Have you ever felt embarrassed to talk about a piece of art you admired, because you were afraid you might say the wrong thing?

Or do you avoid art altogether, to avoid being in that awkward position? Does it take a degree to know how to critique art?

I think not.

It sometimes seems like art institutions and snooty galleries do their best in trying to mystify art. They use ‘art history’ and ‘artist jargon’ to build an invisible wall between a work of art and it’s viewer.

The truth is, it doesn’t take a degree to know how to critique art. In fact, there are really only 2 things you need to know, to jump right into any art critique or conversation

Form and Content

Let’s start with content. When an artist makes a work of art, he does so with the intention of starting a conversation with whoever views it. The topic of the conversation, is it’s content. More often than not, the title of the piece is an invitation to join the conversation. Your response or contribution to this conversation becomes your critique.

If content is the topic of the conversation, then formis eloquence. How well does an artwork say what it is trying to say? Does the burly passion of a farmer suit it this conversation more or the smooth talking sharpness of a lawyer?

Giving a critique on a work of art, is as simple as joining it’s artist in casual conversation.

The next time you are confronted with a work of art and want to join the conversation, you might want to start by answering these 2 questions:

What is the artist saying?

And How well is he saying it?

Try it yourself! Give a critique at ArtmakrWeekend

Or Get your art critiqued

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 12:51 am and is filed under Basics, Learn. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.