A Brush with the Real: Figurative Painting TodayWhy painting today? In the digital age, with its powers of instant recall and infinite reproduction, why are we witnessing an unprecedented revival of figurative painting? A Brush with the Real presents a survey of key contemporary artists who have each embraced painting and are working within a realist tradition. Through individual interviews the book peers into the life and work of each of these artists, discussing their methods, motives, and sources, from art history to the internet and the language of film. The book celebrates the work of 51 artists who are each taking the medium in a new direction: from those who work with appropriation and found images, to those trying to get as close as possible to contemporary reality and first-hand experience, to artists who are simply using painting as a door to parallel or imaginary worlds. The book makes the argument that, since perhaps the early Renaissance, the role fulfilled by painting has never been so vital or timely: in our image-saturated culture, digital technology has given painting and its slow, full-resolution images a new lease of life. |
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abstract acrylic actual art school artist Background become Berlin Born collection colour completely composition concept connection contemporary courtesy create culture depict describe detail develop direct drawing effect elements experience expression face feel figurative figurative painting Gallery human idea images imagination important influence inspiration interested kind landscape language light Lives London look material meaning medium memory mind moved narrative nature never objects oil on canvas painter painting particular photographs physical plays political portraits possible practice present question realistic reality reference reflect relationship role scenes screen sense sometimes space specific start started stories studio style subject matter surface technique things thought traditional understand viewer visual