See how long it will take you to get to college. Please select the campus of the course you wish to study.
This course takes place in various public art galleries, exhibition spaces, commercial galleries and museums. Visits are made predominantly to temporary exhibitions in galleries and sometimes to permanent collections. Each week you will visit a different exhibition exploring a variety of themes, ideas, artists and fine art practices - such as painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, photography and film.
The focus of the course is to discuss the works on display in an informed way. Most sessions include short talks on the artist/ works and themes, as well as facilitated group discussion. Although the focus of the course is on contemporary art, sessions occasionally explore art produced during various periods of the 20th century. The first session is held at Mary Ward Centre and includes an induction and lecture on a current/ relevant theme or trend in Contemporary art.
This course is for those with an interest in twentieth-century and contemporary art, especially in learning about works of art within museums and galleries. No prior knowledge of art/ contemporary art is required.
By the end of the course, you will:
• Be better equipped and skilled at analysing and 'interpreting' contemporary art
• Have built knowledge of the contemporary art scene in London
• Keep in touch with contemporary trends and emerging artists
• Be able to identify various contemporary and 20th-century art styles and movements
• Have built confidence in talking about art
• Enjoy art in public places within a supportive and friendly group environment
• Develop your own personal taste and appreciation of art
Please note - you may need to pay for occasional entry charges that are not covered by the course fee.
Museum visits will combine short lectures, facilitated group discussion, group tasks, question and answer sessions and 1:1 discussion with Anthony.
The first meeting will be at Mary Ward Centre. Subsequent meetings will be at the designated gallery or museum.
At the first meeting, Anthony will distribute an itinerary of venues and meeting points for the following weeks.
Handouts will sometimes be distributed to provide important information about the exhibition.
You are informally assessed through their participation in group discussions of individual works, artists, contexts, ideas, periods and techniques. Evaluation will be integrated into this ongoing process of discussion.
You may wish to bring a notepad and pen to take notes. Most exhibitions are free to enter, occasionally there may be an entry charge (usually no more than one of the visits per term, at the most). As the course takes place in a variety of locations in London, you may need an A-Z or map to help locate galleries you are unfamiliar with. You may also wish to bring a camera - please check before a visit, however, to see whether photography is permitted.
Review of notes and handouts. You may wish to carry out further research on an artist/ gallery/ theme of interest to them. You may also wish to make return visits to the museums/ galleries on their own. Practising artists have found this course very useful in being able to keep in touch with what's happening in the London art scene and to help generate ideas and inform their own studio practice.
You may continue with further terms in this course, as each term is different - the same exhibition is never visited more than once. You may wish to progress to other art appreciation/art theory/art history courses.
See how long it will take you to get to college. Please select the campus of the course you wish to study.