Fatema Ahmed

UOB | Arts & Design

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VISUAL CULTURE

Book name: Visual Culture

Publisher: MIT Press

Author: Alexis L. Boylan

Book Pages: 248 Pages

Year of publication: 2020

About this book: The book explores how images have become the dominant language of our time. It explains that our understanding of the world today no longer relies solely on texts and books; instead, most of our thoughts and perspectives are shaped by the images we see in media, advertisements, and social networks. The author emphasizes that it is not enough to simply look at images — we must analyze them, question them, and uncover the hidden meanings behind what we see.

The book is structured into four main chapters, each beginning with a visual case study that invites readers to think, interpret, and engage with the material critically rather than just absorb information. The first chapter, What?, defines visual culture and outlines its history, presenting both the opportunities and challenges of analyzing images critically. The second chapter, Where?, focuses on the role of context and place in how images are presented — for example, in museums or exhibitions — and how the act of displaying influences meaning. The third chapter, Who?, examines representation, identity, and the human body in images, questioning whether we can view others fairly through visual media. The final chapter, When?, discusses the relationship between images and time, particularly how visual culture interacts with global issues like climate change and environmental awareness.

Through these discussions, Boylan reveals that images are never purely neutral or objective. They always carry political, cultural, social, or economic implications, whether explicit or hidden. She also argues that images often construct alternative realities — advertisements, for instance, may depict ideal lifestyles, while digitally edited photos distort perceptions of beauty and success.

In conclusion, Visual Culture encourages readers to develop critical visual literacy. By learning how to read and interpret images consciously, individuals can better understand how visual media shapes identity, culture, and belief systems — and ultimately make more informed decisions in a world dominated by visual communication.

@uob-funoon

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January, 2023 logotype recap (in blue)

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🖼 Haleema Art gallery

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🖼 Ajyal exhibition visit

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Club and Spade Logo - Negative Space & Creative Logo For Sale.

This one availble for purchase at dainogo.net

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Exhibition Review

Ajyal Group exhibition

The exhibition was held under the patronage of H.E Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman of National Council Arts and Honorary President of Bahrain Arts Society, In collaboration with the Supreme Council for Women including a variety pf wonderful works by 45 artists.

Bahrain was one of the first countries in the gulf region where fine arts emerged, dating back to early twentieth century. The fine art movement was influenced by the country’s rich cultural heritage and openness to various cultures. These initiatives were founded by a group of artists who were inspired by the island’s local environment such as sea and diving. The early artworks were developed using available tools and materials that could have been sourced at the time to produce their artwork. The themes of these artwork were often based on field visits and live drawing of landscapes, and scenes of daily life such as traditional clothing, crafts, folklore stories and events.

The Bahrain Fine Arts Society, since its establishment in 1983, has had an active role in supporting Bahraini art and artists locally and abroad by hosting exhibitions, workshops and lectures for various Bahraini artists, as well as by promoting Bahraini artists in international exhibitions.

All of this culminated in the creation of a unique art scene - the impact of which we witness today with its artistic, intellectual and cultural dimensions.

This exhibition, which coincides with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Bahrain Arts Society, aims to highlight the Society's contribution over the years in fostering a fertile environment to create dialogues between the works of artists of various generations. This is evident by the influence of generations of Bahraini artists in terms of subjects, themes and palettes.

This exhibition celebrates the Bahraini artist and generations that had and continue to have an impact on the Bahrain art scene

@patbarak @uob-funoon

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🖼 Golden Ratio exhibition visit

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Kasifer's design has a lot of thought put into it, so I always really wanted to share this information!

So here is a peek at how the process went and what I specifically intended with the design. It's not all of it but it's a pretty good overview.

Maybe this is even interesting to any other people who like character design!

[mattcolewilson]

POSTER 04: Sooner or Later - Inconsolata - Bob Dylan lyrics - Abstract vector graphic

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Brodie Kaman www.brodiekaman.com

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Exhibition review

Golden ratio by Mayasa AlSowaidi

Golden ratio 1.618… Is a magical number represented by the Greek letter PHI (φ). It’s a fascinating mathematical con-stant that is found in nature, the human body, the arts, architec-ture, music, poetry, the nanos-cale word of our DNA molecule, and all the way to the infinitely large universe.

The golden ratio is not linked to straight lines since it has multiple shapes and different names, such as the famous spiral shape, which is entirely based on the golden ratio that is present in nature, in everything that amazingly surrounds us, in living beings and humans.

Mayasa conveys her experience, which includes her dreams about the concept of art and the golden ratio inherent in everything beautiful and remarkable in life in her own way of visual narration, through which she sought to leave a good impact on the feelings and taste of the recipient and to present a simplified vision regarding her understanding and convictions of the coloring things, and making them relatively acceptable, comfortable and striking to the viewer's eye

She presented a summary of her experience and knowledge in harmony between abstraction in mathematics and art, These works were distinguished by the clear contrast, the artistic maturity in the form of the performance, the construction of the work and the balance of its architecture in different forms of expression. Also The raw materials that varied between cardboard, paper, canvas, acrylic, oil colors etc, in addition to using collage and employing it in more than one place in most of the painting

She incorporated more than one style and formulation including "conceptual" art, as it contributed greatly to highlighting and transferring the popular and religious heritage of Arab society in general, and the Gulf in particular

If the golden ratio is applied to the images, it will give imaginary impressions and greatly express the feelings of the image, In this exhibition, we notice the extent of the artist's keenness and reliance on the photograph in the formation of most of her works and paintings in which she mixed the image, color and geometric shapes as vocabulary

Also she benefited from employing numbers in various places in the exhibition paintings, The presence of numbers in random areas and their relationship with geometric shapes and the image produces a new and exciting set of unanswered questions such as life, existence and happiness

@patbarak @uob-funoon

[ghadeerhussain]

Assignment 4

Metaphorical photography a photograph is a metaphor, a figurative expression that is based on a comparison. The photographic representation of reality is a metaphorical image of another reality, which remains visually absent

@patbarak @uob-funoon

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Objectis font designed by Khurasan

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Interview with artist !

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Interview with artist !

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Interview with artist !

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Advertisement Analyse

Who or what is being represented? Who is the preferred audience to this representation?

Fairy Dishwashing soap

The preferred audience is women especially mothers and housewives, because they are interested in this type of product and are often responsible for washing dishes.

What are they doing? Is their activity presented as typical or atypical?

The ad contains a picture of a woman washing dishes using Fairy dish soap and this is a typical activity.

Why are they presented? What purpose do they serve? What are they communicating by their presence?

The advertisement relied on attracting the user by emphasizing the strength and effectiveness of Fairy soap in washing dishes to make them clean and shiny.

The 'hardly ever buy it' phrase impressive must be because the Because the purpose of ad is the opposite, Which indicates the effectiveness of the product in cleaning using a small amount.

Where are they? Are they represented as natural or artificial? What surrounds them? What is the foreground? What is the background?

The character in the advertisement appears in the kitchen, the woman and the product are represented realistically And they are in the foreground surrounded by a collection of plates and cups, a sink, and a window overlooking a landscape in the background.