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AP Connection: Concentrations Are Coming

"If you had to create a themed portfolio of artwork, what would that theme be?"

AP students have been turning this question in their minds for the past few weeks. Why? After recently working through 12 pieces of their Breadth portfolio section, where they demonstrate their mastery of drawing and understanding of the principles of two-dimensional design, AP students are embarking on another 12 piece section, this time with a theme. A concentration in art is defined as “a body of work unified by an underlying idea that has visual coherence”. Put simply, our students must create an understandable collection of their artwork that represents a story-line or theory of thought. In the past, students have chosen a series of paintings showing "Fashion Through The Ages", a documentary drawing of their "Trip to Paris", their struggle with "Religious Expectations". This year we're bringing it to the next level.

Our four AP students will be approaching their concentrations in the style of their choice of artist. We have a student focusing on Phobias, in the style of Isabel Mendoza's The ABC's of Phobia, while another student approaches Civil Rights and Social Issues In America from the perspective of Jeffery Holman's FLAMES 4 A NUE REVOLUCION, an incredible investigation of minority rights that features not only mixed media work, but writing. Other students have chosen to depict their life from their birth to now, as a DACA recipient and the child of Mexican immigrants, or a reflection of emotional struggles as a teenager, taking hints from Michelangelo Pistoletto's polished steel, Mirror Paintings installation, where the viewer is placed into the space of the composition through reflection.

 

 

I could not be more excited about this season of concentration portfolios; I believe that with a little perseverance (or a lot, as 12 pieces of work for already busy students is quite the undertaking) these works will be excellent examples of the quality AP standard.

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