Painting Now

Painting Now – Painting is a creative form of expression in constant expansion and evolution. The radical changes that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s – a period that saw a shift from a modernist to a postmodernist visual language – allowed painting to retain its energy and diversity.

Renowned critic and art historian Suzanne Hudson offers an intelligent and original study of contemporary painting – a critical snapshot that brings together more than 200 artists from around the world who define the pictorial ideas and aesthetics of our time.

A contextual introduction traces the history of painting in the modern and postmodern eras, followed by six chapters that explore the themes of appropriation, attitude, production and distribution, the body, painting on painting, and painters introducing performance, installation, and textiles into their work to critique painting itself.

The book features well-known and emerging artists, including Franz Ackermann, Angela de la Cruz, Urs Fischer, Katharina Grosse, Subodh Gupta, Wade Guyton, Julie Mehretu, Vik Muniz, Neo Rauch, Wilhelm Sasnal, Kara Walker, Christopher Wool, Yue Minjun and Zhang Xiaogang.

With its compelling arguments and beautiful illustrations, Painting Now is an invaluable reference book on the state of painting today and essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary art, art history and criticism.