Monday, August 30, 2010

Daily Serving

A good art blog I've recently discovered:
DAILYSERVING.COM

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Monday, August 23, 2010

COME TO THE TRUE GRIT OPENING, THURS, AUG. 26, 5-7PM!


'True Grit' opens at Bradbury Gallery Aug. 26; five-artist show runs through Oct. 3

August 17, 2010 -- The Bradbury Gallery announces the opening of "True Grit" Thursday, Aug. 26, at 5 p.m. The exhibition will run through Sunday, Oct. 3; it is free and open to the public. The Bradbury Gallery is located in Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro. "True Grit" features the work of five American artists withexceptionally long and productive careers who continue to make thought-provoking work. Averaging 80 years of age, Judith K. Brodsky, Peter Campus, Warrington Colescott, Larry Edwards, and Lee Friedlander have each developed careers spanning more than fifty years that show no signs of slowing down. As inventive and courageous as ever, their artistic practices continue to project a sense of curiosity and engagement with the larger world of ideas. The exhibition is intended not only as homage, but also as inquiry. What fuels the unwavering devotion of these artists to work and career? Curators Les Christensen and John Salvest believe that such an investigation into the motivational forces driving these artists well past traditional retirement age has implications beyond the art world—an uncovering of the physical, cerebral, and spiritual capacities of the human condition. In a culture fixated on newness and youth, isn’t there still something to be learned from that which endures?

Judith K. Brodsky, who was born in 1933, has long been recognized as an advocate for both women artists and printmaking. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita in the Department of Visual Arts at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey, where she served as dean and associate provost as well as chair of the art department at the Rutgers campus at Newark. She is a past national president of ArtTable, the College Art Association, and the Women’s Caucus for Art.

Brodsky is the founding director of the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, renamed the Brodsky Center in her honor in September 2006. Recently she served as chair of the well-received Philagrafika 2010, a citywide international contemporary visual arts festival held in Philadelphia which focused on the printed image. Brodsky has also organized and curated many exhibitions and written extensively about women and prints. She was a contributor to the first comprehensive history of the American women’s movement in art, called The Power of Feminist Art. While providing consistent and significant service to numerous professional organizations over the years, she has maintained her career as an artist and has never lost the passion to produce her own work.

Peter Campus, born in 1937, is regarded as one of the most important American video artists and as a seminal figure in the development of video as an art form. Yet he made the conscious decision to step away from video and focused instead on still photography for a dozen or more years. In this latest phase of his career, he has returned to work again in video, bringing all that he learned from these earlier periods to commence yet another visual experiment incorporating elements of both.

Among the many awards Campus has received are a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a fellowship from the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was an artist-in-residence at the Television Laboratory at WNET/Thirteen, New York, and at WGBH-TV, Boston. Campus has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design and New York University. His closed-circuit installations, videotapes and photography have been widely exhibited internationally, in one-person shows at the Bykert Gallery, New York; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse; Leo Castelli Gallery, New York; Kunsthalle Breman, Germany; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Kolnischer Kunstverein, Cologne; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York; as well as in numerous group exhibitions at festivals and institutions including Documenta 6, Kassel, Germany; Venice Biennale; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; PS1 Contemporary Arts Center, New York, and Fukui International Video Festival, Japan.

For many years, Warrington Colescott, born in 1921, devoted himself to building a world-renowned printmaking program at the University of Wisconsin while stillmanaging to be a highly productive and respected artist himself. Now retired from academia, and going on ninety years of age, he seems to be more prolific and his satirical paintings and prints more relevant than ever.

Colescott has received several prestigious fellowships, including a Guggenheim, a Fulbright and three National Endowment for the Arts Artist’s Fellowships. His early graphics were abstractions created in the medium of serigraphy. By the early 1960s, he turned his focus to intaglio printmaking and his imagery evolved into social satire and commentary. He has produced a number of narrative satires, including one on the history of printmaking. Colescott has exhibited nationally and internationally and his work is included in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Bibliotheque Nationale-Paris, and numerous other public collections. He continues to work daily at his studio in Wisconsin.

Larry Edwards was born in Mississippi in 1931, a time that was economically depressed and racially tense, yet, perhaps by necessity, richly creative. His early observations and sensitivity to this period are evident still in his ongoing critique of society as seen in his imagery and subject matter. Even in his most recent body of work, from the summer of 2010, his colorful yet dark-humored paintings vigorously assess humanity’s baser instincts. In his artist’s statement he says, “I see a dangerous struggle everywhere. With the so-called ‘lower animals’ this struggle, in nature, is for simple survival. For humanity there is added complexity. Freud once said that ‘we ought not to exalt ourselves so highly as to completely neglect what was originally animal in our nature.’ The consequences of our failure to heed this advice are of primary interest to me. I do not see my work as a condemnation of life. I simply observe the struggle on all levels and report it as I see it.”

Edwards has lived and taught art at schools and universities in five states. For the past 60 years, he has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions from Maine, New Jersey, and New York to Washington D.C., Ohio, Kansas, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, as well as virtually every southern city and state on the eastern seaboard. He has received several grants, including a fellowship from the Penny McCall Foundation, Art Matters Inc. in New York, and a Tennessee Arts Commission Fellowship. Since his retirement, he spends nearly every day working in his studio, making wonderfully strange and sagacious work with the energy and enthusiasm of a teenager.

Lee Friedlander, a photographer, was born in 1934. Like Edwards, he too was drawn to capturing imagery of American society. These works include portraits of jazz musicians and street photography. Producing hundreds and hundreds of striking images throughout his long career, he is recognized for his dense landscapes, self-portraits, humorous and poignant images among the chaos of city life, and countless other subjects. Friedlander’s most current work, which can be seen in "True Grit," shows an artist still working at the height of his powers late into his career.

Friedlander’s first solo exhibition was mounted at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House in 1963. He has since had a vast number of solo exhibitions and was included in the highly influential 1967 New Documents exhibition, curated by John Szarkowski at the Museum of Modern Art. In 1990, he received a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. Among the many monographs on Friedlander’s work are Sticks and Stones, Lee Friedlander Photographs, Letters from the People, Apples and Olives, Cherry Blossom Time in Japan, Family, and People at Work. Lee Friedlander was the subject of a major traveling retrospective and catalog organized by the Museum of Modern Art in 2005.

"True Grit" was curated by Les Christensen, director of the Bradbury Gallery, and John Salvest, professor of Art at Arkansas State University, and was previously on view at the Salina Art Center in Salina, Kansas, from January 29 through April 18, 2010.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

ART1033 DRAWING I SYLLABUS - FALL 2010

ART 1033 : DRAWING 1
Fall 2010 – 3 Credit Hours
Section 002: MWF 10am – 11:50am, Art Annex 209
Instructor: John Norris, Assistant Professor of Art
Office Hours: M: 9-10am,12-1pm W: 9-10am, F: 9-10am,12-1pm
E-mail: jnorris@astate.edu
Blog: norrisartclass.blogspot.com

COURSE OBJECTIVES: This is the beginning drawing course. Students work on developing observation and the discovery of form from both real and imagined sources. Various materials and techniques are used to develop the technical means of expression. Drawings are in the form of exercises using clothed life models, still life, landscape, and imagined sources. Basic concepts of professional art ideals and practices. It is expected that students will spend a minimum of three additional clock hours per week on work outside the scheduled class time for each studio class. Additionally, the Art Major Core must be completed prior to the BFA Review. Students enrolled in the BFA programs must pass the BFA Review prior to enrollment in 4000 ART courses.

REQUIREMENTS: Drawing skills will be developed through technical exercises in class and homework assignments employing these techniques. The homework will allow students an opportunity to use their acquired skills creatively and to build off of the techniques they have learned in class. This is a STUDIO CLASS, which requires that students be actively involved in drawing exercises and contribute during critiques. Thus, students must be present and punctual in order to fully participate.

ATTENDANCE & CLASS PARTICIPATION: More than 6 absences will result in a grade of F for the course. All late work will be counted off 10 points for each class period late (Example: if your work merits a 93 but is 2 class periods late, then your grade will be a 73). Participation counts as 25% of your grade and is based on the following considerations: 1. Being present, punctual, and prepared for class 2. Focus on and completion of exercises during class 3. Participation during critiques, discussions, and dialogues. After 3 absences, 5 points will be subtracted from your participation grade for each class missed. If you miss the final critique, 10 points will automatically be deducted from your participation grade.

GRADING: Grading will be based on assignments (which will be submitted in portfolio form), your sketchbook, and class participation. The portfolios will make up 50% of your grade, and your sketchbook and class participation will each make up 25%.

A: 90 - 100% B: 80 - 89% C: 70 - 79% D: 60 - 69% F: 0 - 59%

Portfolio and sketchbook grades will be based on the following elements: 1) Indications that the student has understood the assignment and is employing its specific techniques. 2) a sense of quality showing that the students has invested a significant amount of time and focus into the assignment. 3) The overall success of the final image based on formal elements (composition, line quality, sense of light & volume, etc.) as well as creativity. AGAIN, TURNING IN ASSIGNMENTS LATE AUTOMATICALLY REDUCES YOUR GRADE. IF YOU ARE CONFUSED ABOUT GRADING, FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS.

COURSE OUTLINE: We will be investigating several concepts including line (contour/cross-contour), value, shape, space (1 & 2 point perspective), and composition (form, harmony, rhythm, etc.). In doing so, we will follow a pattern through which students will gain understanding of concepts, learn to put them to practice, and ultimately combine them to create successful drawings:

1. We will discuss a new concept and do several exercises based
on this idea. We may also do readings and/or have slide talks.
2. We will do a series of more extended drawings connected to the concept.
3. We will do a series of sketchbook drawings to further investigate.
4. We will work on an extended drawing inside/outside class that may take up
to 2/3 weeks to complete.
5. We will critique the work and its relation to the concept as a class.

CLASS STRUCTURE (subject to change):

Contour Line – Geometric Forms – Sketchbook
Blind Contour Line – Complex Forms – Sketchbook
Space – Scale – Geometric Forms
Space – 1 & 2 Pt. Perspective – Conceptual Exercises – Sketchbook
Space – Perspective – Observational Exercises – Still Life/Landscape
Line Quality – Light and Varied Line – Geometric/Biomorphic Forms
Cross-Contour Line / Hatching – Observational Exercises – Sketchbook
Value – Chiaroscuro – Geometric/Biomorphic Forms
Value Scale / Value Shape – Geometric/Biomorphic Forms
Value – Intermediate Still Life – Complex Forms
Value – Drapery Study
Value – Complex Biomorphic Forms
Final – Complex Still Life

YOU WILL BE WORKING OUTSIDE OF CLASS VERY MUCH. BE PREPARED TO COME INTO THE CLASS ROOM OUTSIDE OF CLASS AND TO WORK ON DRAWINGS AT HOME.

BOOK / BLOG: We will NOT purchase a text for Drawing I. However, you will often be given information in the form of a class blog:

NORRISARTCLASS.BLOGSPOT.COM

You will be expected to check this regularly as part of your class participation. The blog will serve as a supplement; not as a substitute for being in class. It will provide images, examples, portfolio lists, etc.

MATERIALS: Students will be required to purchase the following materials. Most materials can be found at the ASU Bookstore and the Wolf Bookstore. Some will be available at Hobby Lobby and various hardware stores.

-9x12 Sketchbook (preferably Strathmore)
-18x24 pad of Strathmore Drawing Paper (preferably 400 series)
-18x24 pad of Newsprint
-drawing board with clips: a 25 x 28 piece of masonite will work
-vine or willow (soft is best) charcoal
-sandpaper for charcoal sharpening
-compressed charcoal
-shammy cloth
-gray kneaded eraser and white Factis-type eraser
-graphite pencils: 2H, HB, 2B, 4B
-pencil sharpener
-small box to contain materials

WE WILL DISCUSS THE PURCHASE OF OTHER MATERIALS FOR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS AS WE PROCEED.

ART1043 DRAWING II SYLLABUS - FALL 2010

ART 1043 : DRAWING 2
FALL 2010 – 3 Credit Hours
Section 001: MWF 1pm - 2:50pm, Art Annex 209
Instructor: John Norris, Assistant Professor of Art
Office Hours: M: 9-10am,12-1pm W: 9-10am, F: 9-10am,12-1pm
E-mail: jnorris@astate.edu
Blog: norrisartclass.blogspot.com

COURSE OBJECTIVES: ART 1043 - DRAWING II - STUDIO ART. Continuation of ART 1033. Students become more skilled with visual elements and drawing principles. A broader range of materials and techniques will be used. Subject matter will include still life, undraped life models, landscape, and imagined subjects. It is expected that students will spend a minimum of three additional clock hours per week on work outside the scheduled class time for each studio class. Additionally, the Art Major Core must be completed prior to the BFA Review. Students enrolled in the BFA programs must pass the BFA Review prior to enrollment in 4000 ART courses. Prerequisite, ART 1033.

REQUIREMENTS: Like Drawing 1, skills will be developed through technical exercises in class and homework assignments employing these techniques. The homework will allow students an opportunity to use their acquired skills creatively and to build off of the techniques they have learned in class. This is a STUDIO CLASS; one which requires that students be actively involved in drawing exercises and contribute during critiques. Thus, students must be present and punctual in order to fully participate.

ATTENDANCE & CLASS PARTICIPATION: More than 6 absences will result in a grade of F for the course. All late work will be counted off 10 points (aka one letter grade) for each class period late (Example: if your work merits a 93 but is 2 class periods late, then your grade will be a 73). Participation counts as 25% of your grade and is based on the following considerations: 1. Being present, punctual, and prepared for class 2. Focus on and completion of exercises during class 3. Participation during critiques, discussions, and dialogues. After 3 absences, 5 points will be subtracted from your participation grade for each class missed. 10 points will automatically be deducted from your final participation grade if you miss the final critique.

GRADING: Grading will be based on assignments (which will be submitted in portfolio form), your sketchbook, and class participation. The portfolios will make up 50% of your grade, and your sketchbook and class participation will each make up 25%.

A: 90 - 100% B: 80 - 89% C: 70 - 79% D: 60 - 69% F: 0 - 59%

Portfolio and sketchbook grades will be based on the following elements: 1) Indications that the student has understood the assignment and is employing its specific techniques. 2) a sense of quality showing that the students has invested a significant amount of time and focus into the assignment. 3) The overall success of the final image based on formal elements (composition, line quality, sense of light & volume, etc.) as well as creativity. AGAIN, TURNING IN ASSIGNMENTS LATE AUTOMATICALLY REDUCES YOUR GRADE. IF YOU ARE CONFUSED ABOUT GRADING, FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS.

COURSE OUTLINE: We will be investigating several concepts that were covered in Drawing 1 and building upon them, Furthermore we will be introducing new concepts such as the figure, new materials, new ways of understanding line, etc. In doing so, we will follow a pattern through which students will gain understanding of concepts, learn to put them to practice, and ultimately combine them to create successful drawings:

1. We will discuss a new concept and do several exercises based
on this idea. We may also do readings and/or have slide talks.
2. We will do a series of more extended drawings connected to the concept.
3. We will do a series of sketchbook drawings to further investigate.
4. We will work on an extended drawing inside/outside class that may take up
to 2/3 weeks to complete.
5. We will critique the work and its relation to the concept as a class.

CLASS STRUCTURE (subject to change):

Perspective Refresher – Conceptual & Observational Exercises – Still Life
Value Refresher – Value Scale / Value Shape Exercises – Still Life
Value – Reductive Drawing – Large Scale Still Life
Value – Complex Large Scale Still Life – Drapery Studies
Value – Biomorphic Forms – Sketchbook
Space – Interior – Sketchbook
Space – Interior – Homework
Space – Exterior – Sketchbook
Space – Exterior - Homework
Repetition - Homework
Head – Skeleton Studies – Bridgman Anatomy / Proportion
Head – Gesture – Geometric forms
Head – Anatomy / Proportion – Bridgman Sketchbook
Head – Self Portrait – Line / Value – Sketchbook
Head – Portrait in Interior Space
Head – Double Portrait
Open Final Project

YOU WILL BE WORKING OUTSIDE OF CLASS VERY MUCH. BE PREPARED TO COME INTO THE CLASS ROOM OUTSIDE OF CLASS AND TO WORK ON DRAWINGS AT HOME.

BOOK / BLOG: Students are required to purchase the following text:

Constructive Anatomy by George Bridgman (Dover) Soft Cover - 7.95

We will do regular readings from the book, and students will be expected to have the text with them at all times during class. Handouts will also occasionally be made available. However, students will usually receive additional info, image examples, assignment specifications, and portfolio details via the following blog:

NORRISARTCLASS.BLOGSPOT.COM

You will be expected to check this regularly as part of your class participation. The blog will serve as a supplement; not as a substitute for being in class.

MATERIALS: Students will be required to purchase the following materials. Most materials can be found at the ASU Bookstore and the Wolf Bookstore. Some will be available at Hobby Lobby and various hardware stores.

-9x12 Sketchbook (preferably Strathmore)
-18x24 pad of Strathmore Drawing Paper (preferably 400 series)
-18x24 pad of Newsprint
-drawing board with clips: a 25 x 28 piece of masonite will work
-vine or willow (soft is best) charcoal
-conte crayon: black, white, sanguine
-sandpaper for charcoal sharpening
-compressed charcoal
-shammy cloth
-gray kneaded eraser and white Factis-type eraser
-graphite pencils: 2H, HB, 2B, 4B
-pencil sharpener
-small box to contain materials

WE WILL DISCUSS THE PURCHASE OF OTHER MATERIALS FOR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS AS WE PROCEED.

ART3033 DRAWING III SYLLABUS - FALL 2010

ART 3033: DRAWING 3 – FIGURE DRAWING
FALL 2010 – 3 Credit Hours
Section 001: MWF 3pm - 4:50pm, Art Annex 209
Instructor: John Norris, Assistant Professor of Art
Office Hours: M: 9-10am,12-1pm W: 9-10am F: 9-10am,12-1pm
E-mail: jnorris@astate.edu Blog: norrisartclass.blogspot.com

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Continuation of development of drawing skills and concepts. Students at this level should have well developed drawing skills and good understanding of drawing principles. Undraped life models will be provided. It is expected that students will spend a minimum of three additional clock hours per week on work outside the scheduled class time for each studio class. Students enrolled in the BFA programs must pass the BFA Review prior to enrollment in 4000 ART courses. Prerequisites, ART 1013, ART 1023, ART 1033 and 1043, ARTH 2583, ARTH 2593. May be repeated for credit.

REQUIREMENTS: Like Drawing 1 & 2, skills will be developed through technical exercises in class and homework assignments employing these techniques. The homework will allow students an opportunity to use their acquired skills creatively and to build off of the techniques they have learned in class. This is a STUDIO CLASS; one which requires that students be actively involved in drawing exercises and contribute during critiques. Thus, students must be present and punctual in order to fully participate.

ATTENDANCE & CLASS PARTICIPATION: All late work will be counted off 10 points (aka one letter grade) for each class period late. For example: if your work merits a 93 but is 2 class periods late, then your grade will be a 73. Participation counts as 25% of your grade and is based on the following considerations: 1. Being present, punctual, and prepared for class 2. Focus on and completion of exercises during class 3. Participation during critiques, discussions, and dialogues. After 3 absences, 5 points will be subtracted from your participation grade for each class missed. 10 points will automatically be deducted from your final participation grade if you miss the Final Critique.

GRADING: Grading will be based on assignments (which will be submitted in portfolio form), your sketchbook, and class participation. The portfolios will make up 50% of your grade, and your sketchbook and class participation will each make up 25%.

A: 90 - 100% B: 80 - 89% C: 70 - 79% D: 60 - 69% F: 0 - 59%

Portfolio and sketchbook grades will be based on the following elements: 1) Indications that the student has understood the assignment and is employing its specific techniques. 2) a sense of quality showing that the students has invested a significant amount of time and focus into the assignment. 3) The overall success of the final image based on formal elements (composition, line quality, sense of light & volume, etc.) as well as creativity. AGAIN, TURNING IN ASSIGNMENTS LATE AUTOMATICALLY REDUCES YOUR GRADE. IF YOU ARE CONFUSED ABOUT GRADING, FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS.

COURSE OUTLINE: We will be investigating several concepts that were covered in Drawing 1 & 2 and building upon them. Furthermore, we will fully investigate the figure in terms of anatomy, movement, process, and concept. In doing so, we will perform short-term formal exercises in class, create long-term multi-session drawings, and you will be given ambitious homework projects involving the figure.

1. We will discuss a new concept and do several exercises based
on this idea. We may also do readings and/or have slide talks.
2. We will do a series of more extended drawings connected to the concept.
3. We will do a series of sketchbook drawings to further investigate.
4. We will work on extended drawings inside/outside class that may take up
to 2/3 weeks to complete.
5. We will critique the work and its relation to the concept as a class.

CLASS STRUCTURE (subject to change):

Figure – Skeleton Studies – Bridgman Anatomy / Proportion
Figure – Master Studies – Sketchbook
Figure – Value – Self-Portrait
Figure – Gesture – Blind Contour - Moveable Masses
Figure – Anatomy / Proportion – Bridgman Sketchbook
Figure – Moveable Masses – Large Scale: Craft
Figure – Anatomical Studies – Head, Trunk - Sketchbook
Figure – Self Portrait – Line / Value – Sketchbook
Figure – Contour / Cross-Contour – Large Scale: Craft
Figure – Anatomical Limb Studies – Arms - Sketchbook
Figure – Anatomical Limb Studies – Legs - Sketchbook
Figure – Portrait in Interior – Large Scale
Figure – Value – Large Scale: Arches
Figure – Figure in Motion Studies – Large Scale: Craft
Figure – Figure/Motion/Space Studies – Large Scale: Craft
Figure – Multi-Figure Narrative Drawing – Large Scale

YOU WILL BE WORKING OUTSIDE OF CLASS VERY MUCH. BE PREPARED TO COME INTO THE CLASS ROOM OUTSIDE OF CLASS AND TO WORK ON DRAWINGS AT HOME.

BOOK / BLOG: Students are required to purchase the following text:

How to Draw the Human Figure: An Anatomical Approach
by Louise Gordon

We will do regular readings from the book, and students will be expected to have the text with them at all times during class. Handouts will also occasionally be made available. However, students will usually receive additional info, image examples, assignment specifications, and portfolio details via the following blog:

NORRISARTCLASS.BLOGSPOT.COM

You will be expected to check this regularly as part of your class participation. THE BLOG SERVES AS A SUPPLEMENT;
IT IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR BEING IN CLASS.

MATERIALS: Students will be required to purchase the following materials. Most materials can be found at the ASU Bookstore and the Wolf Bookstore. Some will be available at Hobby Lobby and various hardware stores.

-9x12 Sketchbook (preferably Strathmore)
-18x24 pad of Strathmore Drawing Paper (preferably 400 series)
-18x24 pad of Newsprint
-drawing board with clips: approx. 30 x 40
-vine or willow (soft is best) charcoal
-conte crayon: black, white, sanguine
-sandpaper for charcoal sharpening
-compressed charcoal
-shammy cloth
-gray kneaded eraser and white Factis-type eraser
-graphite pencils: 2H, HB, 2B, 4B
-pencil sharpener
-small box to contain materials
-spray fixative

WE WILL DISCUSS THE PURCHASE OF OTHER MATERIALS FOR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS AS WE PROCEED.