-
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro is an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted. Western artists who are famed for the use of chiaroscuro include Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio. Leonardo employed it to give a vivid impression of the three-dimensionality of his figures, while Caravaggio used such contrasts for the sake of drama.
Source: www.nationalgallery.org.uk.
-
Collage
Used to describe both the technique and the resulting work of art in which pieces of paper, photographs, fabric and other ephemera are arranged and stuck down to a supporting surface. Collage can also include other media such as painting and drawing, and may contain three-dimensional elements. The term collage derives from the French words papier collé or decoupage, used to describe techniques of pasting paper cut-outs on to various surfaces. It was first used as an artists’ technique in the twentieth century. Source: Tate.org.uk. AWDB highlighted artist: Pinky Ibarra Urmaza. -
Collective
Loosely defined, an art collective is a group of artists working together to achieve a common objective. Artists working within a collective are united by shared ideologies, aesthetics and, or, political beliefs. In the early modern period, there were roughly two forms of art collective. Those who sought to bring about social change by cultural means like the futurists. They looked towards the future where they envisioned a radically new way of life. Others, like the dada artists, represented the psychological consequences of the loss of a pre-modern existence and reflected that in their art. They spoke for a collective group, in this case those mentally and physically scarred by the First World War. Today, thanks to social media, art collectives have an extraordinary global reach, giving them the power to bring about change through direct action. Collectives today are about the present and how they can change society in the here and now. Source: tate.org.uk. AWDB highlighted collective: ruangrupa. -
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art for which the idea (or concept) behind the work is more important than the finished art object. It emerged as an art movement in the 1960s and the term usually refers to art made from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s but has been hugely influential since. Conceptual artists do not set out to make a painting or a sculpture and then fit their ideas to that existing form. Instead they think beyond the limits of those traditional media, and then work out their concept or idea in whatever materials and whatever form is appropriate. Source: tate.org.uk and AWDB team. AWDB highlighted artist: Aung Ko. -
Contemporary art
The term contemporary art generally describes art of the present day and of the recent past. It mostly includes art that is revolutionary or avant-garde in nature. Contemporary Southeast Asian art’s influences are often dissociated from that of external cultures, influences, and current events. Southeast Asian art instead tends to reflect themes relevant to its local and regional audiences, each country’s colonial and post- Cold War history, and of existing domestic cultural movements and narratives. It is still in a nascent stage but is gaining increasing visibility outside of the region. Some of its artists have achieved local, regional and global success. Source: AWDB team. AWDB highlighted artists include all artists featured on this website. -
Cultural appropriation
As a term in art history and criticism, cultural appropriation refers to the taking over of creative or artistic forms, themes, or practices by one cultural group from another. Source: tate.org.uk. AWDB highlighted artist: Pacita Abad. -
Curator
The role of the curator has evolved within the past twenty or so years from strictly being employed by museums to present temporary exhibitions, arrange displays of the museum’s own permanent collection, and making acquisitions for the institution’s collection. There are now independent curators who are not attached to an institution and who have their own distinctive ways of creating exhibitions. They are often invited by galleries to curate, and/or propose exhibitions in a wide-ranging variety of venues, both within and outside the traditional gallery system, as well as online. Source: AWDB team. AWDB highlighted curator: Desmond Mah. -
Cyanotype
The cyanotype is a camera-less photographic technique and printing process that produces blue prints using coated paper and light. Itinvolveslaying an object on paper coated with a solution of iron salts before exposing it to UV light and washing with water to create stunning white and Prussian blue images.
Source: AWDB team and Kew Gardens.
AWDB highlighted artist: Corinne De San Jose.
