Critical Explorations with Tom Csaszar
Critical Explorations with Tom Csaszar: The Directness of Visual Art
The emotion, thought, and narrative of a visual work is taken in all at once by the viewer and reader of the image. This is true whether the visual work is grounded in representing observed details or in abstracted elements of vision, as well as combinatons of these. From one work to the next, the accomplishment and careful tuning of one element to the next in a visual work is both poetic and musical.
In this workshop, we will explore these aspects of our works. First, by looking at and discussing three to five works each person brings in, and second by making works in the studio to continue developing the our insights into these works. This class provides the opportunity to explore the accomplishment and mastery of works we have previously made and how these can lead to the next works that we make—whether the next works are sketches for further development or a continued realization of connections to human experiences of the previous works.
The power and relevance of a visual work—emotionally, narratively, and in terms of visual interest—resides in the structure of the image, the elements and episodes of the work in relation to each other and the whole image. We will address this in our discussions of the works and the studio practice of making works in various media.
Each participant should bring in three to five works for us to view, experience, and discuss in the first section of the class. And each artist should bring a medium to work with in the second portion of the class as we develop new works in the studio.
We will also look at the works on view in the Cerulean galleries to explore how they are relevant to our work.
View/download the materials list (Coming Soon!)
View/download the Cerulean Arts Class & Policy Guide
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025
Time: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Fee: $95 per session
Register by: September 26 (space is limited
An artist, writer, and lecturer based in Philadelphia, Tom Csaszar has been on the graduate faculties of the University of the Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for over twenty years. He has written numerous pieces over the last twenty-six years for The Journal of Art, Artnews, Art in America, American Crafts, The New Art Examiner, Sculpture, Title Magazine.com, Artcritical.com and various gallery catalogues. His paintings have been shown regionally and locally for over thirty-five years. A Contributing Editor of The New Art Examiner from 1993 - 2001, he is a member of the International Association of Art Critics, and the College Art Association. He has developed and taught seminars in graduate programs at the University of the Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts since 2000.