Reference no: EM132583292 , Length: 1500 Words

Formal Criticism Paper

For your first paper you will need to find a Non Western two-dimensional work of art and give me an evaluation of it using formal criticism. You may use the internet to search for a suitable piece or use one on display. Choose a work of art that you are interested in to critique. If you pick something that you are not interested in, it makes it hard to write about it. There are more than enough pieces out there for every taste and individual. If you are having difficulty finding a piece, or not sure if what you selected will work for this paper, email me and I will try to assist.

Formal criticism is when one analyses a work of art by only using the material that is presented to you with no external information. This means that you will need to only use what you can see within the frame of the piece you are looking at. You may talk about color theory aspects of the work (complementary, warm and cool colors), perspective, symmetry, asymmetry, textures, symbolism, construction lines, balance, the medium in which the work was rendered, etc. You cannot talk about an artist's life, the context or historical era in which they lived, or what was going on during that time period. You must just talk about a work of art as you find it.

You may choose any 2D art form including drawing, painting, photography, or printmaking.

Things I am looking for in this critique are:

• Choose a work of art that is NOT from the Greco-Roman western art tradition. In other words, you cannot choose any works that are from North America or Europe. This MUST be from a non western source.
• Examine the work and find at least three formal elements that you believe are important to the construction and comprehension of the artwork that you are observing. You will need to elaborate on these elements and explain how you think they are working within the artwork.
• You cannot use any information external to the work to interpret it such as, the artist's life or historical references when the piece was made. You must only look at what is inside of the frame and what the artist is presenting to you.
• How do these elements help you interpret the work?
• Do you think that the execution and arrangement of these elements make the work successful?
• Is there something not working within the piece that makes it unsuccessful in your interpretation of the subject matter and content?

The format of the paper should be:

• You must use MLA format for the paper.
• Paper should be no less than 500 words.