DIFFERENCE OF SUBJECT

MATTER AND THEMES IN

CONTEMPORARY ART
Subject in arts refers to what they are all about.
If there is an image, we identify that image and
recognize how it is presented. The image may be
representational, or figurative, which means the
image is drawn from the world around us. It it is
abstract, non-representational or non figurative,
it does not have recognizable subject, such as
tree or face, or object. Its subject is its form and
elements-its texture, color, composition, shape
or movement, among others.
• Themes are what connects subject to their
social milieu, and there are many ways of
determining the theme of an artwork. At the
most obvious and surface level, we note its
initial data: title, artist, medium, dimension,
and the year it was made. Beyond this initial
data are texts, images, allusion and symbols
that clue us in the social and historical context
referred to.
• Therefore, it is difficult to separate subject
matter and theme. Subject matter answers
the question “what do we see, hear, smell,
taste or touch?” Using our senses is the initial
step and this requires keen and diligent
observation, not just the image, but how its is
represented and if there is no image, how the
formal element are deployed.
• Themes go beyond the literal, the data on the
artwork and what we see at the surface level
with our senses. We move on to making sense
of the work within a larger context. Example
are ecology, identity, migration, globalization,
religion and spirituality and political economy.
Issues of power come into play, not just in the
larger context, but in the art world itself. The
insights we gain and the questions we ask will
result from our own research and keen
observation, but may also be “colored” by our
own lenses and point of view.
RIZAL MONUMENT
SUBJECT: Jose Rizal, national hero

THEME: National Identity and Heroism.

SUBJECT: Standing figure, clutching a book
perhaps symbolizing the importance that Rizal
placed on education. He shown clad, not in
native clothing, but a European overcoat.

THEME: Identity, Heroism, Ecology, and

Spirituality.
IDENTITY?
HEROISM?
ECOLOGY?
SPIRITUALITY?
 Activity:
BONIFACIO MONUMENT