What Are Some Different Types of Art?

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As the expression of human creativity, art can take almost countless forms, including painting, sculpture, music, literature, dance, photography, animation, calligraphy, drawing, tapestry, needlepoint, stained glass, digital, religious, assemblage, architecture, graffiti, folk and video.

The broad categories of art break down further into specialties. Sub-categories of art include chalk and charcoal drawing, pen and ink sketching, and painting with oils and watercolors. Engraving, lithography, wood carving, dance and acting are other sub-categories of art disciplines. Artforms of all varieties contain several key elements, including color, line, shape, space, texture, volume and form. Regardless of discipline, artists use these elements as foundations for producing artwork.

Visual Arts

A major genre of art is visual art. This category includes ceramics, painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, video production, crafts and photography. Industrial design, graphic design, interior decorating and fashion design, which are called the applied arts, also fall into this category. The visual arts have expanded over time to include a variety of artforms, but the category was once restricted to a very narrow definition of the word “artist.” Prior to the Arts and Crafts Movement, which began at the start of the 20th century, an “artist” was considered only a person working in the fine arts, which encompass painting, printmaking and sculpture art. Applied arts and crafts were not accepted as part of the visual arts until later in the 20th century.

Performing Arts

The performing arts are another type of art. This genre includes traditional music, dance and acting. Of the performing arts, music is one of the most universal. Music can include singing and playing instruments. It appears in virtually every society around the world and is often influenced by culture and tradition. The goal of music varies widely дуЅн_нс it can be used to express religious beliefs, political beliefs, history, economic transitions and more. Some examples of musical categories are classical, spiritual and popular. Music is often linked with dance, which is a sequence of body movements that are often performed in time with music. Dance is used to express a certain mood or feeling or to tell of a certain event. Traditional theater has elements of dance and music as well as singing, acting, narration and dialogue. Performances can also include the use of puppets and pantomimes. In addition to entertaining audience members, theater performances often have a deeper meaning, telling tales of a society’s history, traditions, customs and significant events. Masks, costumes, musical instruments and body decorations are used to carry out theater performances.

Modern Art

Modern art is another genre of art. This family includes digital art, which was created to bridge the gap between art and technology. With the advent of digital mediums, artists could expand their repertoire from traditional tools like paints and acrylics to graphics and digital images on computers. Digital art allows artists to turn their canvases from two-dimensional mediums to three-dimensional mediums. Because digital art uses technology for production, it can be communicated on a larger scale than traditional art. Digital art is displayed through many channels, including television, the Internet and computers. Another type of art is public art. This group includes statues and sculptures and extends to murals, memorials, festivals and integrated landscaping.