Denison’s arts community is a friendly place where learning is as important as looking. Many visitors, especially first time gallery-goers, openly state they are a little intimidated by the fact that they are not sure how to discuss art, ask questions about it, or even decide whether it is good or bad. Well, fear no more—help is here!

Learning a few art-related terms can truly enhance your understanding and appreciation of almost any art form. Over the next few months this article will be featuring art terminology and discussions on different mediums. Visit the galleries armed with new information on how to ask questions about and understand what you are seeing.

What type of art do you like? Here are three basic terms to help you identify what you see. These apply to almost any medium, so don’t be afraid to use them when talking about painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, or mixed-media.

Representational: Term denoting an artwork depicts something from the natural world that is easily recognized by most people in a direct fashion. Representational works would include things like traditional still life, landscape, and portraiture. A few well-known representational artists would be Frederic Remington, John Singer Sargent, and Rembrandt van Rijn.

Abstract: Term denoting that an artwork depicts objects of the natural world, but uses shapes and colors in a subjective way (opposed to a realistic or naturally occurring way). Abstract art depicts real forms in a simplified or rather reduced way - keeping only a suggestion of the original natural subject. Examples of abstract painters would be Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt, and Georgia O’Keefe.

Non-Representational: Also called non-objective…. This term denotes that an artwork has no definable subject matter and is not representing or replicating an object from the natural world. Non-Representational works rely on formal aspects such as line, color, texture, etc. Several well-know non-representational artists are Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman.

Want to learn more about what is happening in the arts community? You can find a listing of upcoming art events here on the Events page or check the Chamber Works calendar or by visiting the Chamber of Commerce Website.