The new and exciting way Aesthetic Realism explains the visual arts is taught as part of the curriculum of classes at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, available via Zoom video conference. Two of these classes are:
♦ The Visual Arts & the Opposites: A Museum/Gallery Course,
taught by Marcia Rackow
Looking at the art of the world in museums and galleries here and abroad — from the tomb sculptures of ancient China to the latest work in Chelsea — we study how beauty in all art is a oneness of opposites. The classes are based on Eli Siegel’s lectures and essays, including “Art as Flexibility,” “Art as Energy,” “The Drama of Hardness and Softness in Painting.” Once each semester there is a joint Art and Anthropology class.
Alternate Sundays: 11 am – 12:30
♦ “If It Moves, It Can Move You”—Opposites in the Cinema: A Film Studies course,
taught by Ken Kimmelman
This series shows how the art of the cinema, in its technique and meaning, and in all its diversity—from slapstick to spectacle, cinema verité to the fantastic, tragedy to comedy—is a oneness of the permanent opposites in reality. We study how such opposites as rest and motion, light and dark, continuity and discontinuity, unity and variety—opposites we are trying to make sense of in our lives—are present in the motion picture, from The Great Train Robbery of 1903 to the latest cinematic achievement. Film excerpts are shown and discussed.
One Wednesday per month, 6 – 8 PM
♦ Find out about registering for a semester or auditing a single class
Other great courses offered via Zoom video conference at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation:
♦ The Aesthetic Realism Explanation of Poetry
♦ Anthropology Is about You and Everyone
♦ The Opposites in Music
♦ Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method Workshop
♦ Understanding Marriage
Classes temporarily discontinued due to the pandemic:
♦ The Art of Drawing: Surface & Depth
Taught by Marcia Rackow
Each semester accents either drawing, pastel, or watercolor. The opposites of purpose and technique, seeing and imagination, logic and emotion in each student are encouraged to work together. Summer classes take place outdoors—for instance, in Central Park and Washington Square Park. Some subjects are: Intimacy and Grandeur in Still Life; How Much Can Small Objects Mean to Us?; There Is Space In, Around, and Between Things. Alternate Saturdays, 10 am – 12 pm
♦ Critical Inquiry: A Workshop in the Visual Arts
Taught by Carrie Wilson, Ken Kimmelman, and Marcia Rackow
Works in process by persons engaged in the visual arts—painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography—are looked at and discussed with Eli Siegel’s 15 Questions, “Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites?,” as the critical criterion. There is class discussion, and some questions asked are: What is your intention? What is the relation of subject matter and technique? What is your criticism of the way you see? As artist, what do you hope for? Third Sunday each month, 10 am – 12 pm