Black – An Aesthetic Dimension in Contemporary Painting and Photography

Doctoral thesis · West University of Timișoara, Faculty of Arts and Design · 2024
Author: Atila Gomboș · Supervisor: Prof. Univ. Dr. habil. Stelian Acea

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Abstract

A transdisciplinary doctoral study of the aesthetic and perceptual dimension of black in contemporary painting and photography. Combining art-historical analysis, phenomenology, collective and individual case studies (the Magnum Photos group and low-key photography; Petru Lucaci, Joan Witek, Touhami Ennadre), interviews, and a practice-based artistic project, the thesis examines the semiotics of black and its relationship to time, space, the sacred, the social, and the subconscious.

Contents

• Introduction
• 1. General Aspects of Light, Colour, and Its Perception — Light and colour, dispersion, trichromatic and opponent-process theory, dark adaptation, additive and subtractive synthesis.
• 2. From Cosmogonic Black to Black in the Visual Arts — Etymology and controversies; cosmogonic black; the ideal black body; materials, pigments, inks and processes for producing black.
• 3. The Historical Evolution of the Use of Black in the Work of Art — Caravaggio's chiaroscuro and Rembrandtesque light; black and the Bauhaus; black in modern and contemporary painting and photography; black in Romanian art; the symbolism of black across cultures.
• 4. The Method of Observational Research and Subjective Interpretation — A phenomenological analysis of black in art; Man Ray's rayographs; chiaroscuro and abstraction in László Moholy-Nagy; the nocturne in photography.
• 5. The Case Study Method — Collective case study of the Magnum Photos group and low-key photography; individual case studies of Petru Lucaci, Joan Witek, and Touhami Ennadre.
• 6. The Interview Method — Group, focus-group and expert interviews; mixed-methods research on the perception and aesthetics of black.
• 7. Applied (Practice-Based) Research – A Personal Artistic Project — The doctoral exhibition „Dincolo de negru”: photo collage, painting (“Black on Black”), generative art, and the “Memory of Time” series.
• 8. Conclusions — Final conclusions and possible future developments.
• Bibliography

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@phdthesis{gombos2024black,
  author = {Gombo{\c s}, Atila Robert},
  title  = {Black -- An Aesthetic Dimension in Contemporary Painting and Photography},
  school = {West University of Timi{\c s}oara},
  year   = {2024},
  type   = {PhD thesis},
  doi    = {10.5281/zenodo.20514341},
  url    = {https://www.jasminedirectory.com/black-aesthetic-dimension-thesis.html}
}