The Four Canons of Composition
Instructor: Anthony Visco

Course Description: Sacred art and composition of our images become the matrix for content. This one
week workshop will demonstrate how and why certain compositions are used in
liturgical, devotional and religious art and architecture.
Demonstrations and discussions will cover the contemporary use of the traditional
language. The inherent qualities of these Four Canons become obvious as they unite both
sign and symbol throughout Western and Eastern iconography and thus become the roots
of representational composition especially in sacred art. In essence, this course is
designed to assist the artist in finding greater syntheses between the canons of
composition and content.

Day 1: The Monolithic and Bilateral Canon: Heaven to Earth The Synchronicity of Time and Eternity
The Use of Center and the Central

Day 2 The Rotational Canon: Heaven on Earth:
The Sacred in the Temporal /Eternity in Time
Making the Worldly Space Sacred

Day 3: The Helical Canon: Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld
Conflict of Light and Dark and between Time and Eternity
The Conscious and The Unconscious

Day 4: The Spiral Canon: Heaven and Earth
Order and Chaos /Causality and Uncertainty Meet
Integration and Disintegration of Separations

Day 5: The Composite Canon: Composing with more than one of the Four Canons

Our Schedule:
8:00 am Low Mass (for those that wish to attend)

9:00 AM: Lecture session begin with a power point lecture on each of the Four
Canons with discussion a drawn demonstration along with drawing exercises.

11:45: Midday prayer with the Canons

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-4:30 Sketching on location (Inside St. John Cantius & The Art Institute of Chicago)

4:45 Vespers with the Canons

Materials List:
Drawing Pad: at least 18"x 24" Drawing pad for the Museum: any size but no larger then 13"x17" Tracing paper (small pad)
Graph paper ¼ inch
Erasers, hard and kneaded
Straight edge
HB and 2B pencils, sharpening tools, sanding block
Sketchbook for taking notes

Students must bring their own materials.
Workshop includes entrance into the Art Institute of Chicago with Anthony Visco

Parking:

Ample parking for the workshop is available on the church property, both behind the church are the spaces in front of the rectory, on the church property. Street parking is also available but check and obey the signs or you will be ticketed. Parking tickets are not the responsiblity of the Catholic Art Guild or St. John Cantius parish.

Refunds:

Full refunds are available until June 8, 2018.