visual art

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   Art that is mainly meant to be looked at, such as painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and photography.

   Grammar: Usually uncountable when it names the field: She studies visual art. Use the plural 'visual arts' for the group of these subjects or activities.

   Patterns

   • study visual art
   • a visual art form
   • the visual arts

   He teaches visual art at a secondary school in Ohio.

   The gallery shows visual art by young local artists.

   Photography is now widely accepted as a form of visual art.

2. 2nouncountable

   A particular work or kind of art that is experienced mainly through sight.

   Grammar: Countable when it means a specific piece or type: a visual art; several visual arts.

   Patterns

   • a visual art
   • create a visual art

   Pottery is one of the oldest visual arts in the region.

   The show mixes music with the visual arts.

Common combinations

visual arts

She has a degree in the visual arts.

a visual art form

Film is a young visual art form compared with painting.

visual art exhibition

The museum is holding a visual art exhibition this spring.

contemporary visual art

Contemporary visual art often uses video and digital media.

study visual art

He went to Chicago to study visual art.

Synonyms and how they differ

fine art

Usually suggests painting and sculpture made mainly for beauty rather than practical use, so it is narrower than 'visual art'.

art

Broader and more everyday; 'visual art' is the more precise term when you mean things you look at rather than music or literature.

Word family

visual adjective

relating to seeing or sight

visually adverb

in a way that relates to sight

artist noun

a person who makes art

artistic adjective

showing skill or taste in art

Commonly confused: visual art or performing arts?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “visual art”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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