Finishing at the end of the month, The Painter’s New Tools exhibition at Nahmad Contemporary gallery ​​is showcasing a set of artworks by artists who are pushing the boundaries of what painting can be. Curated by Eleanor Cayre and Dean Kissick, the exhibition aims to be a deeper reflection of the world that surrounds us and the new “ways of seeing” we’ve been pushed into by screens, which at the same time, are also profoundly influencing artists’ practices.

The impact of new digital technologies in the art world and in art-making is well established, discussed and represented. Its expression and use have been steadily increasing in the last decade and making their way into more classic, established art spheres. Yet, something that started many decades ago, mainly in underground, experimental and lesser known scenes (to cite an example, check the life and work of computing art pioneer Herbert H. Franke) is now present across many different levels of art making, showcasing and dealing.

Painting seemed to be the medium that remained more impassible or untouched by the advent of new technologies. But it wasn’t long until, in 2018, Christie’s auctioned Digital Objects by French collective OBVIOUS, the first AI-generated artwork inspired by old portrait paintings, provoking a considerable stir across the art world.

Lots have happened since then, and as technologies advance and refine and artists master their use, we are witnessing the birth of a new generation of creatives exchanging paint brushes for an entirely new set of technology-informed tools. New tools that allow them to manipulate paint -and painting without paint- by using software, CGI, code, AI, printers, tablets, phones, robotics and other image-making technologies. Many of these works are made in conjunction with machines or even by machines. For centuries artists strove to imitate the effects of light with paint, and now they can draw with pure light on canvases lit from within, the curatorial team says. The exhibition includes a selection of 57 artworks by 31 renowned creators, some of them probably familiar to our audiences, such as Harm van den Dorpel, Wade Guyton, Jesse Kanda, and Anicka Yi.

Η συνέχεια εδώ.