Year 10 - Identity Research Prep

Chuck Close

Cindy Sherman

Stefan Sagmeister

Tracey Emin

Vincent Van Gogh

Frida Kahlo

For Prep this week we are asking you to research an Artist whose work deals with identity. Most Artist's investigate a range of themes through their work, so when selecting works to analyse ensure you choose appropriately - things that have a clear link with identity/self-identity. All the Artist's whose work is illustrated above do this, it does not have to be a direct self portrait to explore the identity theme - for example Van Gogh's chair and the possessions he has chosen to arrange on it clearly tell you something about the man and his life, the same could be said for Tracey Emin's "Bed" installation.

• What you need to do - choose one of the Artists above and produce 2 pages of research based upon their identity themed work.

Guidance: 

RESEARCH

1. Title your pages with the Artist’s name, you might consider using fonts available online from sites such as www.dafont.com (due to school IT firewalls you cannot install fonts, but you can type the words you want and "print screen" without having to do the installation).


2. Find good images of your selected Artist's work that investigate the identity theme – don't use tiny jpegs that print out pixellated, print at around A5 scale (quarter of a sketchbook page).


3. Give a little background information on each Artist, when they were born, do they belong to a particular Artistic movement?


4. If possible include quotations from the Artists. www.artquotes.net is good for widely known Artists.

ANALYSIS

1. Give a detailed description of the artwork.


2. Analyse – comment upon use of formal elements: colour, composition,technique/media, scale, line etc.
3. Discuss themes and ideas behind the work - what is the Artist investigating/expressing?

WRITTEN RESPONSE

1. Give an opinion on the Artworks, but ensure you justify what you say. Avoid simple value judgements (‘I really like/dislike…’) or vague, meaningless statements (’This piece is really effective’). Comment upon how successful or unsuccessful you find the artwork, and give specific reasons why you hold this opinion - e.g. "I find this drawing particularly successful because of the way Dine's dramatic use of tone around the tool emphasises the simple forms". 


2. What is the relationship between this work and the work you are undertaking? Where possible identify and explain connections between this artist’s work and your own.

OVERALL PRESENTATION

1. Take pride in the overall presentation of your research, it should not be rushed. Consider each element carefully:  type, layout, titles, visual responses etc.

Optional Extension task: 

Make a visual response to the Artist you have researched.

This should be an interpretation of ONE OF YOUR PHOTOS in the style of one of the Artists, not just a copy of one of their images. Use appropriate media.