The Fine Art field of study is practiced in three painting studios (Painting 1 – 3), two sculpture studios (Sculpture 1,2), and in the Studio of Drawing and Graphics. This field represents traditional artistic disciplines which have not lost their relevance even in an era characterized as “post-media.” In the spheres of painting and sculpture, the existence of several studios reflects the inner diversity of artistic practices in these disciplines. Students can choose between studios focusing on traditional issues, such as figurative sculpture or painting on the one hand and between studios accentuating the development which these traditional disciplines have undergone and which could be characterized, in the words of Rasalind Krauss, as the movement in “expanded field”. Seen through this optics, painting, sculpture, drawing, or graphics are not self-enclosed disciplines following exclusively the specificity of each medium. On the contrary, they are open to experiment, intermedia overlaps, conceptual thinking, and deconstruction – all these approaches being indispensable if these disciplines are to maintain a living contact with changing social and cultural reality.
All the above mentioned studios and the field of study as a whole still, nevertheless, put an emphasis on the mastering of the technical aspects of the given discipline – a vital condition for the development of an autonomous artistic personality. Different technological courses are taught in which students learn about traditional and new materials and technological procedures. Drawing is also strongly emphasized in this field.
Apart from studio courses, students have to pass a number of theoretical courses.

Graduates in the BA program have an overall knowledge across the whole discipline. They are able to adequately choose and master different means of expression and technologies. Graduates are competent to understand and master technologies relevant to the particular disciplines. They are also competent in basic administrative skills which enable them to develop their professional activities.

The graduate of the Fine Art field of study is a strong personality with the potential to succeed in the art world. The acquired competencies enable graduates to seek jobs in neighboring disciplines, such as art pedagogy, graphic design, or curating. Mastering technologies provides the graduates for an independent development of their own artistic goals. Knowledge gained in the art theory and art history courses enable the graduates to maintain critical distance from their own artistic endeavors (which distinguishes them from amateurs).

prof. akad. soch. Michal Gabriel