Painting Now

The range and material practice of painting today has expanded greatly beyond traditional methods of oil on canvas. This five-week lecture course examines the legacy of painting within Modernism and its enduring importance in contemporary art. What is painting still capable of representing that no other medium can? How can we understand the role of technology within the practice of painting? We will focus on topics and key concerns that numerous artists are addressing, with detailed attention to prominent figures, aesthetic impulses, and artistic processes. The course will look at artists ranging from groundbreaking figures such as Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Lynda Benglis, and Richard Artschwager to contemporary practitioners such as Wade Guyton, Elizabeth Peyton, Mark Bradford, and Amy Sillman. This course includes downtown gallery tours.

Instructor: Anna Katz, a Joan Tisch Teaching Fellow at the Whitney since 2008, is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University where her area of focus is postwar American sculpture. Her in-progress dissertation, "Hybrid Species: Lee Bontecou's Sculpture and Works on Paper, 1958–1971," will be the first book-length study devoted to Bontecou's oeuvre.

Five Thursdays: October 18, 25; November 1, 8, 15 

Morning Session: 9:30–11:00 am
OR
Afternoon Session: 1:30–3:00 pm