Education view
MFA Painting stands for the discipline of ‘painting’, but does not only educate the student to become a fine painter. The starting point and benchmark of MFA Painting is the rich tradition of painting. It offers the autonomous artist the opportunity to specialize with the aim of becoming a ‘creative’ and ‘thinking’ artist who can perform, with the aid of interdisciplinary strategies, innovative and experimental research at the interface of art, traditional and new media, and science.
MFA Painting takes the long history of painting seriously without allowing itself to be impeded by this history. In the course of centuries, an invaluable treasure trove of knowledge and expertise has been built up. This process is an ongoing one and proves that a traditional medium such as painting is not dead, but that the traditional idea of progress in the arts has reached an end. 1
MFA Painting therefore believes that it is of the utmost importance to enable innovation and knowledge development to occur simultaneously. This can occur by allowing scope to playing with boundaries, experiment and research.
Having roots in the history of painting, the professional master has much space and time for personal study issues and the development of his specific qualities as an artist with a painterly outlook. These qualities are not determined y the choice of paint as a medium, but rather by the fascinating interaction between the ideas of the artist and the properties of the media, genres and types of art he has chosen. 2
Regardless of whichever medium has been chosen, this will produce ‘painterly’ work in the form of drawings, collages, photos, films, three-dimensional work and, of course, paintings. In the MFA Painting programme, everything is aligned to the creation of powerful images that have their origins in the character of the artist and in the surrounding culture. 3
The professional master works in an ‘intermedial’ and ‘international’ way within a wide working field with various media, genres and types of art, and is able, with a painterly outlook, to act autonomously and think critically. In this context, he has a great awareness of the development of the artistic work-process and what an artistic calling exactly means, in order to persist with his artistic life. Due further intensification of his artistry, the mental luggage handed to him, and the training of attitudes, the professional master is capable of continuing his artistic vocation.
MFA Painting has the aim of providing Master’s Degree education at University of Applied Science level that will enable students to develop their proven talent in such a way that they can make a professional contribution to the domain of painting on the basis of their own artistic research and reflection.
The MFA Painting graduate:
• has a professional attitude that is shown by a characteristic artistic system, by his own work, by ongoing critical reflection on the underlying ideas, and by a great degree of control of artistic skills, including the presentation of his own work;
• is capable of theoretically underpinning his own work and of establishing relationships between his work and the surrounding cultural and artistic worlds;
• is capable of performing research at the interface of painting, media and science.
Artistic system
Within a multiform artistic domain, an explicit artistic view and an individual artistic system (a signature style and an associative, poetic cohesion of the work) are essential. Making visual work of excellent quality is a requirement, but this can only be accomplished with good brainwork and a clear image of one’s own artistry. With the help of this system the artist develops his own body of work, making a contribution to further developments of the domain. For this reason, MFA Painting predominantly focuses on developing an artistic system characterized by a sound individual ground, a clear artistic view and a strong professionalism. To achieve this, an intensive and reflective practice and an inquiring mind are essential.
Artistic research
The course requires research of a diverse nature. First, we distinguish research for the purpose of developing the student’s own work. The course defines this as ‘sorting out’ in a practical and theoretical sense, aimed at form as well as meaning and context. In addition – and closely connected – research takes place for the purpose of developing the student’s own artistic system. Reflection on his own practice, the underlying points of departure and the broader context of the work occupy centre stage. Finally, the work of art may serve to research a question or issue (artistic or otherwise). The research methods and forms of presentation used are determined, selected, composed and developed by the individual practice. Consequently, it is not a matter of a general or domain-specific methodology that is being taught, but rather of individual supervision of the research process. Within MFA Painting, research results represent an explicit view of the student’s own work and art in general on the one hand, and visual work of good quality based on theoretical study on the other. The presentation of research results (visual or otherwise) is an equally important point of particular interest within the course.
Studying
The course is not a ‘workplace’ whose main function is to offer facilities to work. It is first and foremost regarded as a place to study. The academic character of the course is ensured by didactics especially conceived for artists and the manifest place of theory, reflection and research within the curriculum. The lecturers take their departure from the idea that the students are in an advanced stage of development and may be expected to work and think independently to a high extent.
So, theory, reflection and research figure largely in the programme together with the visual work. The student attends lectures at Groningen University and establishes dialogues with regard to art-theoretical issues, in order to further develop his mode of thought in close connection with the visual work.
1. Herzog, K. (2005), ‘Show Me the Moves’, Essays for the MFA Painting of the Frank Mohr Institute, Are Media Important?, p. 41, Groningen: University of Groningen and Hanze University of Applied Science, Groningen
2. Herzog, K. (2005), Show me the moves, Opstellen voor de MFA Schilderkunst van het Frank Mohr Instituut, Zijn media belangrijk?, blz. 40, Groningen: RuG en Hanzehogeschool Groningen
3. Herzog, K. (2005), Show me the moves, Opstellen voor de MFA Schilderkunst van het Frank Mohr Instituut, Zijn media belangrijk?, blz. 40, Groningen: RuG en Hanzehogeschool Groningen