Students in the Design 141 course at American University of Sharjah showcased their work done throughout the semester in an art exhibition held at the university's Main Building Rotunda on Wednesday, December 28, 2011.

The class, which is taught by David Hewitt, Associate Professor and Interim Head of the Department of Design, focuses on helping students understand the importance of observational painting and to give them the ability to differentiate between traditional and contemporary painting. In this course, students learn to use different strategies and oil painting techniques with exercises that help develop skills essential to communicating visual information through painting.

Using "modernism" as the main theme, students with different painting skills were introduced to different artists such as impressionist artist Edouard Manet and his "alla prima" oil painting Lemmon; 20th Century artists such as Pierre Bonnard and his "interior-exterior" theme; as well as other painters such as Henri Matisse and famous abstract artists Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline.

"This exposure allowed students to explore and differentiate examples of art from early abstraction to the New York School of Abstract Expressionism. Bonnard's 'interior-exterior' became a project for the students. Their exploration of high chromatic contrasts and texture of paint became important to the class," said Hewitt.