An Overview of Contemporary Painting and Materiality

Many contemporary painters have made materials the principal actor in their works, taking center stage with regard to meaning, form and content. What does this new materiality propose? Studying the materials in a painting uncovers process, metaphorical associations of physical substances, and evolving meaning or power to signify, as well as the materials’ aesthetic qualities. Materiality draws upon such diverse fields as material culture, anthropology, technology, and the history of science. A study of painting materials opens new dialogues and layers of interpretation that cross socio-economic and cultural boundaries, uncovering questions about our global economy. Materiality encourages reciprocal influence of studio disciplines opening new investigations of what is painted on and painted with along with possibilities of the immaterial, ephemeral, durational, or conceptual in painting. Might this current focus on materials in contemporary painting be a response to our virtual, digital world and ‘screen’ culture? Or an increasing awareness of global climate change and the environment? This overview of the topic and will be followed with individual panelists presenting their unique approaches and perspectives to materials within the current milieu.