Art History Assignment

Megan Heinrich

You will find a piece of art that you find beautiful or interesting and do a research -based
piece on it. You may not use Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso, Salvador Dali, Andy
Warhol, Van Gogh or Georgia O’Keefe. Using someone Non-Western (not European) would
be preferred. I want you to broaden your artistic horizons a bit. The visual image of the art
can be digital, or if you would like you can recreate it using color/drawing materials. The
paper needs to include the following information.

1. A visual illustration or digital image of the art, and the website sources where you got
your information. 2 points

2. Artwork and Artists Background, 8 points: This section needs to include the name,
date and period of the artwork. Name of the artist, date and location of their birth.
Where they lived, worked (if different from place of birth) and studied. Any other
personal information that you feel might be pertinent to know about the artist’s
background.

● Name of artwork: Impermanence

● Artists name: Faiza Butt
● Date and period of the artwork: 2021
● Date of and where the artists was born: 1973 Lahore, Pakistan
● Where the artist lived/lives: Currently lives in London, UK.
● Where the artist worked/currently works and studied: Works in London. Studied
at the National College of Arts and got her bachelor’s degree in 1993. She also
studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, where she got her Master's degree
in painting and her teaching certificate from the Institute of Education.
● Personal information: Faiza Butt’s work has been shown in Europe, the Middle
East, South Asia and the United States, She’s held workshops for women, presented
talks at museums and galleries, and her work can also be found in private and public
 collections around the world. She was also recently invited to speak at The Stellar
International Art Foundation’s event on Art, Sensuality and Feminism for International
Women’s Day.

3. Major Accomplishments of the Artist, 10 points: Why are they famous? What are they
best known for? Did they receive any awards or honors? Did they invent any new
techniques or materials?

● Why the artist is famous:

Faiza Butt’s internationally renowned because her work is currently displayed in the British
Museum and the Kiran Nadar Museum. Faiza Butt also abandoned the traditional ways of
painting on large canvases with rich oil paints and does elaborate drawings that are crafted
with passion.

● What they are best known for:

Faiza Butt’s exhibition “Three Women Show” at Vadehra Art Gallery in New Delhi was pivotal
in the improvement of cultural relations between the neighboring nations, underlining their
shared background and cultural links.

● Awards and honors artist has received:

In 1993, Faiza Butt was awarded the Berger Gold Medal for best student of the year. In 1995
she was awarded a UNESCO-Aschberg Bursary and was artist-in-residence at the Bartle
Arts Trust (BAT) in South Africa, was a finalist for the Sovereign Art Prize, in Hong Kong,
during 2009, and in 2011, she was nominated for the Jameel Prize by the Victoria and Albert
Museum in London.

● Technologies or materials the artist invented:

Faizia Butt didn’t invent any new technologies or materials but her paintings are
painstakingly crafted using a near obsessive technique of tiny dots. These dots also replicate
the pixel structure of a photograph on polyester translucent films. She created her drawings
from photographs in newspapers and magazines. She is also interested in capturing the
splendor and contradictions of the Islamic tradition.

4. What made their work unique or how did this piece change the direction of art? 10
points: How did their work affect art history? How was this piece culturally significant
to the time period? How did it influence other artists? Why is the piece of art still
considered important today?

● How their work affected art history:

Faiza Butt uses powerful journalistic images and texts, re-adapting them according to her
responses to each. She also uses very simple materials and creates incredibly detailed
works dense with meaning. Given her personal experience of being born into a family of five
sisters, Faiza Butt also feels very strongly about feminist themes.

● Cultural significance during time period:

Faiza Butt’s work has taken a critical look at the stronghold of the patriarchal society in
Pakistan and the impact of violent images, which appear regularly in all forms of media.

● Influence to other artists:

Faiza Butt finds inspiration for her art in everyday life, she focuses on issues such as identity
(gender/cultural), and reflects on her personal cross-cultural experiences. Faiza Butt also
conveys the insecurity and the impermanence of people's lives. Faiza Butt also taught
students about art and with being a mentor to teenage students, she helped them use art as
a social commentary to explore different types of issues such as displacement.

● Why is her art considered important to this day:

She brings people's attention to various social, gender and political issues faced by a young
Pakistani. She also discusses important subjects of taboo such as sexual orientation, and is
giving voice to new rising narratives based on gender parity.

5. How could you use this piece of art in the classroom? 10 points: Give me an idea for
a unit, lesson or project that this piece of art could be used in. Are there any themes
this artwork relates to? How could you introduce this artwork to kids in your class to
get them excited about art history?

This piece of art could be used in a visual literacy lesson plan. For example, we could talk
about what they see in the photo, what they think the artist's message is, etc. Then we could
talk about what impermanence means, themes that could be related to the artwork such as
feminism. Could introduce this artwork to students through International Women's Day or
through a discussion of culture.

Total points ________/40