1. Chapter 2 – Developing Visual Literacy
How does subject matter differ from content?
What is representational art?
What constitutes an artwork’s form?
4. What is iconography?

2. Communicating with the Visual World
We are surrounded by images, but how do we “read” visual information?
What terms, phrases, concepts, and approaches do you use to think critically about visual images? What prior knowledge is helpful to understanding the artists intention?
A great thing about art is that there is not a clear answer to everything. It is the job of the artist to steer the viewer in the right direction. The job of the viewer is to use visual literacy to think critically about the work.
Sometimes the intention of the artist is not clearly communicated- it is ok to disagree or not understand something.

3. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
That being said, it seems rather inadequate to describe artwork by simply saying, “I like this painting.”
WHY?
What is it that first catches your eye, and keeps your interest when you look at an artwork? Is it the color, the size, the texture, what it is about?
Likewise- it is OK to NOT like a work for art- but you need to be able to articulate why. Be descriptive in your criticism!

4. Essential Concepts in Visual Literacy
Consider these ideas when thinking about how to read images:
Relationships among words, images and objects in the real world
The distinctions among form and content in art
Subject matter= what it depicts; Form=what it is; content= what it means
The idea of representation
Conventions in art
Iconography

5. Lorna Simpson. Necklines. 1989
Lorna Simpson. Necklines Three silver prints, two plastic plaques. 68 ½ x 70 in.
How does the meaning of the words affect your interpretation of the images?

6. Shirin Neshat. Rebellious Silence, from the series Women of Allah Gelatin silver print and ink. 11 x 14 in.
How do you “read” this portrait without being able to understand the written text, and how do you understand it after?

7. Basic Terminology
Generally, we distinguish a work of art as belonging to one of three groups:
Representational
Abstract
Nonrepresentational (or Nonobjective)

8. Representation vs. Abstraction
Representational art portrays natural objects in a recognizable way. The work actually looks like what it represents.
Abstract art is still representational art, but it is an abstraction of reality. The artist uses this abstraction to make the viewer more aware of the formal elements, yet the image still refers to something recognizable.
The word “abstract” means to simplify: think of the ‘abstract’ of a paper, reducing text down to basic elements.
People often seek to recognize things in art or relate them to other things (think of ink blot tests) as a way to understand the work- is it actually there?

9. The more the representation resembles what the eye sees, the more it is said to be an example of realism.
When a work is so realistic that it appears to be a photograph, it is said to be photorealistic.
Chuck Close, Mark,

11. Albert Bierstadt. The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak. 1863
Albert Bierstadt. The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak Oil on canvas. 73 ½ x 120 ¾ in.
Naturalism: this is not an exact representation of the rocky mountains, but is still representational.

12. Wolf Kahn. Afterglow I. 1974. Oil on canvas. 42 x 66 in.
Abstracted: simplified, exaggerated colors

13. Nonrepresentational Art
Nonrepresentational, or nonobjective works of art do not refer to the natural or objective world at all.
These works of art are primarily concerned with questions of form.
Form is the overall structure of a work of art. This is generally opposed to the overall content of a work of art, but all form has meaning, and with nonobjective art, the form is the meaning.

14. Meaning and Culture
Our understanding of a work of art is highly dependent on understanding its cultural context.
Without considering or respecting cultural context, we make ourselves vulnerable to understanding the artwork only through our own cultural prejudices. We are ethnocentric.

15. Iconography
Within understanding the artistic goals of different cultures, we can begin to examine an individual culture’s iconography.
Iconography is a system of visual images, the meaning of which is widely understood by a given culture or cultural group.
These visual images are symbols, that is, they represent more than their literal meaning.

16. This iconic statue represents far more than a robed woman holding a torch upwards. For over 100 years this work of art has stood for hope, the promise of a brighter future, and freedom. What are other examples of contemporary iconography? Think of symbols we use daily in our culture that are widely understood.

17. Contemporary Iconography

18. Jan van Eyck, Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife Giovanna Cenami,
c Oil on oak panel, 32 ¼ x 23 ½ in.
What does this painting mean to you today? Can you pick out any symbols, and have they changed meaning?
Represents an engagement
Chamber bed= “furniture of estate”, represents wealth
Green dress represents fertility
She is not pregnant; the dress accentuates her stomach, which was a standard of female beauty
The dog represents loyalty (marriage fidelity)
Candle in the chandelier represents Christ
Shoes removed represents God’s commandment to remove shoes on holy ground
Hands touching was a mutual agreement to wed

19. Combination of personal and iconic iconography
Jean-Michel Basquiat. Charles the First Acrylic and oil paintstick on canvas, three panels. 78x 62 ¼ in. overall.
Combination of personal and iconic iconography
Subject matter is “royalty, heroism, and the streets”- Basquiat
Homage to jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker
Crown: personal iconography- symbol of his own and his heroes success
“s” for superman and heroes, thor, x men
X= symbol for crossed out (negative), and “OK” or allright
Feathers and cherokee- Parker’s love song, and the trail of tears

20. Class Exercise With your teammates, “read” your given work of art.
Is it representational, abstract, realism, naturalism, or nonobjective?
Why? What is in (or not in) the work that makes it so?
Discuss its form and content.
Present your findings to the class.