Illustrator As Public Intellectual
Illustrator As Public Intellectual now is over!
Illustrators and all who study their work have long understood the importance of pictures to communicate ideas and shape opinion, and to possibly provoke the viewer in unpredictable ways. What should illustrators say in the public sphere? What forces limit the illustrator’s expression of thought? What are the key issues and debates around the communication of ideas through illustration?
The Illustrator as Public Intellectual questions the common misconceptions that the illustrator’s mind and hand are wholly guided by editors, art directors, and clients; and that their work is subordinate to the texts they illustrate. This symposium proposes that illustrators are empowered as originators and purveyors of unique thought.
The definition of illustration is open to wide interpretation by participants, but as a general guideline illustration may be provisionally defined as fabricated images primarily created to elucidate and communicate an idea, narrative, mood, information, and/or opinion through publication. Studies on the illustration of any era or place are welcome.
300-word proposals for 20-minute academic papers and practice-based presentations are invited. Email your proposal to irsymposium[at]risd.edu
Selected papers and presentations will be considered for publication in forthcoming issues of the peer reviewed Journal of Illustration.
Who can participate? ⇣
Open to anyone worldwide.