Art

 Purposefully titled "Figurative Painting," this course aims to allow  for the various definitions of these two words, both separately and together. Figurative Painting can mean paintings with human (or animal) 'figures' in them. However, Figurative Painting can also mean  paintings that have 'figurative' (or metaphorical) meaning. This course will push students to create paintings that can be interpreted  in either, or both, of these ways, and to think about the power and implications of representing humans in art.

To make this possible, students  will be given the opportunity to build skills rendering the human  figure by working with live (nude) models; in addition, students will view, analyze and talk about work by many artists who fit one or both of these definitions, especially artists who deal with representations of identity based on race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.  As the course progresses and students follow more in-depth, self-designed projects, they will be required to: 1) define Figurative Painting to fit their goals; 2) relate their work to contemporary and/ or historical artists who have worked in similar ways.