Contemporary Visual Arts Course
“Contemporary Visual Arts” is an intensive 12-session course held every Sunday from 12:00 to 14:00. The course is designed for anyone who wants to understand, analyze, and explore the paradigms of contemporary art, develop creative perception, and build the skills needed to engage in artistic discourse.
The program covers transformative works, artists, and movements from the 19th and 20th centuries, from Modernism to Postmodernism, while also exploring contemporary multidisciplinary practices, including painting, installation, performance, video art, and digital art.
The course combines theoretical lectures, practical workshops, group discussions, and final gallery and studio tours. No prior experience is required, and the program is open to anyone with an interest in contemporary art.
Duration
3 months
Age
from 16 y.o.
Lessons per week
once a week
Lesson Duration
120 mins
About the Course
This course serves as a guide to the diverse world of contemporary visual art. Today, art is no longer limited to traditional painting or sculpture; it has become a form of experience, an idea, and a means of social dialogue.
Classes are held every Sunday from 12:00 to 14:00. Throughout the program, we will explore how abstraction, Pop Art, conceptualism, performance, and digital technologies have transformed the way art is perceived. Students will learn to analyze artworks, identify visual codes, engage with theoretical texts, and develop their own creative vision.
The final part of the course includes visits to contemporary art exhibition spaces and artists’ studios.
Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive a bilingual certificate in Georgian and English.
The course is designed for individuals interested in art, design, and visual culture; prospective university students; students of art faculties; and practicing artists and curators (ages 16+).
No. No prior academic or practical experience is required. The course is structured to make the material equally accessible to beginners while also helping participants systematize and build upon their existing knowledge.
The course aims to develop students’ ability to understand contemporary visual language, think critically, and engage in conceptual analysis. It introduces key works, artists, media, theories, and practical tools of contemporary art.
Students will gain an in-depth understanding of contemporary art practices and processes, a broader knowledge of art history, and the ability to critically analyze works of art.
No specialized software knowledge is required. Students will receive study guides specifically created for the course, along with reading and viewing materials. The lectures will be delivered in the form of presentations and discussions.
Module 1 - Introduction to Contemporary Art: Art as Experience
Module 2 - Painting, Image, and Symbol
Module 3 - Is This Art? (Pop Art and Conceptualism)
Module 4 - Photography as a Medium
Module 5 - Sculpture : Object : Installation
Module 6 - Graphic Illustration : Collage : Assemblage
Module 7 - Experimental Film and Video Art
Module 8 - Archiving : Documentation
Module 9 - Performance and the Politics of the Body
Module 10 - Multidisciplinary and Digital Art
Module 11 - Exhibitions, Biennials, and Curating
Module 12 - Final Session: Georgian Art
Areas covered: Painting, photography, installation, performance, video art, curatorial practice, and digital art.
Artists and movements discussed: Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Marina Abramović, Joseph Beuys, Cindy Sherman. Movements include Abstraction, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Conceptualism, Minimalism, Arte Povera, Land Art, and others.
Theoretical foundation / authors: K. Kintsurashvili — 20th Century Art (Avant-Garde) (Tbilisi, 2019); Roland Barthes; Walter Benjamin — The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technical Reproducibility, and others.