A Day with Oliviero Toscani - Critique of Student Artwork

study abroad florence

art student syracuse universityIn the early afternoon Oliviero Toscani visited SUF’s art studios where he critiqued a selection of students’ work. Students from a range of majors had spent the morning preparing the studios, and themselves, for Toscani’s comments, and the full department was present for the critique itself. This was an intimidating experience for the students but also an invaluable opportunity to listen, think, and reflect on what they are seeking to communicate through their art and how to do this powerfully. Students’ described Toscani’s comments as “honest,” “direct,”“captivating,” “stimulating,” and “provoking.” Despite his celebrity, he related to the students as equals. He conducted the critique with humor and a dash of showmanship, which one student described as crazy, “I think the reason that craziness worked was because it got people to think and to talk. That’s the most important thing no matter what conclusion is reached, to think and then talk, and then to think again.” Toscani’s passion for art was clearly communicated and students came away understanding that without passion art is just a shell, or, in Toscani’s own words, “a technical masturbation.”



Student Critique
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