Introduction to African Art
● Art- any act of deliberate creative
● Personal ornaments
● Weapons and tools had expression
● Ancient african visual art tends to be figurative
● Emphasize humans in 3-D
● Sculpture embodies divine or supernatural beings and functions
● African creative culture is highly performative, being rich in dance and music
● Storytelling
● The design and layout of african art frequently reveal a concept based fractal geometry
● Watercolor, ivory, clay, pastel, etc
● Types of genre: painting, sculpture, dance, architecture, drama, jazz
● Rock art
● ochre(oldest african art)
● Petroglyphs (rock carvings)
● Metal, ceramics, and masks
● Use bronze
● Did not use a pottery wheel
● Masks provide a widespread and incredibly diverse format for creative expression
among african cultures
● Masks were frequently carved for ceremonial and ritual purposes
● Help channel spiritual forces
● Dan mask
● Marriage mask for bride and groom allow them to recreate a mythological first marriage
● Mostly uniform mask were made, but they also made masks the depict animals
● Carving style varies from highly realistic to highly exaggerated and abstract
● Baule Goli mask are symbolic
● Traditional african architecture was constructed from non- durable materials
● Fractals- the repetition of a particular seed shape in diminishing or increasing scale that
can theoretically stretch into infinity
● Fractal geometry in the arts seem to be a distinguishing feature of African art
African Art lecture notes
● “HAM” people wear lip/ear plugs
● Body ornaments
● Heated clay/ iron work
● “Knock” style sculptures
● Women were believed to be artist behind the sculptures
● Many layers of detail
● Bangles, jewelry, portraits of people
Roped Water pot
● 9-10th century
● Complicated metal work
● “Bronze”
● Everything is separately
● Art- any act of deliberate creative
● Personal ornaments
● Weapons and tools had expression
● Ancient african visual art tends to be figurative
● Emphasize humans in 3-D
● Sculpture embodies divine or supernatural beings and functions
● African creative culture is highly performative, being rich in dance and music
● Storytelling
● The design and layout of african art frequently reveal a concept based fractal geometry
● Watercolor, ivory, clay, pastel, etc
● Types of genre: painting, sculpture, dance, architecture, drama, jazz
● Rock art
● ochre(oldest african art)
● Petroglyphs (rock carvings)
● Metal, ceramics, and masks
● Use bronze
● Did not use a pottery wheel
● Masks provide a widespread and incredibly diverse format for creative expression
among african cultures
● Masks were frequently carved for ceremonial and ritual purposes
● Help channel spiritual forces
● Dan mask
● Marriage mask for bride and groom allow them to recreate a mythological first marriage
● Mostly uniform mask were made, but they also made masks the depict animals
● Carving style varies from highly realistic to highly exaggerated and abstract
● Baule Goli mask are symbolic
● Traditional african architecture was constructed from non- durable materials
● Fractals- the repetition of a particular seed shape in diminishing or increasing scale that
can theoretically stretch into infinity
● Fractal geometry in the arts seem to be a distinguishing feature of African art
African Art lecture notes
● “HAM” people wear lip/ear plugs
● Body ornaments
● Heated clay/ iron work
● “Knock” style sculptures
● Women were believed to be artist behind the sculptures
● Many layers of detail
● Bangles, jewelry, portraits of people
Roped Water pot
● 9-10th century
● Complicated metal work
● “Bronze”
● Everything is separately
