978-0205677207 Chapter 2

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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

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

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

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

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

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