Artist Research

Instructions

You will select one of the major, heard-of artist mentioned in the textbook as a subject for your research paper.

Step 1: Research the artist and a theme within their work

• This paper should be more than just being “about” the artist. It is not a biography. Focus on two pieces by the artist.
• Identify a theme or central idea about the artist or his/her artwork (your thesis) as it relates to a theme explored in Module 4 (Part 4 of the textbook) and then build the essay around that idea.
• Select an artist from the list below:
  • Ana Mendieta
  • Chuck Close
  • Robert Mapplethorpe
  • Faith Ringgold
  • Kehinde Wiley
  • Carrie Mae Weems
  • Judy Chicago
  • Cindy Sherman
  • Yasumasa Morimura
  • Shirin Neshat
• The expectation is that the research should represent information from several sources (at least 3 — websites will only count as sources if they are online versions of print material) and that any direct borrowing of wording from these sources will be indicated by quotation marks and listed on the works cited page.

Step 2: Write the essay

• Draft your thesis (remember, this is not a biography paper so your thesis needs to be about the art)
• Identify a common theme within the artist works
  • What is the context of their work? Cultural? Spiritual? Political? Historical?

Step 3: Before you submit… make sure that you have the following:

• The essay length should be a minimum of 2 pages. (Not including the Works Cited page)
• The paper should meet normal standards for documentation (citations and works cited such as found in the Modern Language Association, 8th ed.).
  • Use MLA format (Times New Roman 12-point size font, double-spaced, appropriate in-text citations, Works Cited page, etc…)
• At least 3 sources — websites will only count as sources if they are online versions of print material 
• Similarity Report must within 0-10%