COURSE DETAILS

Unit 1: Perception and Reality

This unit will present a strong emphasis on beginning the process of abstraction, in drawing and painting. There will also be a strong emphasis on the importance of proper preparatory work in the creative process. This unit is a refinement to the acquisition of critical thinking and problem solving skills that will set the groundwork for both theoretical and concrete applications of the course content. Through the exploration of the period of Mannerism and the Baroque, students will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their critical thinking, questioning and reasoning skills. The ideas of illusion and reality are more closely linked than we often presume.

Unit 2: Do We Need Another Hero? (What Makes A Hero?)

Students will create, analyse and study works of art that create meaning through the use of metaphor and transformation of meaning. Students will compare historic fine art examples to contemporary mass media design and communication.

Unit 3: Juxtapositions and Arrangements

Students will study how artists use juxtaposition and arrangement as strategies in the creative process to create compelling works of art. Students discover how the arranging of apparently unrelated objects and the combining of opposites in art works provides rich opportunities to develop meaning.

Unit 4: The Art of Interpretation

Illustration, whether narrative, symbolic, or conceptual is story telling: “From Egyptian hieroglyphics to Mexican codices and murals, today’s visual arts in all their forms—is story telling” (Nicholas Roukes). Artists have historically used narrative, symbolic, and conceptual images to make comment, or tell stories that were important to the people of their time. Gericault, Daumier, and Goya all used their talent, combined with their ability to tell a story, to draw attention to important issues. Contemporary Catholic social justice is a continuation of the concerns that many of these artists addressed in their works. Whether using Romantic depiction, or Realistic representations, art has the ability to bring to the forefront, suffering, triumph, and the struggles of humanity.

Unit 5: Synthesizing Memory

This is the summative evaluation unit for the course and is worth thirty percent of the final mark. It is the culmination of the knowledge, skills, and experiences acquired during the course. Students will address specific aspects of each of the four units in the creation of this artwork.