STUDY PROGRAMME
Painting and Visual Arts

AFAM CODE
ABAV5

DISCIPLINARY AREA
Painting

DISCIPLINARY FIELD
Painting

CREDITS
8

APPROACH
Theoretical / Project based

This course goes in-depth on several aspects of painting, through an analysis of issues related to the subjects and the media that are experimented with. By using different techniques such as watercolours, tempera, oil and acrylic colours, and working on different supports (paper, wood, canvas among others), the students are encouraged to acquire exclusive knowledge of painting, and to understand it not as the goal of their research, but as a tool to develop it.

This course is made of a single module of 6 CFA credits.

The aim of this course is to deepen some aspects of painting through the study of the fundamental problems related to the subjects and the media of the painting context. By using different techniques and working on different supports, the students get acquainted with the pictorial media and can develop their own artistic path. The identification of themes by the students (and the creation of their related images) will be refined over the semester, with the goal of creating an individual, mindful and original poetics. This course analyses the contemporary artistic practice through the reading of texts and the study of artwork, from the most traditional to the most contemporary ones, and carries out artistic projects to critically experiment with the covered themes.

The course starts from the students’ knowledge with practical exercises. Thereafter, each student will develop a personal project and make use of the newly acquired experience, the inputs coming from their own work, and from the comparison with the others’ work: they will research subjects through technique or vice versa, deepening their thinking through practice. The course includes extensive laboratory activity where, thanks to the front lessons focused on contemporary authors, the students will discuss the complexity of the artistic image as a visual patrimony that is constantly influenced by current events.

• Theoretical/project based classroom lectures

• Workshops

• Use of tutorials, videos or other media tools for detailed study

• Classroom debates and presentations

• Individual study and research

• Field trips (conferences, meetings, visits to exhibitions as organized by the professor or department)

Assessment is based on the overall competence of the students and may include:

• Oral exam

• Written exam

• Submission of papers, projects or research work

Further details on specific tests can be provided by the professor during the course. Assessment criteria include commitment, active participation and personal growth of the students over the course.

• N. Mirzoeff, An introduction to Visual Culture, 2009

Further bibliographic recommendations may be provided by the professor during the course. A lot of the referenced material, together with other in-depth study material, can be consulted online in MyNaba, in the Library section.