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Chapter Two: Developing Visual Literacy
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
• Words and Images
• Describing the World
• Meaning in Non-Representational Art Meaning and CultureConventions and
Art
• Iconography
Works in Progress
Lorna Simpson’s The Park
The Critical Process
Thinking About Visual Conventions: John Taylor’s and Howling Wolf’s, Treaty
Signing at Medicine Lodge Creek
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
This Chapter Will:
• introduce the student to the interrelationship between words, images, and
objects in the world
• examine Lorna Simpson’s artwork
• illustrate ideas of representation in different types of art
• make the distinction between form and content in art
• introduce iconography to further students’ visual literacy
• examine cultural conventions of beauty and reality
• learn additional terminology used to describe the characteristics of works of
art
KEY TERMS
visual literacy calligraphy representational art mudra
convention form content bismillah
abstract art nonrepresentational art nonobjective art ethnocentric
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MyArtKit RESOURCES
Closer Look: Jan van Eyck, Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife, Giovanna Cenami
Interactive Flash Cards
Primary Source Document: Kazimir Malevich (1878–1935) - Artists on Art
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION TOPICS
1. Words and Images
Discuss the differences between words and images using René Magritte’s The Treason of
Images (fig. 23). Point out that visual literacy is only attainable if an understanding of
language itself is understood. Many times words and our verbal descriptions of objects
do not coincide. Illustrate this idea with another René Magritte work titled The
Interpretation of Dreams, 1930, which presents the viewer with many isolated objects
2. Types of Art—Representational Art
Show examples of a wide variety of representational art including illusionistic, figurative,
and naturalistic. Emphasize the similarities in all the types of representational art:
recognizable imagery. Representational art depicts the appearance of things. Objects in
3. Abstract Art
As a verb, abstract means “to take from,” to extract the essence of a thing or idea. As a
noun, the word abstract refers to a summary of a longer text. Provide the following
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4. Nonrepresentational Art
Illustrate nonrepresentational or nonobjective art by similarly dissecting the words
themselves. A nonrepresentational artwork has no representation to the world of images.
There is no object that is readily familiar, but the aim of the artist is to represent an idea
5. Meaning in Non-Representational Art
Form is what we see; content is the interpretation of what we see. In relation to art
works, the two terms are inseparable since form determines content. Using examples in
the chapter illustrate that in a nonobjective work of art such as Malevich’s Suprematist
Painting, Black Rectangle, Blue Triangle (fig. 28), form is the content. Other artists such
6. Meaning and culture
Remind students that the question of “what is art” depends on their own experiences,
their prejudices, beliefs, and values. Ask students to consider the definition of beauty.
Discuss how beauty is culturally determined. See www.cichon.de/ideal-beauty/ to read
and view G. W. Cichon-Hollander’s “A Short Introduction to the Ideal Beauty of the
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provoke deeper contemplation. Illustrate this with Ivan Albright’s heavily textured and
unflattering portrait paintings and prints such as Into the World Came a Soul Called Ida.
Using Kenneth Clark’s comparison of a Western and Nonwestern artwork, discuss the
term ethnocentrism. Ask students to consider their own prejudices concerning the
conventions of other cultures. The decoration and modification of the body through
various means such as cosmetics, tattooing, piercing, scarification, circumcision, head
binding, and so on dates back many thousands of years. There is, in fact, evidence to
suggest that people were tattooing themselves and/or each other at least commensurate
with Paleolithic cave painting. These practices are considered by many tribal peoples as
7. Representing the Spiritual
Spiritual understanding is a realm of comprehension that is unique to each individual.
Using visual imagery to educate and recruit parishioners has been an historical practice as
seen in the works of Jan van Eyck, God, panel from the Ghent Altarpiece ( fig.’s 16 &
17), and the Chartres Cathedral lancet window (fig. 37). Discuss the use of Christian
iconography represented in these examples and how art can function as a tool to reinforce
8. Iconography
Iconography is the set of symbols or images used in a particular field of activity (i.e.
music, film, art) and recognized by people as having a specific meaning. Looking at Ana
Mendieta’s Silueta Works in Mexico (fig. 18) and Jean Michel-Basquiat’s Charles the
First (fig. 41), discuss how artists use images to symbolize an idea. Ask students to think
about other images that represent gender. To understand iconography is to be familiar
with the theory of semiotics—the study of signs and symbols of all kinds, what they
mean, and how they relate to things or ideas they refer to. Ask students how images and
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CRITICAL THINKING: More Opportunities to Think about Art
Several artworks are detailed in the Critical Thinking and Works in Progress features
found in this chapter.
1. Works in Progress: Lorna Simpson’s The Park
Lorna Simpson’s Necklines (fig. 26) and She (fig. 24) explore the way images and words
function together to make meaning. Compare Simpson’s use of words and imagery with
the image from The Park series (fig. 27). Ask students: Does the accompanying text
2. Thinking about Visual Literacy
Promote visual literacy by having students compare and contrast the artworks of John
Taylor and Howling Wolf, Treaty Signing at Medicine Lodge Creek (figs. 42 & 43).
Review the differences between representational and abstract art, and point out that
realistic works of art are often not as true to reality as abstract works of art. Engage
students in a discussion about the relationship of form to content realizing that as form
changes, the content also changes. Have students evaluate the aims of the two artists by
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
1. Behold Beauty
Have students visit the site http://www.beautyworlds.com/. The focus of this site is the
understanding and appreciation of beauty in the natural world, in Western culture, and in
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2. High-Fives and Hang Tens
3. American History Lesson
HANDS-ON PROJECTS
1. Emotional Icons
3. Historical Stained Glass
4. Expressionist Drawing
Have students create a drawing in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat that builds both a
cultural and personal iconography. Have them think of using symbols that express their
Other Suggested Websites
Aesthetics, Beauty and all the cultural ramifications of what is beautiful and the ideal
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Suggested Videos and DVDs:
A World of Art: Works in Progress, Lorna Simpson (30 minutes)
Magritte: Monsieur René Magritte, 2000 (51 minutes)
Also see recommended Films for the Humanities and Sciences at www.films.com
