Short Assignment Four: The Catalogue Entry

The Whitney Biennial

If you've been paying attention, you'll remember that for your "First-Year Portfolio" exercise you will include a new piece of critical writing: The Catalogue Entry. This brief piece of writing does double-duty as a graded assignment in the Writing for the Arts class. The portfolio day is Tuesday, April 6 (no class that day for any DCAD student, first or second year). 

1) Choose one artist (or one artist collective) and one piece of art from the lists of the past five Whitney Biennial exhibitions (2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019). Most of these artists you have likely never heard of, and that's OK. Have fun browsing the lists and experiencing really different kinds of art-making. 

2) Capture an image of the one work you are concentrating on. A screengrab might be the easiest method of getting this image. Make sure it's not too pixelated.

3) Write your catalogue entry. This is typically two longish paragraphs or three medium-sized paragraphs. The first paragraph is mostly informative: who is this artist (brief bio)? what kind of art is this artist known for? mention your chosen artwork toward the end of your first paragraph. The second paragraph should really get into close and loving detail about the work itself (formal analysis). The third paragraph should explain the relevance of this work of art to issues in contemporary culture. 

It's possible to write the second and third paragraphs together as one, but I think it's far preferable to open a new paragraph that centers on philosophical issues and questions. 

A good length guideline is 300-400 words. Some might be a little shorter and some a little longer.  

Sylvan Barnet's A Short Guide to Writing About Art has a brief chapter on catalogue entries: Chapter 6, 146-153.

It might be helpful to think of your three linked paragraphs as:

1) Who

2) What

3) Why

Here's a short video about the 2017 Whitney Biennial. 

The current edition of the Biennial opens next month! We'll be sure to read the reviews as a class.

DRAFT DUE: March 16 (upload to Populi)

FINAL DUE: March 18 (upload to Populi)

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu