Visual Arts

Visual Arts Summer Celebrations

Years 7, 8 & 9 have been continuing to build on and develop a strong understanding of the history of art during modules 5 & 6; further expanding their knowledge and understanding of where art sits within an historical context.

Students have developed their skills through the exploration of collage, colour theory, mark-making, photography and lots of three dimensional work!

Year 7 - An Investigation of Bauhaus

During M5 Year 7 students studied the Bauhaus period. These investigations into mark-making and colour theory culminated during abstract responses to music. Students responded to the work of visual artist Kandinsky and thought creatively about the marks they chose to represent the sounds of classic composers such as Beethoven and Chopin. They also had an opportunity to respond to contemporary instrumentals by The Weekend.

Cubism

During Module 6, Year 7 have been investigating Cubism. Their prior knowledge of the Bauhaus period further developed their creative decisions around the use of geometric shapes.

There have been some lovely drawings made from their collages - you can see the influence of Bauhaus in the Cubism responses!

Year 8 - Matilda Pop Art

In Module 5, Year 8 developed thoughtful and creative responses to Pop Art.

Influenced by the work of Claes Oldenburg, our LAB students created props for our very own Matilda production!

Visual explorations of everyday objects underpinned their understanding of the Pop Art period.

Year 8 Pop Art - Matilda Production Sculptures

Approaches to learning - working collaboratively

Op Art

In Module 6, Year 8 continued to work in sculpture; building on and applying their knowledge and understanding of Op Art to create clay tiles.

Year 9 - Surrealism

In M5 Year 9 experimented with a range of processes, techniques and materials in response to Surrealism.

Engaging in surrealist games such as collage and Automatic Drawing lead the way for a truly collaborative outcome - Exquisite Corpse!

The traditional rules were of course followed - each section was completed without knowledge of the prior and the work was distributed at random. Over the course of M5, weird and wonderful creatures were made!

Surrealism - Exquisite Corpse

Approaches to Learning - Working collaboratively

John Stezaker Responses

Contemporary and conceptual links were made to the work of John Stezaker during M6 as Year 9 students explored collage and photography further…

Year 10 Fine Art

Year 10 have been continuing to develop their ideas in response to the theme of Human Figures. There has been lots of experimentation and exploration of resources. We are so excited to see how they resolve their concepts at the start of Year 11.

They begin their Externally Set Assignment in January of 2023!

GCSE Photography

Our GCSE Photography have been busy experimenting in the darkroom!

Year 10 Photography - Chemigrams and Photograms Workshop

During the Summer term our Year 10 Photography students have had LOTS of opportunities to experiment with traditional printing processes in our very own DARKROOM. There has been some very exciting (and not so traditional) outcomes so far.

Year 10 photography

Year 10 Photography - Cyanotypes Workshop

As they continue to build a Portfolio in response to the theme Light & Dark, we have had some thoughtful and innovative approaches to the subject - well done Year 10!

Meeting Joy Yamusangie at NOW Gallery

We were delighted to offer our GCSE students a trip to The NOW Gallery to visit the Feeling Good exhibition during M5. They were lucky enough to meet the artist - Joy Yamusangie and the curator of the show.

The trip was designed to build on prior experiences outside of the classroom and encourage students to engage with the arts, culture and contemporary issues around identity politics. It encouraged our students to consider the experience of the viewer when making their work - how would they curate a space to show their outcomes?

Meeting Joc

Both our current and prospective cohort of GCSE students (Fine Art and Photography) were lucky enough to have been visited by Joc (of jocjonjosch.com). Our LAB students were engaged and curious about practice as a professional artist and provided Joc with some thoughtful and insightful questions.

VA Rewards Trip - Tate Trip!

We were able to offer a small selection of our KS3 students a visit to Tate to see the Surrealism Beyond Borders exhibition.

KS3 Art Club

This Module, in Art Club, students have created posters and props for the first ever LAB production of Matilda!

Year 9 Arts Enrichment

Making ceramic and animal friendly ecological sculptures for the schools first permanent sculpture (coming 2023…)

In Summer Term, Art, DT and Photography GCSE prospectus students made maquettes for a site-specific public sculptures that explore the wider idea of what community means to them now and in the future.

Year 9 Art Enrichment - Trip and Workshop at Goldsmiths CCA

Blackheath Library Competition

A number of our students responded to the theme of NARRATIVES for a competition to show their work at Blackheath Library.

Winners will be announced on the last day of term. Look out for works displayed in September!

VA Arts Trail- Parent’s Private View

We opened the creative departments on Tuesday 12th July in collaboration with Design & Technology. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate the incredible achievements of our young artists and designers with parents and carers.