Painting without Paint

In his book, What Painting Is, esteemed art historian James Elkins describes painting as alchemy; “materials that are worked without knowledge of their properties, by blind experiment, by the feel of the paint.” By example, he compares Monet’s paintings to a single minded pursuit of the grain and feel of light and as a method for fixing light onto a canvas.

Painting without Paint is a thematic group exhibition that explores the painterly practices of emerging contemporary artists who in their own alchemical pursuits have chosen to ‘paint’ using materials other than paint. The show is about challenging the way we think about painting and questioning the nature of the medium itself by contrasting a range of works that contradict traditional ideals.

Elkins’ attempt to define painting both as an object and as a process is both practical and technical but theoretically the posed question, “What is painting?” has stimulated debate throughout history.

Modern artists have consistently deconstructed our notion of the conventions of painting. It is in their range of responses that we can begin to understand the enormity of the question “What is painting?” Painting without Paint takes its inspiration from notable artists such as Frank Bowling who incorporates found objects into his paintings creating a textural effect that teeters on the edge of painting and [relief] sculpture; Louise Bourgeois who substituted fabric for paint in works that exude the intimate relationship between artist and “canvas”; and filmmaker David Lynch’s pre- Blue Velvet days when as an art student he created Film Paintings by projecting film onto a blank canvas so as to ‘make a painting that moved’. Perhaps, one of the most ironic responses to the provoking question is John Baldessari’s, What is Painting, depicting only a few sentences of painted text on canvas which controversially and humorously challenges perceptions of what constitutes a painting.

Considering trends in current art practices, Painting without Paint aims to form a dialogue about painting through a common language using colour, pattern, texture and light effects as its symbols. Highlighting diverse creative processes, the exhibition aims to invite conversation in response to each individual work as well as overall painterly relationships throughout the show.