Is Painting Dead?
February 2nd, 2007 by Menachem Wecker
My article, “An Obituary for Painting” is out in WorldandI (requires login). In the piece, I suggest:
Overwhelmingly, technology is taking over galleries and museums in a move that can only be described as New Media Killed the Painting Star. Given the choice between human awkwardness in handling primitive tools like the brush and the pencil (as much of an effort in social suicide as using a dial-up Internet connection) and the slickness of the machine, museum-going publics are choosing clean, shiny and pixilated surfaces, like moths drawn to a flame. When painters do venture into the public eye, they often are too cool and aloof to get their hands dirty and make their own art. Instead, like Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, they are marketers and managers who outsource the actual painting to teams of studio assistants.
(The piece goes on for about 2,500 words, and I’d be happy to provide more information on it to interested parties via email.)
I do not touch on religious art in the piece, but I actually think that religious art might in some ways be reversing this trend. Arguably, religious art is achieving more credibility in certain circles. I will touch on this more when I address the conference on religion and art at the Museum of Biblical Art, which I hope to post in the next few days.