essay

Artist Research

Description and Objectives

Your objectives are to expand your critical thinking and research skills, explore new mediums, and

independently generate a meaningful written and visual response to contemporary art. Some class

time will be devoted to working on these assignments, but much of your work will be done at home.

Choose a contemporary artist to research from the artists listed on this website:

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists

Successful Completion of an artist research assignment will require the following:

1. 1.5 to 2 page typed Response to samples of your chosen artists’ work. Use 11-12 point font and double

space the body of the text. Quality responses must include justification for your opinions. 1-2 printouts

or photocopies of artist’s work should be stapled to the typed paper. Grammar and spelling are part of

the grade. Note: References must be cited. (At least 2 reliable (no Wikipedia) references are required)

Please cite your references in MLA style.

Check out this guide or go to the writing center for help with MLA:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/ml

a_formatting_and_style_guide.html

Answer the following questions in essay format for full credit:

1. At first glance did you like/dislike the artist’s work and why/why not? How does researching

the artist inform/change your opinion?

2. How do you interpret the content of the work and the artist’s ideas?

3. How or what external social/cultural/historical events of ideas play into their work?

4. What are materials and how do you think they affect the meaning of the work?

5. How is the artwork you created in response similar to the artist’s work? How is it different?