Visual Arts

(Formerly R1001) The fundamentals of visual vocabulary and handling of drawing materials including charcoal, compressed charcoal, pencil, pen, ink, and brushes. Various conceptual and practical approaches to image-making are explored as formal issues such as line, volume, contrast, and composition are emphasized.  Class assignments are accompanied by discussions and critiques.  Students draw largely from observation, working with a variety of sources that may include still-life objects and the human figure. Portfolio required at the end.  If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

(Formerly R1001) The fundamentals of visual vocabulary and handling of drawing materials including charcoal, compressed charcoal, pencil, pen, ink, and brushes. Various conceptual and practical approaches to image-making are explored as formal issues such as line, volume, contrast, and composition are emphasized.  Class assignments are accompanied by discussions and critiques.  Students draw largely from observation, working with a variety of sources that may include still-life objects and the human figure. Portfolio required at the end.  If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

(Formerly R1001) The fundamentals of visual vocabulary and handling of drawing materials including charcoal, compressed charcoal, pencil, pen, ink, and brushes. Various conceptual and practical approaches to image-making are explored as formal issues such as line, volume, contrast, and composition are emphasized.  Class assignments are accompanied by discussions and critiques.  Students draw largely from observation, working with a variety of sources that may include still-life objects and the human figure. Portfolio required at the end.  If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

Introductory course to analog photographic tools, techniques, and photo criticism. This class explores black & white, analog camera photography and darkroom processing and printing.  Areascovered include camera operations, black and white darkroom work, 8x10 print production, and critique. With an emphasis on the student’s own creative practice, this course will explore the basics of photography and its history through regular shooting assignments, demonstrations, critique, lectures, and readings. No prior photography experience is required.

Introductory course to analog photographic tools, techniques, and photo criticism. This class explores black & white, analog camera photography and darkroom processing and printing.  Areascovered include camera operations, black and white darkroom work, 8x10 print production, and critique. With an emphasis on the student’s own creative practice, this course will explore the basics of photography and its history through regular shooting assignments, demonstrations, critique, lectures, and readings. No prior photography experience is required.

Since Walter Benjamin’s concept of “work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction” (1935), photography has been continuously changed by mechanical, and then digital, means of image capture and processing. This class explores the history of the image, as a global phenomenon that accompanied industrialization, conflict, racial reckonings, and decolonization. Students will study case studies, read critical essays, and get hands-on training in capture, workflow, editing, output, and display formats using digital equipment (e.g., DSLR camera) and software (e.g., Lightroom, Photoshop, Scanning Software). Students will complete weekly assignments, a midterm project, and a final project based on research and shooting assignments. No Prerequisites and no equipment needed. All enrolled students will be able to check out Canon EOS 5D DSLR Camera; receive an Adobe Creative Cloud license; and get access to Large Format Print service.

As far back as Walter Benjamin’s “work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction” (1935), photography has always been challenged by mechanical means of image processing. Photographers and Institutions have first resisted and then (mostly) embraced each of these changes. This class explores Artificial Intelligence Photography as the latest in a series of earthquakes in the history of the photographic image, accompanying the desires of business, globalization, and science. This class seeks an ethically guided, globally representative model for photography and artificial intelligence. Debates around authorship and creativity (e.g., Supreme Court case with Andy Warhol) now face a radically new context of an “authorless” photograph. As crowdsourced imagemaking begins, the bias of massive datasets have taken techno-utopians by surprise, underlining that the task of building an equitable image-bank of the world cannot be left to algorithms and entrepreneurs. This class will explore the ethics and aesthetics of Artificial Intelligence and Imagery. There will be equal emphasis on reading and writing papers, as there will be on learning new software and tools.

Popular and Historical Gestures explores the fundamental properties of figure drawing and portraiture through the lens of pop culture and historical gestures and poses. Students examine the figure in painting, documentary photography, art history, and literature, and then use these examples as sources for live model sessions, studio practice, and discussions. Students will work on self-directed projects and from live models. There are one-on-one and group discussions, as well as individual critiques with the instructor. Class time will include image presentations, discussions, museum trips, individual and group critiques, and in-class independent work time. Each class will begin with a homework critique and a discussion, lecture, or demonstration structured around a specific goal. Students will then work individually. Each class will end with brief individual and group critiques to allow students to see and discuss each other's work.

Prerequisites: (VIAR UN1000) (Formerly R3201) Introduction of the fundamental skills and concepts involved in painting. Problems are structured to provide students with a knowledge of visual language along with a development of expressive content. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

Prerequisites: (VIAR UN1000) (Formerly R3201) Introduction of the fundamental skills and concepts involved in painting. Problems are structured to provide students with a knowledge of visual language along with a development of expressive content. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

(Formerly R3130) This studio course will provide the students with a foundation in the ceramic process, its history, and its relevance to contemporary art making. The course is structured in two parts. The first centers on the fundamental and technical aspects of the material. Students will learn construction techniques, glazing and finishing methods, and particulars about firing procedures. This part of the course will move quickly in order to expose the students to a variety of ceramic processes. Weekly assignments, demonstrations, and lectures will be given. The second centers on the issue of how to integrate ceramics into the students current practice. Asking the question of why we use ceramics as a material and, further, why we choose the materials we do to make art. Rigorous group and individual critiques focusing on the above questions will be held. The goal of this course is to supply the students with the knowledge and skill necessary to work in ceramics and enough proficiency and understanding of the material to enable them to successfully incorporate it into their practice. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

(Formerly R3330) The fundamentals of sculpture are investigated through a series of conceptual and technical projects. Three material processes are introduced, including wood, metal, and paster casting. Issues pertinent to contemporary sculpture are introduced through lectures, group critiques, discussions, and field trips that accompany class assignments. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

(Formerly R3330) The fundamentals of sculpture are investigated through a series of conceptual and technical projects. Three material processes are introduced, including wood, metal, and paster casting. Issues pertinent to contemporary sculpture are introduced through lectures, group critiques, discussions, and field trips that accompany class assignments. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

(Formerly R3401) Enables the student to realize concepts and visual ideas in a printed form. Basic techniques are introduced and utilized: the history and development of the intaglio process; demonstrations and instruction in line etching, relief, and dry point. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

(Formerly R3411) Printmaking I: Relief introduces woodcut and other relief techniques. Given the direct quality of the process, the class focuses on the students personal vision through experimentation with this print medium. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

(Formerly R3413) Printmaking I: Silkscreen introduces silkscreen and other silkscreen techniques. Given the direct quality of the process, the class focuses on the students personal vision through experimentation with this print medium. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

Prerequisites: (VIAR UN1000) (Formerly R3515) This course approaches drawing as an experimental and expressive tool. Students will explore the boundaries between drawing and sculpture and will be encouraged to push the parameters of drawing. Collage, assemblage and photomontage will be used in combination with more traditional approaches to drawing. The class will explore the role of the imagination, improvisation, 3-dimensional forms, observation, memory, language, mapping, and text. Field trips to artists’ studios as well as critiques will play an important role in the course. The course will culminate in a final project in which each student will choose one or more of the themes explored during the semester and create a series of artworks. This course is often taught under the nomenclature Drawing II - Mixed Media.

Prerequisites: (VIAR UN1000) and (VIAR UN2100) (Formerly R3202) Painting II: Extension of VIAR UN2100 This course explores the transition of representational form towards abstraction in the early 20th century (Cubism) with full consideration to recent movements such as geometric abstraction, organic abstraction, gestural abstraction, color field and pattern painting. Students will be encouraged to find dynamic approaches to these classic tropes of 20th and 21st century abstraction.

This class is designed to introduce you not only to the subject of painting the human figure and its expressive potential, but also to focus on the art and craft of Painting. We will be painting the figure from secondary source material that can include photos, other artworks, clay models etc. The focus will be on figurative narration. We will be learning to see color, and use paint in response to that. Painting is a way to account for, express and communicate what you have seen with your eyes, mind or in your imagination. You will be introduced to different approaches to the craft of painting, and will by the end of the semester be more free and confident in interpreting your inner and outer vision. We will also be looking at paintings made in different times and places and discuss how and why they look the way they do. You will also be designing and carrying out your own independent project to be completed by the final critique.

Prerequisites: VIAR UN2420 or VIAR UN2430 note that VIAR UN2430 was formerly R3420. The objective of the course is to provide students with an interdisciplinary link between drawing, photography and printmaking through an integrated studio project. Students will use drawing, printmaking and collage to create a body of work to be presented in a folio format. In the course, students develop and refine their drawing sensibility, and are encouraged to experiment with various forms of non-traditional printmaking. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

Prerequisites: VIAR UN2420 (Formerly R3402) Continues instruction and demonstration of further techniques in intaglio. Encourages students to think visually more in the character of the medium, and personal development is stressed. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

Prerequisites: VIAR UN2430 (Formerly R3412) Printmaking II: Relief continues instruction and demonstration of further techniques in woodcut. Encourages students to think visually more in the character of the medium, and personal development is stressed. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

Prerequisites: VIAR R2440. (Formerly R3414) Printmaking II: Silkscreen continues instruction and demonstration of further techniques in silkscreen. Encourages students to think visually more in the character of the medium, and personal development is stressed. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

Intro to Moving Image: Video, Film & Art is an introductory class on the production and editing of digital video. Designed as an intensive hands-on production/post-production workshop, the apprehension of technical and aesthetic skills in shooting, sound and editing will be emphasized. Assignments are developed to allow students to deepen their familiarity with the language of the moving image medium. Over the course of the term, the class will explore the language and syntax of the moving image, including fiction, documentary and experimental approaches. Importance will be placed on the decision making behind the production of a work; why it was conceived of, shot, and edited in a certain way. Class time will be divided between technical workshops, viewing and discussing films and videos by independent producers/artists and discussing and critiquing students projects. Readings will be assigned on technical, aesthetic and theoretical issues. Only one section offered per semester. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

(Formerly R4601) New York City is the most abundant visual arts resource in the world. Visits to museums, galleries, and studios on a weekly basis. Students encounter a broad cross-section of art and are encouraged to develop ideas about what is seen. The seminar is led by a practicing artist and utilizes this perspective. Columbia College and General Studies Visual Arts Majors must take this class during their junior year. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

Prerequisites: Department approval required. See requirements for a major in visual arts. VIAR UN3900 is the prerequisite for VIAR UN3901. Corequisites: VIAR UN3910 (Formerly R3901) Students must enroll in both semesters of the course (VIAR UN3900 and VIAR UN3901). The student is required to produce a significant body of work in which the ideas, method of investigation, and execution are determined by the student. A plan is developed in consultation with the faculty. Seminars; presentations. At the end, an exhibition or other public venue is presented for evaluation. Studio space is provided.

Prerequisites: Department approval required. See requirements for a major in visual arts. VIAR UN3910 is the prerequisite for VIAR UN3911. Corequisites: VIAR UN3900 (Formerly R3921) Students are required to enroll in both semesters (VIAR UN3910 and VIAR UN3911). A second opinion is provided to the senior students regarding the development of their senior project. Critics consist of distinguished visitors and faculty. Issues regarding the premise, methodology, or presentation of the students ideas are discussed and evaluated on an ongoing basis.

Prerequisites: the department chairs permission. (Formerly R3932)

Prerequisites: the department chairs permission. (Formerly R3932)

Prerequisites: the department chairs permission. (Formerly R3932)

Prerequisites: the department chairs permission. (Formerly R3932)

Prerequisites: the department chairs permission. (Formerly R3932)

Prerequisites: the department chairs permission. (Formerly R3932)

Prerequisites: the department chairs permission. (Formerly R3932)

Prerequisites: the department chairs permission. (Formerly R3932)

Prerequisites: the department chairs permission. (Formerly R3932)

Prerequisites: the department chairs permission. (Formerly R3932)

This course seeks to build upon (or expand) skills learned in sculpture I. This workshop based course allows students more access to the shops  to continue to develop those introductory skills while focusing on specific materials and processes. In this course students will complete one self directed project and a number of inclass short assignments and exercises providing a greater exposure to sculptural practice and processes. Acting as both a bridge to and support for more advanced inquiry into making.

Prerequisites: VIAR UN2300 (Formerly R3302) Laboratory in Relational Art; Sculpture without Objects The purpose of this class will be to explore the function of Relational Aesthetics in contemporary art practice and to develop ideas about the role of context in art, as the students develop their own site-specific works and research historical precedents for art designed to be exhibited in non-traditional venues. This course will also prepare students for professional work preparing art for venues of that type. This class will be structured around studio work, with an emphasis on the development and production of a final site-specific project. In order to foster students’ growth and ongoing investigation into the nature of contemporary sculpture, the class will also be comprised of slide lectures, visits to local artists’ studios, and galleries, as well as various public art projects throughout the city. As the semester progresses, the emphasis will gradually be shifted from research to intensive studio work on a final project, often a proposal for a site-specific work in a non-traditional venue. Generally, the first half of each class session will be dedicated to lecture and discussion, while the second half will be dedicated to individual studio work and critique.

This class is designed to introduce you not only to the subject of painting the human figure and its expressive potential, but also to focus on the art and craft of Painting. We will be painting the figure from secondary source material that can include photos, other artworks, clay models etc. The focus will be on figurative narration. We will be learning to see color, and use paint in response to that. Painting is a way to account for, express and communicate what you have seen with your eyes, mind or in your imagination. You will be introduced to different approaches to the craft of painting, and will by the end of the semester be more free and confident in interpreting your inner and outer vision. We will also be looking at paintings made in different times and places and discuss how and why they look the way they do. You will also be designing and carrying out your own independent project to be completed by the final critique.

Popular and Historical Gestures explores the fundamental properties of figure drawing and portraiture through the lens of pop culture and historical gestures and poses. Students examine the figure in painting, documentary photography, art history, and literature, and then use these examples as sources for live model sessions, studio practice, and discussions. Students will work on self-directed projects and from live models. There are one-on-one and group discussions, as well as individual critiques with the instructor. Class time will include image presentations, discussions, museum trips, individual and group critiques, and in-class independent work time. Each class will begin with a homework critique and a discussion, lecture, or demonstration structured around a specific goal. Students will then work individually. Each class will end with brief individual and group critiques to allow students to see and discuss each other's work.

Intro to Moving Image: Video, Film & Art is an introductory class on the production and editing of digital video. Designed as an intensive hands-on production/post-production workshop, the apprehension of technical and aesthetic skills in shooting, sound and editing will be emphasized. Assignments are developed to allow students to deepen their familiarity with the language of the moving image medium. Over the course of the term, the class will explore the language and syntax of the moving image, including fiction, documentary and experimental approaches. Importance will be placed on the decision making behind the production of a work; why it was conceived of, shot, and edited in a certain way. Class time will be divided between technical workshops, viewing and discussing films and videos by independent producers/artists and discussing and critiquing students projects. Readings will be assigned on technical, aesthetic and theoretical issues. Only one section offered per semester. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.

Introductory course to analog photographic tools, techniques, and photo criticism. This class explores black & white, analog camera photography and darkroom processing and printing.  Areascovered include camera operations, black and white darkroom work, 8x10 print production, and critique. With an emphasis on the student’s own creative practice, this course will explore the basics of photography and its history through regular shooting assignments, demonstrations, critique, lectures, and readings. No prior photography experience is required.

Introductory course to analog photographic tools, techniques, and photo criticism. This class explores black & white, analog camera photography and darkroom processing and printing.  Areascovered include camera operations, black and white darkroom work, 8x10 print production, and critique. With an emphasis on the student’s own creative practice, this course will explore the basics of photography and its history through regular shooting assignments, demonstrations, critique, lectures, and readings. No prior photography experience is required.

As far back as Walter Benjamin’s “work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction” (1935), photography has always been challenged by mechanical means of image processing. Photographers and Institutions have first resisted and then (mostly) embraced each of these changes. This class explores Artificial Intelligence Photography as the latest in a series of earthquakes in the history of the photographic image, accompanying the desires of business, globalization, and science. This class seeks an ethically guided, globally representative model for photography and artificial intelligence. Debates around authorship and creativity (e.g., Supreme Court case with Andy Warhol) now face a radically new context of an “authorless” photograph. As crowdsourced imagemaking begins, the bias of massive datasets have taken techno-utopians by surprise, underlining that the task of building an equitable image-bank of the world cannot be left to algorithms and entrepreneurs. This class will explore the ethics and aesthetics of Artificial Intelligence and Imagery. There will be equal emphasis on reading and writing papers, as there will be on learning new software and tools.

Since Walter Benjamin’s concept of “work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction” (1935), photography has been continuously changed by mechanical, and then digital, means of image capture and processing. This class explores the history of the image, as a global phenomenon that accompanied industrialization, conflict, racial reckonings, and decolonization. Students will study case studies, read critical essays, and get hands-on training in capture, workflow, editing, output, and display formats using digital equipment (e.g., DSLR camera) and software (e.g., Lightroom, Photoshop, Scanning Software). Students will complete weekly assignments, a midterm project, and a final project based on research and shooting assignments. No Prerequisites and no equipment needed. All enrolled students will be able to check out Canon EOS 5D DSLR Camera; receive an Adobe Creative Cloud license; and get access to Large Format Print service.

Visiting artists and critics are invited over the course of the academic year to give a one-hour lecture followed by discussion, and conduct 3 40-minute studio visits. These lecturers will join the previously listed Visiting Critics and will be available as one of your allotted studio visits each semester.

The Artist-Mentor program allows a close and focused relationship to form between a core group of ten to fifteen students and their mentor. You will be assigned two mentors according to your preferences. You will meet with both of your Mentors each semester in separate one-week workshops. The content of the workshop will vary according to the Mentors’ area of interest, expertise, and the needs of the students. Mentor weeks may include individual critiques, group critiques, studio visits, visits to galleries, other artist's studios, museums, special site visits, readings, and writing workshops. 

Visiting artists and critics are invited over the course of the academic year to give a one-hour lecture followed by discussion, and conduct 3 40-minute studio visits. These lecturers will join the previously listed Visiting Critics and will be available as one of your allotted studio visits each semester.

The Artist-Mentor program allows a close and focused relationship to form between a core group of ten to fifteen students and their mentor. You will be assigned two mentors according to your preferences. You will meet with both of your Mentors each semester in separate one-week workshops. The content of the workshop will vary according to the Mentors’ area of interest, expertise, and the needs of the students. Mentor weeks may include individual critiques, group critiques, studio visits, visits to galleries, other artist's studios, museums, special site visits, readings, and writing workshops. 

The Seminar in Sculpture and Related Media will focus on the specific relationships between tools, ideas and meanings in contemporary sculptural practices. Each semester Visual Arts offers one Graduate Seminar in a different discipline, or combination of disciplines, including moving image, new genres, painting, photography, printmaking, or sculpture. These Discipline Seminars are taught by full-time and adjunct faculty, eminent critics, historians, curators, theorists, writers, and artists. Each seminar focuses on the specific relations between tools, ideas and meanings that arise when artists engage with a particular medium. The seminars combine discussions of readings and artworks with presentations of students' work and research.