05 Feb 2014

St Moritz Art Academy - Call for Applications:
March Workshops 2014

The St Moritz Art Academy (SMAA) wishes to announce its second series of intensive art workshops. SMAA, a non-profit foundation, is firmly establishing a reputation for bringing a unique art education experience to the St Moritz and Engadin region of Switzerland. The St Moritz Art Masters (SAM), the exciting annual international art festival, is one of our collaborators. SAM is looking forward to its seventh year in the summer of 2014. Our relationship with SAM offers us exclusive access to internationally acclaimed practicing artists. Our mission is to bring these artists into a studio to teach and engage with art enthusiasts of all abilities. Courses are conducted in German and English. Local hotels offer packages to our participants.

This new series intensive courses offer the unique opportunity to explore your own art interests working under the supervision and guidance of established practicing artists. Our studios are close to all main transport links.

15 - 23 March 2014
When Ideas Become Form and Form Becomes Ideas
Tutor - Thom Puckey - Amsterdam
'To express ideas, you need forms, but the forms are also ideas.' Nietzsche

This will be a workshop concerning ideas, idea-development and idea-layering. What is an idea? What is the difference between an idea and a concept? How do ideas function within works of art? What are the connections between ideas, technique and form, and how do these overlap with and support each other? How does the idea of a multi-layered, complex artwork differ from that of a conceptual one?

The group will look first with at the film 'La Notte' by Michelangelo Antonioni. The class will analyse the film especially in terms of its idea-structure and layering. Thom Puckey has chosen a piece of cinema for this purpose because of its importance as a unique and inspiring area which is different from that of fine art. The layout of cinematography through time facilitates study and dissection.

Puckey will carry out the workshop itself with particular regard to the individual work and aspirations of the participants. Each participant will be expected to investigate and analyse their own idea-worlds, and at the same time challenge and develop them through working on individual pieces or projects. An atmosphere where work and discussion merge into one another will be an ideal setting to learn from each other.

The techniques used will depend on the participants themselves. In addition to your favoured art materials we strongly recommend you bring a camera and sketchbook / moleskin.

23 - 30 March 2014
Felts
Tutor – Thomas Grünfeld -Dusseldorf

Using his own feltworks, Thomas Grunfeld will demonstrate the artistic and experimental potential of this distinctive material. Using simple processes such as separating, sticking, tearing and layering, the material is concentrated into a colour field for use in the pictorial composition. This type of 'painting' with colour fields allows no modulation of colour and the resulting simplification focusses attention on the composition itself.

No additional collage materials will be permitted. As a result colour and form take on a new meaning, and out of this simplicity a valid image will be created. These techniques will be taught by demystification of image content and compositional discovery. A wide range of coloured felt will be provided for the workshop.

For further information and to book please visit www.stmoritz-art-academy.com