Art Criticism: The Real Deal

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Quelfabulous's avatar
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How many of you think of art criticism in a more or less negative way?

I read an incredible book by Terry Barrett called "Criticizing Art" for My Visual Cultures & Critical Practice class in my senior year of college. This author and the class has enlightened my view of what art criticism is and the components of it. And I'm posting this here on dA to share it with you.

This community is part of the bigger Art World, believe it or not. And every person who posts a comment on an artwork is practicing a form of art criticism. You don't have to be some snobby Art Historian from New York to be an Art Critic. Critics come from many different backgrounds- poets, musicians, historians, artists and everyday people- using what they write about to add to communicate what is "likeable" to the community. Critics are what drive the popularity of artwork- which essentially drives the interest in the communities they work in as a whole.

So here are some REAL Art World thoughts for all of you out there who are actively involved with feedback on artwork here in this community- straight from an Art Educator:

Criticism is neither denotes or connotes a negative activity.

Why give publicity to something you hate by talking about it?

The clarity of your feedback will determine who and how many people read and reflect upon it.

Criticism lends credibility- so artists in general like their work to be reviewed. The usefulness of criticism is subjective to the artist, however. Some artists could care less about what others have to say about their work.

Is criticism an angle for marketability? Absolutely! The most popular artists in this community are those who have been reviewed by the most people/ featured in the news/ guests of honor at conventions...etc.


So what is the point? The point is, If you are here leaving comments on artwork & faving, you are all officially Art Critics according to the definition by the Art World. Congratulations. Now use your capabilities to better our community- Continue to talk about the artwork you love and be as thoughtful as you can about it. What you post reflects on you as a critic to the artists you write about, and the audience that reads what you write.

Food for thought. ;)

© 2013 - 2024 Quelfabulous
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tigerlilyv's avatar
Bravo! Agreed and very true. In art classes I have taken, the single most important part of every session was when we tacked our work on the wall for everyone to review in a civil manner. It was also the most time consuming process and sometimes would take several classes to complete.

However, that is where your learning process of the class really came in. It helped everyone to look at the work from a different angle and so much of the time, when your sitting there staring at your work hours on end, you tend to miss certain details/proportion/composition issues that others can see and help you with.

Love this journal post!