way African sculpture could abstract the
human figure. While these works did not fit the European formula of beauty, they were still
aesthetically pleasing in their individuality. The Cubists thought these philosophies fit well with
how they saw the world rapidly changing in the 20th century.
Fang Sculpture
Pablo PIcasso
Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon, 1907
Oil on canvas
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Conclusion
Just like the ancient Greek philosophers, we continue struggling to define beauty. Throughout
this article we have seen how the ideals of beauty have changed over the centuries. From the
perfected forms of the Classical, Renaissance and Neoclassical periods, to the schism of beauty
in the 20th century, artists have toyed with the idea of whether or not we should see beauty in
art. As with many artistic movements, much of this debate has originated not in the art world,
but with the religion, politics and history that affected the lives of these artists. It is up to each
individual person to decide whether we see beauty in the chiseled figures of Michelangelo, the
accurate depictions of Millet or the African-inspired paintings of Picasso. Regardless of the work,
we are fortunate enough as humans to have the opportunity to experience our own version of
beauty, both in art and in the world around us.
The Quest for Beauty was prepared by Meaghan Froh and Shane Golby
youraga.ca
Artistic Inspirations: The bugs of Lesley Roy
* The following facts on the insects documented in the work of Lesley Roy were
graciously supplied by the artist.
HONEY BEE, Apis mellifera
Bees belong to the order Hymenoptera. They have been around for millions of years and are the
only insect to produce food which is used by humans. Honey contains all the necessary
nutrients for survival, both of human and bee. It also contains pinocembrin, which is associated
with improved brain functioning. According to Albert Einstein, man would live only four years if
the honey bee were to disappear.
Honey bees are social animals which live in hives that contain tens of thousands of individuals.
We usually only see the workers but there is a single queen laying about 2,500 eggs a day and
drones which mate with the queen. If the queen should die workers feed ‘royal jelly’ to a couple
of other workers. It converts those bees into potential fertile queens. The first to emerge will kill
the others.
The sex of the bee is controlled by the queen. Drones are unfertilized eggs. They are expelled
in the winter. The workers protect, clean and keep the hive clean amongst other duties such as
fanning their wings to keep the hive cool. The bees communicate through dancing. The
movements suggest distance and direction to pollen. Their 170 odorant receptors help them find
the flowering plants.
youraga.ca
RED-CROSS SHIELD BUG, Elasmostethus cruciatus
The Red-Cross Shield Bug is a member of the Hemiptera order or True Bugs. They are called
shield bugs because their bodies somewhat resemble shields of old. Their other common name,
Stink Bug, is due to the odor from a chemical they produce in glands on their abdomen.
Hemiptera have two sets of wings which, in the case of the Red-Cross Stink Bug, form a very
recognizable red cross pattern. Most shield bugs are not as colourful. The adults can fly very
well but the nymphs don’t have fully developed wings. In adults the front wings are leathery at
the top but become almost transparent at the bottom. The pattern and transparency of the wings
is evident in the photo.
Their mouthparts form a tube-like structure that pierces plant tissue and they ingest the fluids.
When not in use this tube can be seen tucked under its body. Unless in large numbers they don’t
usually do any lasting damage. However, some species that attack fruits can make the fruit unfit
for consumption. It should be noted that some stink bugs are actually predators and feed on
other insects, including other stink bugs.
Depending on the species, Red Cross Shield Bugs can grow up to 2 cm.
youraga.ca
SPITTLE BUG NYMPH
This beautiful bug is the nymph of a Froghopper. It belongs to the family Cercopoidae. The
common name is derived from the frothy substance which looks like spittle and is made of a
mixture of air blown through the bug’s abdomen, glandular fluids, and plant juices in the form
of watery waste. These bubbles protect it from predators as well as help keep it moist and cool.
Besides keeping the bug hidden, the spittle is also rather unpleasant to bite into which is another
reason for predators to stay away. The nymphs go through five molts before becoming adults
which are about 6 mm long.
Spittle bugs may stunt plant growth if in large enough numbers but generally they don’t cause
a lot of damage. They pierce the plants exterior with their modified mouthparts and suck out its
juices. Like the other Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, they keep this feeding tube tucked
under their bodies when not in use.
As adults Spittle Bugs can leap quite far distances from plant to plant but the nymphs rely on the
spittle for their protection. Twenty species can be found in the United States but there are
thousands worldwide.
youraga.ca
YELLOW DUNG FLY, Scathophaga stercoraria
The male of the species of this Diptera are recognizable by the yellow or golden coloured hair on
their front legs. Females are duller without the brightly coloured fur. They are generally found in
cooler temperate regions including North America and range in size from 5mm to 11mm with the
males being bigger. They and have an average lifespan of one or two months.
These flies mostly prey on other smaller flies but can also consume nectar and dung. The
males wait at the dung piles for the females who generally only go there to mate and lay eggs.
Females are autogenic so in order for the eggs to be viable they must feed on prey. The eggs
hatch into larvae within 2 days and burrow into the dung to feed and for protection. Once they
have finished growing they spend five days emptying their stomachs in order to pupate.
Depending on the temperature this process can take anywhere from 10 to 80 days. The fitness
of the emerging flies is, in large part, due to the quality of the dung.
Because they live a short life and demonstrate susceptibility to experimental manipulations,
these flies are often used for scientific research. They also play an important role in the
decomposition of waste which helps control the spread of other pests and diseases.
youraga.ca
Art Processes: Infrared Photography
For his photographs of Hawaii included in the
exhibition ...rattled to the bone, artist
Jean-René Leblanc makes use of the process
of infrared photography.
Infrared Photography captures the near-infrared
part of the electromagnetic spectrum, a wave
length of light that is invisible to the naked eye. In
this type of photography an infrared-sensitive film
or image sensor is used, usually in
conjunction with an infrared filter. This type of
filter blocks most of the visible light spectrum but
allows infrared light to pass through the camera’s
lens. Shooting in infrared has the ability to
transform mundane subject matter into
surprising and unforgettable images and scenes
that a person might walk by and never think of.
Such scenes take on a more dramatic look when
seen in infrared.
Jean-René Leblanc
Infrared photography was not possible until the early 20th century as the silver halide emulsions
used in photography were not sensitive to longer wavelengths of light than blue light.
The first infrared photographs to be published appeared in the February 1910 edition of The
Century Magazine and in the October 1910 edition of the Royal Photographic Society Journal to
illustrate papers by Robert W. Wood. Wood (1868-1955) is described as the ‘father of both
infrared and ultraviolet photography’ as he was the first person to intentionally produce
photographs with both infrared and ultraviolet radiation. Wood’s discoveries were followed by
the development of infrared-sensitive photographic plates in the United States during world War
I and after 1930 the development of emulsions from Kodak and other manufacturers for use in
infrared astronomy.
Infrared photography became popular with photography enthusiasts in the 1930s when
suitable film was introduced commercially. The advent of digital infrared photography increased
the technique’s appeal and such work is now being sold as fine art photographs in a variety of
galleries worldwide. There are, however, technological issues to be considered when using
digital cameras as the imaging sensors used in such cameras are sensitive to more than
visible light. Because of this, some manufacturers place an infrared blocker of filter in front of the
chip to block infrared light from striking it and causing colour-balance problems. In order to take
infrared photographs, then, this internal filter must be removed and a special filter added which
will block almost all visible light.
youraga.ca
Art Processes: Infrared Photography
Infrared photography makes use of the
conventions of documentary photography but the
technique, due to its unusual results, enables a
re-examination of even the most banal of scenes.
Some of the characteristics of this technique
when used in nature are that clouds appear bright
and somehow out of scale, with deep shadows
and reflections in water. Metal objects, which
reflect little infrared light, appear dark while
leaves and foliate glow with light, similar to the
way snow reflects visible light. The effect of
infrared light on foliate is called the ‘Wood Effect’,
named after Robert W. Wood, pioneer in the use
of infrared photography.
youraga.ca
Art Processes: Printmaking Methods
Edmonton artist Lisa Turner makes use of a variety of printmaking methods to create her
works found in the exhibition ...rattled to the bone. The following pages briefly outline the
history, meanings and mechanics of the processes she uses and relate to projects found
in the Visual Learning section of this guide.
youraga.ca
Art Processes: Relief Printmaking
youraga.ca
Art Processes: Silk Screening
youraga.ca
Visual Learning
and Hands-On
Activities
Lisa Turner
Inkjet print
youraga.ca
What is Visual Learning?
All art has many sides to it. The artist makes the works for people to experience. They in turn
can make discoveries about both the work and the artist that help them learn and give them
pleasure for a long time.
How we look at an object determines what we come to know about it. We remember information
about an object far better when we are able to see (and handle) objects rather than by only
reading about them. This investigation through observation (looking) is very important to
undertanding how objects fit into our world in the past and in the present and will help viewers
reach a considered response to what they see. The following is a six-step method to looking
at, and understanding, a work of art.
STEP 1: INITIAL, INTUITIVE RESPONSE The first ‘gut level’ response to a visual presentation.
What do you see and what do you think of it?
STEP 2: DESCRIPTION Naming facts - a visual inventory of the elements of design.
Questions to Guide Inquiry:
What colours do you see? What shapes are most noticeable?
What objects are most apparent? Describe the lines in the work.
STEP 3: ANALYSIS Exploring how the parts relate to each other.
What proportions can you see? eg. What percentage of the work is background? Foreground?
Land? Sky? Why are there these differences? What effect do these differences create?
What parts seem closest to you? Farthest away? How does the artist give this impression?
STEP 4: INTERPRETATION Exploring what the work might mean or be about.
How does this work make you feel? Why?
What word would best describe the mood of this work?
What is this painting/photograph/sculpture about?
Is the artist trying to tell a story? What might be the story in this work?
STEP 5: INFORMATION Looking beyond the work for information that may further
understanding.
What is the artist’s name? When did he/she live?
What art style and medium does the artist use?
What artist’s work is this artist interested in?
What art was being made at the same time as this artist was working?
What was happening in history at the time this artist was working?
What social/political/economic/cultural issues is this artist interested in?
STEP 6: PERSONALIZATION What do I think about this work? (Reaching a considered
response).
© Virginia Stephen
youraga.ca
Introduction to the Elements of Design Tour
The following pages provide examples of the elements of design that artists use or
consider in the creation of art works. This tour can be used with students to explore
individual elements as they are expressed in works in the exhibition. The type in bold
expresses the main questions that can be asked by the teacher/facilitator for each
element whereas the regular type expresses possible answers to these questions.
youraga.ca
Elements and Principles
LINE: An element of art that is used to
define shape, contours and outlines. It is
also used to suggest mass and volume.
See: I Want You to Want Me #5, 2012
by Lisa Turner
What types of line are there? How can you describe line? What are some of the
characteristics of a line?
Width: thick, thin, tapering, uneven
Length: long, short, continuous, broken
Feeling: sharp, jagged, graceful, smooth
Focus: sharp, blurry, fuzzy, choppy
Direction: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, curving, perpendicular, oblique, parallel, radial, zigzag
Now describe the lines you see in this image. Follow the lines in the air with your finger.
What quality do the lines have? How do the lines operate in the image?
The artist has included many lines of varying lengths and characteristics in this print. Primarily
she makes use of curving diagonal lines of various thicknesses and tones. These lines, which
form the shapes of hands/arms and utensils, overlap each other and move in a variety of
directions, giving a very active appearance to the work and creating a frenzied mood.
Line can also be a word used in the composition, meaning the direction the viewer’s eye
travels when looking at a picture. How does line in this image help your eye travel within
the composition?
The lines in this image direct the viewer’s eye from the left to the right and from the top, in the
form of reaching hands, down towards the bottom of the work. The curving lines of the cups at
the bottom of the work join with the diagonal lines running from the top to direct the eye back up
to the top of the work.
youraga.ca
Elements of Composition continued
SHAPE:When a line crosses itself or intersects with
another line to enclose a space it creates a shape.
Shape is two-dimensional. It has height and width but
no depth.
See: My Paradise #3, 2013
by Jean-René Leblanc
What kinds of shapes can you think of?
Geometric: circles, squares, rectangles and triangles. We see them in architecture and
manufactured items.
Organic shapes: a leaf, seashell, flower. We see them in nature with characteristics that are free
flowing, informal and irregular.
Static shapes: shapes that appear stable and resting.
Dynamic shapes: Shapes that appear moving and active.
What shapes do you see in this image? What shapes are positive and negative?
This image contains organic shapes. As this image shows things in nature (ie: trees, bushes,
grass, hills), the forms are organic and more free-flowing than geometric shapes would be.
How do the shapes operate in this image?
The shapes seen are generally repeated throughout this image. The image basically portrays
clumps of vegetation and these clumps move from the left side of the image across to the right
side in an undulating line.
What quality do the shapes have? Does the quality of the shapes contribute to the
meaning or story suggested in the work?
Because the shapes shown are organic they appear, though stationary, to be dynamic in nature.
youraga.ca
COLOUR: Colour comes from light that is
reflected off objects. Colour has three main
characteristics: Hue: its name (red, blue,
etc.) Value: how light or dark the colour is,
and Intensity: how bright or dull the colour
is.
See: Nature’s Jewels..., 2012
by Lesley Roy
What are the primary colours? Do you see any? Point to them in the drawing. What
secondary colours do you see?
Colour is made of primary colours – red, yellow and blue. Secondary colours are created from
primary colours and include green, orange and purple. Tertiary colours are made up of a
primary colour and a secondary colour. This image is primarily composed of the secondary
colour - green - and the primary colour, red.
Where is your eye directed to first? Why? Are there any colours that stand out more than
others?
Our eye may be drawn first to the green area of the image as this area is the largest area in the
image. However, the smaller areas of red really stand out against the green and so the eye may
go to the red on the bug first.
What are complimentary colours? How have they been used to draw attention?
Complimentary colours are those across from each other on the colour wheel and are placed
next to each other to create the most contrast and to provide visual focus. Contrasting colours
can also provide a sense of direction and emphasis in the work. In this image red is the
complement of green and so the red markings on the bug make the bug stand out against the
green of the leaf. Also, because the viewer’s eye is drawn to the bug, and the bug is slightly offcenter, the image as an energy it might not otherwise have had.
youraga.ca
TEXTURE: The surface quality of an object that can
be seen or felt. Texture can also be implied on a
two-dimensional surface through mark making and
paint handling.
See: Time Heals, 2012
by Pamela Thurston
What is texture? How do you describe how something feels? What are the two kinds of
texture you can think of in artwork?
Texture can be real, like the actual texture of an object. Texture can be rough, smooth, hard,
soft, glossy etc. Texture can also be implied. This happens when a two-dimensional piece of art
is made to look like a certain texture.
Allow your eyes to ‘feel’ the different areas within the work and explain the textures. What
kind of texture do you think the artists uses in this work? Real or implied? What about
the work gives you this idea?
As this work is a painting, it mainly has implied texture. The background areas appear very
smooth whereas the painting of the branch/natural object makes the object appear rather rough.
The painting techniques used, however, also give the object a sense of real texture. In some
parts of the object the artist has actually used a crackle paint which, if felt, would give the
painting a rougher feel in some places.
Why do you think the artist chose this manner of presentation or chose to make the work
look this way?
The artist’s aim, though she has abstracted from reality, is also to present a sense of hyperrealism. In other words, since she is creating an image of a natural object, she is very conscious
of ‘mimicking’ how that object would actually feel.
youraga.ca
SPACE: The area between and around objects. It can
also refer to the feeling of depth in a two-dimensional
work.
See: This side of the down and out, 2015
by Caroline Stanley
What is space? What dimensions does it have?
Space includes the background, middle ground and foreground. It can refer to the distances or
areas around, between or within components of a piece. It may have two dimensions (length
and width) or three dimensions including height and depth.
What do you see in this work? What is closest to you? Farthest away? How do you know
this?
In this work the viewer is presented with a mass of leaves which appear to be floating on water.
There are larger leaves in the foreground of the image and the leaves become smaller as the
image recedes in space/as the eye moves up the picture plane and so back into space.
In what other ways has the artist created a sense of space?
Besides size, colour and clarity are also used to create a sense of space/distance in the work.
The larger leaves in the foreground are more vibrantly coloured and more in focus than leaves
in the background. The artist also uses complementary colours to direct the viewer’s eye.
Focus is first directed to the leaves in the foreground as there is a large purple-brownish
leaf placed near yellowish leaves. As purple and yellow are complementary colours, this area of
the painting stands out/commands attention. Once this region is ‘digested’, the viewer’s eye
is free to move up - and back - in the work.
youraga.ca
Reading Pictures Program
Grades 4-12/adults
Objectives:
The purposes of this program are to:
1/ Introduce participants to art and what artists do – this includes examinations of art styles; art
elements; the possible aims and meaning(s) in an art work and how to deduce those meanings
and aims.
2/ Introduce visitors to the current exhibition – the aim of the exhibition and the kind of exhibition/
artwork found.
- the artist(s) - his/her background(s)
- his/her place in art history
3/ Engage participants in a deeper investigation of artworks.
Teacher/Facilitator Introduction to Program:
This program is called Reading Pictures. What do you think this might involve?
-generate as many ideas as possible concerning what viewers might think ‘Reading Pictures’
might involve or what this phrase might mean.
Before we can ‘read’ art, however, we should have some understanding what we’re talking
about.
What is art? If you had to define this term, how would you define it?
Art can be defined as creative expression - and artistic practice is an aspect and expression of a
peoples’ culture or the artist’s identity.
The discipline of art, or the creation of a piece of art, however, is much more than simple ‘creative expression’ by an ‘artist’ or an isolated component of culture.
How many of you would describe yourselves as artists?
You may not believe it, but every day you engage in some sort of artistic endeavor.
How many of you got up this morning and thought about what you were going to wear today?
Why did you choose the clothes you did? Why do you wear your hair that way? How many
of you have tattoos or plan to get a tattoo some day? What kind of tattoo would you choose?
Why.....? How many of you own digital cameras or have cameras on cell phones? How many of
you take pictures and e-mail them to other people?
youraga.ca
Reading Pictures Program continued
Art is all around us and we are all involved in artistic endeavors to some degree. The
photographs we take, the colour and styles of the clothes we wear, the ways we build and
decorate our homes, gardens and public buildings, the style of our cell phones or the vehicles
we drive, the images we see and are attracted to in advertising or the text or symbols on our
bumper stickers – all of these things (and 9 billion others) utilize artistic principles. They say
something about our personal selves and reflect upon and influence the economic, political,
cultural, historical and geographic concerns of our society.
Art, therefore, is not just something some people in a society do – it is something that affects
and informs everyone within a society.
Today we’re going to look at art - paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures – and see what art can
tell us about the world we live in – both the past, the present and possibly the future – and what
art can tell us about ourselves.
Art is a language like any other and it can be read.
Art can be read in two ways. It can be looked at intuitively – what do you see? What do you like
or not like? How does it make you feel and why? – or it can be read formally by looking at what
are called the elements of design – the tools artists use or consider when creating a piece of
work.
What do you think is meant by the elements of design? What does an artist use to create a work
of art?
Today we’re going to examine how to read art – we’re going to see how art can affect us
emotionally and how an artist can inform us about our world, and ourselves, through what he or
she creates.
Tour Program:
–Proceed to one of the works in the exhibition and discuss the following:
a) The nature of the work - what kind of work is it and what exhibition is it a part of?
b) Examine the work itself – What do visitors see?
– How do you initially feel about what you see? Why do you feel
this way? What do you like? What don’t you like? Why?
–What is the work made of?
–How would you describe the style? What does this mean?
youraga.ca
–What is the compositional structure? How are the shapes and colours etc. arranged? Why are
they arranged this way?
–How does the work make them feel? What is the mood of the work? What gives them this
idea? Discuss the element(s) of design which are emphasized in the work in question.
–What might the artist be trying to do in the work? What might the artist be saying or what might
the work ‘mean’?
c) Summarize the information.
• At each work chosen, go through the same or similar process, linking the work to the
type of exhibition it is a part of. Also, with each stop, discuss a different element of
design and develop participants visual learning skills.
At the 1st stop, determine with the participants the most important element of design
used and focus the discussion on how this element works within the art work. Do the
same with each subsequent art work and make sure to cover all the elements of design
on the tour.
Stop #1: LINE
Stop #2: SHAPE
Stop #3: COLOUR
Stop #4: TEXTURE
Stop #5: SPACE
Stop #6: ALL TOGETHER – How do the elements work together to create a certain mood
or story? What would you say is the mood of this work? Why? What is the story or
meaning or meaning of this work? Why?
Work sheet activity – 30 minutes
•Divide participants into groups of two or three to each do this activity. Give them 30 minutes to
complete the questions then bring them all together and have each group present one of their
pieces to the entire group.
Presentations – 30 minutes
•Each group to present on one of their chosen works.
Visual Learning Activity Worksheet * Photocopy the following worksheet so each
participant has their own copy.
youraga.ca
Visual Learning Worksheet
Instructions: Choose two very different pieces of artwork in the exhibition and answer
the following questions in as much detail as you can.
1. What is the title of the work and who created it?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What do you see and what do you think of it? (What is your initial reaction to the
work?) Why do you feel this way?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What colours do you see and how does the use of colour affect the way you ‘read’
the work? Why do you think the artist chose these colours – or lack of colour – for this
presentation?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. What shapes and objects do you notice most? Why?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
youraga.ca
5. How are the shapes/objects arranged or composed? How does this affect your feelings towards or about the work? What feeling does this composition give to the work?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
6. How would you describe the mood of this work? (How does it make you feel?) What
do you see that makes you describe the mood in this way?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
7. What do you think the artist’s purpose was in creating this work? What ‘story’ might he
or she be telling? What aspects of the artwork give you this idea?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
8. What do you think about this work after answering the above questions? Has your
opinion of the work changed in any way? Why do you feel this way?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
9. How might this work relate to your own life experiences? Have you ever been in a
similar situation/place and how did being there make you feel?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
youraga.ca
Perusing Paintings: An Art-full Scavenger Hunt
In teaching art, game-playing can enhance learning. If students are engaged in learning, through
a variety of methods, then it goes beyond game-playing. Through game-playing we are trying to
get students to use higher-order thinking skills by getting them to be active participants in
learning. Blooms’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, which follows, is as applicable to
teaching art as any other discipline.
1. knowledge: recall of facts
2. comprehension: participation in a discussion
3. application: applying abstract information in practical situations
4. analysis: separating an entity into its parts
5. synthesis: creating a new whole from many parts, as in developing a complex work of art
6. evaluation: making judgements on criteria
A scavenger hunt based on artworks is a fun and engaging way to get students of any age to
really look at the artworks and begin to discern what the artist(s) is/are doing in the works. The
simple template provided, however, would be most suitable for grade 1-3 students.
Instruction:
Using the exhibition works provided, give students a list of things they should search for that are
in the particular works of art. The students could work with a partner or in teams. Include a blank
for the name of the artwork, the name of the artist, and the year the work was created. Following
the hunt, gather students together in the exhibition area and check the answers and discuss the
particular works in more detail.
Sample List:
Scavenger Hunt Item
Title of Artwork
Name of Artist
Year Work Created
someone wearing a hat
a specific animal
landscape
a bright red object
a night scene
a house
*This activity was adapted from A Survival Kit for the Elementary/Middle School Art Teacher by Helen D. Hume.
youraga.ca
An Art-full Scavenger Hunt Template
Scavenger Hunt Item Title of Artwork
Name of Artist
Year Work
Created
youraga.ca
Extended Landscape
Objectives
This project will help with colour, composition
and perspective and is related to the work of
Caroline Stanley in the exhibition ...rattled to
the bone. Careful observation of form and surface
qualities is necessary for the realistic recording of
natural objects.
Control of proportion and perspective enhances the
realism of subject matter in drawing.
Procedure
1) Choose a landscape image from a magazine – choose an image that has a bit of perspective
and has a good amount of sky and ground.
2) Cut out the image and glue it down on a piece of paper such as cartridge or watercolour
paper.
3) Using the media of your choice, start by mixing colour to extend the photograph trying to
create a realistic extension of the landcape in the magazine.
Materials
–old magazines
–watercolours
–glue sticks –scissors
–pencils
–pencil crayons
–8 x 11 in. bond paper or your sketchbook
http://bkids.typepad.com/bookhoucraftprojects/
youraga.ca
It’s all in the Details (Focusing in on Reality) 7-9
youraga.ca
Viewfinder Template
youraga.ca
Styrofoam Prints
The following printmaking projects are inspired by the work of Lisa Turner in the
exhibition ...rattled to the bone.
youraga.ca
Styrofoam Prints continued
youraga.ca
Linocut Printmaking
youraga.ca
Linocut Printmaking continued
youraga.ca
Collage and Printmaking
This project will allow students to create a
collage of a place they connect with. The
project can be adjusted for different grades.
Grades K-2 can simply do the collaging
activity. For older students (Grades 3-9), the
activity can involve a print-making element
using a block print. High school students
(Grades 10-12) can use a screen printer if
one is available. The pieces will be related to
the work of Lisa Turner, who uses a variety
of printmaking methods to create her
‘collage’ print works.
Lisa Turner
Objectives:
Inspired by the work of Lisa Turner students will create a mixed-media collage using photos,
magazines and their own prints. They should gain an understanding of:
• How images can connect us to places we have visited or events we have experienced.
• Ways to thoughtfully select collage images to create a clear interpretation of their piece.
• Methods for printmaking and how to create their own block or screen print.
Materials:
- Printed full-page photograph on a regular 8.5” x 11” sheet of copy paper
- Magazines
- Scissors
- Glue
For block printing:
- Markers
- Pencils
- Scratch Art Scratch-Foam Board
- Ink (Speedball ink is inexpensive and easy to use)
- Brayer
- Non-absorbent inking surface (A piece of plexi-glass works well but any plastic or glass surface
can be used)
For screen printing:
- Clear acetate pages or projector sheets
- Screen printer with squeegee (a screen printing set with printer, squeegee and ink can be
purchased from various art stores. A set from Speedball is the least expensive)
- Screen printing ink
- Spatula or spoon
- Spare paper
Methodology:
1. Have students bring in a full-page photograph of a place they connect with. Encourage
students, if possible, to bring in a photograph of a place they have visited. This could be from a
major trip or a local destination.
youraga.ca
Collage and Printmaking continued
2. Have students go through magazines and cut out images to collage. Ask students what sort
of place this is. What images would go with the theme of the destination? How could one add
images to make this seem more or less exotic?
3. Use glue to stick magazine images to the original photograph.
Block Printing:
4. Once students have created their collage, have them plan out an image or symbol that
represents their experience in this place. It could be based off of their actual experience or their
imagined experience if they chose to create a new destination through their collage.
5. Give each student a piece of scratch foam. Have the students draw their design onto the
scratch foam with a marker.
6. Use a pencil to press into the design to create a relief.
7. Cut out the print from the scratch foam.
8. Prepare the inking station by rolling out the ink onto the non-absorbent surface using the
brayer.
9. Take the inked-up brayer and roll the ink onto the scratch foam
10. Stamp the inked up piece onto the collage.
11. Students can repeat steps 8-10 as many times as they would like
Screen Printing:
4. Once students have created their collage have them plan out a shape or symbol that
represents their experience in this place. It could be based off of their actual experience or their
imagined experience if they chose to create a new destination through their collage.
5. Give each student a piece of acetate paper and have them cut out their stencil
6. Prepare the screen printing station by using the spatula to place ink along the top of the
screen. Put a piece of paper down between the screen and its base. Use the squeegee to pull
the ink down Make sure the squeegee is at a 45 degree angle to the screen to pull down the
ink. Push the ink back up to the top of the screen. Make sure the squeegee is at a 90 degree
angle to the screen to gently push the ink back up. Remove the piece of paper from the printer. It
should have ink on it.
7. The screen is now prepped. Place the stenciled symbol on the underside of the screen. It
should hold there on its own as the screen should be sticky with ink.
8. Place the collage between the screen and the base. Pull the ink down in the same way as
described in step 6. Once you have completed this, remove the piece of paper. The stenciled
image should appear on the collage. Once again, push the ink back to the top to flood the
screen to prepare it for the next person.
Ask students to describe their place. How do the images they selected enhance their story? Is
their place based in fact or fiction? Would they want to return to this destination? How to the
printed elements add to the story or mood of the work? Do they have a similar effect as the
prints in the artist’s piece?
youraga.ca
Collage and Block Printing Steps
Step 1: Found photograph
Steps 4-7: Creation of scratch foam stencil
element
Steps 2 & 3: Found photograph with collage
elements
Step 8: Preparation of inking station
youraga.ca
Step 8: Preparation of inking station
Step 9: Inking of scratch foam stencil
Step 10: Stamping of stencil on collage
Step 11: Completed art work
youraga.ca
Ansel Adams and the Elements of Art K-6
Summary
In this one-session lesson, students will be introduced to the works of Ansel Adams while
learning about the elements of design. This lesson is related to the works of Lesley Roy and
Jean-René Leblanc in the exhibition ...rattled to the bone. By viewing selected images from
the works of Ansel Adams and these artists students will recognize and describe patterns found
in the environment and in works of art to create their own interpretation and piece of original
artwork.
Materials
-Paper
-Colored pencils, crayons, markers, or paint
-Elements of Art review
-Glossary terms: colour, elements of art, line, pattern, photography, shape, texture
-Selected works by Ansel Easton Adams including: Roots, Foster Gardens, Honolulu, Trailside,
Near Juneau, Alaska, Saguaro Cactus, Sunrise Arizona, Vine and Rock, Island of Hawaii
Teachers Preparation
Familiarize yourself with the life and works of Ansel Adams and the Elements of Art.
Print the images listed above onto overhead transparencies, download images or photocopy
ones provided.
Write the vocabulary words (without the definitions) on the board, poster, or overhead
transparency. You will refer to this throughout the lesson.
Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April
22, 1984) was an American photographer and
environmentalist, best known for his blackand-white photographs of the American West,
especially in Yosemite National Park.
Ansel Easton Adams in 1947
Ansel Adams stands as one of America’s greatest
landscape photographers. Born in San Francisco,
Adams was trained as a concert pianist. His
first photographs were made at the age of 14
using a Kodak Brownie camera during a visit to
Yosemite Valley with his parents. This visit strongly
influenced the course of Adams’ life. By age 30
he had changed his path and chosen a career in
photography. Adams’ photographs are elegantly
composed and technically flawless. Ansel Adams
proved a tireless investigator of the methods of
photography, pioneering a method called The Zone
System, a technique which allows photographers to
translate the light they see into specific densities on
negatives and paper, thus giving better control over
finished images.
youraga.ca
continued
Throughout his career, Ansel Adams became well known for the clarity of his instruction and his
hands-on workshop approach to the medium. Ansel Adams advocated the role of photography
as a fine art, inspiring new ways of seeing and communicating. He influenced generations
of photographers though his teaching, practice, and publishing endeavors, and has gained
standing as one of America’s best-known photographers.
Procedure
1. Begin a discussion with the students about photography: What is photography? Where have
you seen photographs? Who has used a camera before? What do you like to take pictures of?
Why do people take photographs? Define the term ‘Photography’ and write it on the board.
2. Show the students one of the photographs. Use the following questions to guide the
discussion:
What’s going on in this picture?
What do you see that makes you say that?
What more can you find?
Where do you think this photograph was taken? Why?
Have you ever seen a place that is similar to the one in the photograph? Where was that place?
Were you actually there or did you see it in a photograph, TV, movie, etc.?
What does this photograph remind you of? Why?
Would you like to visit the place in the photograph? Why or why not?
3. Introduce the phrase ‘elements of design’ to the students. Explain the definition. Have the
students read aloud the different elements of design. Show the students the same image once
more. Use the following questions to guide the discussion:
Do you see any lines in this photograph? Where? Which types of lines do you see?
Do you see any shapes in this photograph? Where? What is the name of that shape?
What colours do you see in this photograph? What colors do you think the artist saw when he
photographed this scene?
There are many different textures in this photograph? What do you see in the photograph that
has texture? What do you think it would feel like if you touched it?
How can you tell what is far away in the photograph? How can you tell what is close up? Do you
see any overlapping shapes?
Do you notice any patterns in the photograph? Where do you see them?
youraga.ca
continued
4. Use the discussion questions with one or more or the photographs.
5. Explain to the students that they are going to create a landscape similar to one they saw in
the photographs. This art work can be an interpretation of one of the photographs, a landscape
they have seen in real life, or an imaginary landscape.
6. Hand out the paper and art materials.
7. Once the students have finished their landscapes, have each write a sentence/paragraph
describing the landscape.
Ansel Adams
Church, Taos Pueblo, 1942
youraga.ca
continued - Images for discussion
Ansel Adams
Evening, McDonald Lake, Glacier National Park
Ansel Adams
In Glacier National Park, 1942
youraga.ca
Presenting Place Grades 7-12
The following project is inspired by the work of Jean-René Leblanc in the exhibition
...rattled to the bone. In his work Leblanc makes use of infrared photography. A similar
effect, and that used by photographically based surrealist artists, is that of solarization
and this process can be used to create very exciting effects.
Objectives: Through the studio activity students will
- practice digital photography and construction of photographs
- practice computer skills and the use of computer technology to create imagery
- experiment with creating landscape or still life imagery
Materials:
- digital cameras (one per student if possible)
- computers with Adobe Photoshop programs
- printing papers/photo papers
Methodology:
Step 1: Using a digital camera, students to take a
number of either landscape or still-life images.
Images which show a strong contrast between
light and dark areas will be most effective.
Step 2: Students to download their images into
a file on their computer. Students then to choose
their favorite/most successful image - based on
overall composition and colour/light and dark
contrasts. Using Adobe Photoshop program
students to change their image to gray scale - go
to image/mode/grayscale.
youraga.ca
Presenting Place Grades 7-12 continued
Step 3: Once the image is in gray, students to go
to filter/stylize/solarize to create their final image.
Completed images can then be further enhanced
with brightness/contrast scales and then printed
on either normal photocopy paper or photo paper.
Step 4: Once all photographs are printed, have students mount them and then discuss with
class
- which images appear most successful and why
- how solarization affects the overall mood of the image
Lesley Roy
Photography
Glossary
youraga.ca
Glossary
abstraction – A term applied to 20th century styles in reaction against the traditional European
view of art as the imitation of nature. Abstraction stresses the formal or elemental structure of a
work and has been expressed in all genres or subjects of visual expression.
beauty – Inherent in a form. Beauty in art is often defined as being well formed and close to its
natural state.
Dada – An early 20th century European movement involving art, music and theatre. Dada is
represented as a total departure of reason and logic. It was formed in response to the horrors
taking place during WWI.
camera obscura – Latin, meaning “dark room”, camera obscura refers to a system of mirrors
and lenses created during the 16th and 17th centuries, used as a primitive camera for artists.
Using a camera obscura, a painter could project an image on a 2D surface to use it as a
preliminary sketch. Light entering through a small hole in one wall forms on the opposite wall as
an image of the scene outside.
collage – A work of art created by gluing bits of paper, fabric, scraps, photographs or other
materials to a flat surface.
daguerreotype – The first commercial photographic process. A daguerreotype is a finely
detailed image formed on a sheet of silver-plated copper. It is fragile and non-reproducible.
digital photograph – Taken by a digital camera, an image is captured, digitized and then stored
on a file to be read by a computer. A digital photograph can be seen on a computer screen or
printed out.
documentary photography – refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle
significant and historical events. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism attempting
to produce truthful, objective, and usually candid photography of a particular subject, most often
pictures of people.
elements of design – The basic components which make up any visual image: line, shape,
colour, texture and space.
exposure – The amount of light that falls on a film or negative. In a camera, exposure is
determined by the length of time the shutter is open, and the size of the opening through which
the light passes.
figurative art – Art forms that are clearly derived from real objects, people or places. In a
figurative artwork the viewer can determine what the subject matter is and what figures the artist
is trying to depict.
youraga.ca
Glossary continued
foreground – In a work of art, the foreground appears closest to the viewer. In a twodimensional work, the foreground is usually found at the bottom of the page.
gel transfer – An art-making technique that involves transferring a printed image on to another
surface. The process involves applying a thin layer of gel to the image to be transferred and then
soaking the dried gel image in water. The water removes the paper backing and only a
translucent image is left on the gel. This can then be applies to another surface.
genre painting – Art with a focus on common-place experiences. This usually includes
landscape, still-life and animal paintings.
history painting – Paintings that show a narrative or moment in a story. While sometimes
historical, history paintings can also depict scenes from myths or allegory. The term is often used
to describe European works before the 20th century.
hue – A pure colour that has not been lightened or darkened.
kodak brownie – A simple camera that increased the popularity of photography due to its
low-cost and easy-to-use features. The first Brownie was invented in 1900 and the product
continued to be upgraded and used by the general public until the 1970s.
landscape painting – A work of art wherein the main subject matter is a natural scene.
Landscape paintings usually feature things such as trees, mountains, water or the sky.
mixed media – An artwork where the artist uses more than one medium, for example, adding
paint to a photograph or adhering paper to a sculpture
perspective – Creates the feeling of depth through the use of lines that make an image appear
to be three dimensional
photography – The art or process of producing images of objects on photosensitive surfaces.
pictorial photography – An approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter,
tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality.
picturesque – Defined as an aesthetic quality marked by pleasing variety, irregularity,
asymmetry and interesting textures; for example, medieval ruins in a natural landscape.
pictorialism – A movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that sought to have
photography recognized as a fine art. Pictorialist photographers manipulated their prints to
achieve a variety of effects. Romantic subjects in soft focus were common.
pigment print – A photograph made by printing pigment directly on to a sheet of paper. This
is in contrast to many of the early photographs which were made visible through sensitizing a
piece of paper with a metal chemical mixture and allowing the image to appear. Pigment printing
is one of the ways artists can print their photographs today.
youraga.ca
Glossary continued
pinhole camera – The simplest camera you can use to take a photograph. A pinhole camera is
a closed light-tight box with a pinhole on one side. Light enters through the hole and projects an
inverted and reversed image on photographic film or paper placed inside the box, opposite the
hole.
portrait painting – A kind of painting where the artist tries to depict a particular individual.
print making – A mark made by wetting an object with colour and pressing the object onto a
flat surface, such as a piece of paper. The designs on the original object will be replicated onto
the flat surface. Prints can usually be repeated many times by continuously re-inking the original
object.
realism (or naturalism) – A movement in the late 19th century representing objects, actions or
social conditions as they actually are, without idealization or presentation in abstract form
romanticism, 18th C.-19th C. – A style of art filled with feelings for nature, emotion and
imagination instead of realism or reason.
silk screen – A printing technique that uses stencil cutouts placed on wire mesh to create an
image. When paint is pushed through the mesh onto the desired surface the cutouts will block
some of the ink, creating a desired image.
still-life – A picture of inanimate objects. Still-lifes appear throughout the history of art and
photography. Common subjects include food, flowers, tableware, books, and dead animals.
straight photography – A movement of the first half of the 20th century that returned
photography to its pure form. Straight photographs are direct - unposed, unmanipulated and
unsentimental. Their power comes through a technical mastery of the medium, including
framing, light and shade, line, and texture.
sublime – A characteristic of awe and wonder at an intense source of power, often in reference
to nature.
texture – How a surface feels to the touch. There are two types of texture in an artwork – the
way the work feels and the texture implied by the artist through the use of colour, shape and line.
youraga.ca
Credits
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
The artists - Jean-René Leblanc, Lesley Roy, Caroline Stanley, Pamela Thurston,
Lisa Turner
Meaghan Froh - TREX Contract Education Assistant
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Art Gallery of Alberta
youraga.ca
Credits
Funding provided by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
Shane Golby - Program Manager/Curator
AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Region 2
Sherisse Burke - TREX Technician
youraga.ca

rattled to the bone - Art Gallery of Alberta

Transcription

Similar documents

High-resolution poster

Untitled - Jeremy Lipking

Audrey Hepburn beauty tips

Starter at L`Escargot Restaurant

PDF

“Me Love You Long Time” Exhibition at the BCA Bares Sexuality

winnende werkstuk van 2015

Biography Kulayd - hotspotentertainmentstudios

Selfridges, Claire Higgins, Maintaining customer

JIM MORPHESIS - Pasadena Museum of California Art