How does the piece strike you at first appearance?

Nursing
Your first assignment is to write a review of an exhibit at the MacLaren Art Centre. Your review should be 2.5 pages or more in length

(excluding coverpage and bibliography) and written in essay form. It is worth 20 percent of your final grade and is due in hardcopy form

in class (I will not read electronic versions).

Your visit to the MacLaren:
• Bringapencil(ratherthanpen)andpadwithyousoyoucantakenotes.
• Chooseaworkofartthatinterestsyou.
• Standinfrontofitfor sometime.
• Takenoteofthephysicalappearanceofthework.Think abouthowitwasexecuted(e.g.,short,painterlystrokesthatgivetheworkenergyandintensity,etc.)
• Recordyourownreactiontoit.
• Trytogetsomeliteratureontheexhibitfromthegallery.
• Takenoteofwhocuratedtheexhibit.

Writing the review
Thisisonlyasuggestedformat.You donothavetofollowthisformexactly,nordoyouhavetorespondtoeveryquestionlaidoutbelow.

1.Begin byintroducingtheexhibityouarereviewing.
• Whoistheartist?
• Whatistheexhibit?(Don’toffertoomuchdetailyet.)
• Whereistheartist’sworkbeingexhibited?
• Whatishisorherbackground?
• Perhapsthereissomethingtosayabouthowtheartist’sworkhasbeenreceived.

2.You mightalsowanttohaveaBRIEFsectionthatdescribesthevenuefortheexhibit(i.e.,theMacLaren).Note: this should not take up too much of your

review!
• Whatisitshistory?
• Howdoesthegallery viewtheimportanceofthepresentexhibit?
• Whatisthephysicalspacelike?
• Howdoestheexhibitspacecomplementtheworks?

3.After introducingtheartist,exhibitandgallery,youcanprovideadescriptionoftheworkorworksyouareplanningtoreview.
• Thisisn’treallytheplacetointerpretthework—thatcomesnext.First youneedtoofferamoregeneral,physicaldescriptionofthepiece.
• Thatdoesn’tmeanthatyoucan’tusesomebasicinterpretivelanguage:

(e.g.,“theartist’sworkoffersastrikingandsomewhattroublingrepresentationoftheurbanworkingclassinCanada”;“thisworkexhibitsartistx’slongstand

ingpreoccupationwithimagesoftheCanadiannorth”;“thisexhibitprovidesavisionaryglimpseofafuturesocietytransformedbytechnologicalchange”…etc.)
• Describehowthepieceisbeingexhibited.

4.Next offer your interpretation of the piece.Note: this is the most important section of the review!
Here are some things you could talk about:

• How does the piece strike you at firstappearance?
• Whatdetailsstandoutuponcloserinspection?
• Howdoyoureacttothepiece?
• Doyouhaveanycriticismstomake?

But here is something you reallyshould talk about:

• What do you think the artists is trying to say?
• About human experience in general: Does the work have something to say about perennial themes like love, death, justice, human

purpose, happiness, etc.?
• About his or her personal experience? Are there biographical details about the artist that help us to understand the work?
• About human relations in general? Or about the artist’s society more specifically?
• About social changes that have or need to take place?
• About art and its role in our world? (Can you draw comparisons with any other artists or works that you know?)

5. Provide some sort of critical reaction to the work.
• Howdoesitsucceedor fail esthetically (that is, at the level of appearance and artistic appeal)?
• Howdoesitsucceedincommunicatingacertainmeaningormessage?
• Doyouthinktheworkoritsmessageisimportantforus?
• Doyouthinkthattheshowhasbeencuratedwell?

6.Conclusion
• Sumupyourreactiontotheshow.
• Offeranyfinalthoughtsyoumayhave.After youhavefinishedwritingyourreview,writeitagain.
• Cleanupthelanguage. And spiceitup! Make it fun to read!