PAINTING: THE EXTENDED FIELD
13 OCTOBER 1996–20 APRIL 1997

CONTENTS:

Preface by David Neuman, director Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall and Bo Nilsson, director Rooseum (1996).
Painting - the extended field essay by Sven-Olov Wallenstein, philosopher and professor, Stockholm (1996).
Exhibition catalogue no 15-16. ISBN: 91-972986-0-3
136 pages, color, soft cover. Texts in Swedish/English.
Published 1996 by Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall and Rooseum - Center for Contemporary Art.
Price: 240 SEK (approx. 16 EUR)

Preface by David Neuman and Bo Nilsson.

The position of painting has been the subject of ongoing debate virtually since the end of the nineteenth century when photography emerged as a strong competitor in the depiction of reality. Not until the 1960's and the first signs of the disintegration of modernism, however, did today's debate become visible in embryonic form.

This debate has largely centered on the concepts of life and death. The fact that it came to be couched in such drastic terms has its roots in the late modernist notion which found its most significant expression in Clement Greenberg's representational world. The basic tenet of his theory was that, during its golden era, modernism had reduced everything which was not aesthetic in order to express the pure essence. As a result of this process of reduction, modernist painting eventually found itself in a blind alley in which internal issues became increasingly esoteric. All that remained was an interest in the minutia of painting, where every decision about the thickness of the stretcher or the size of the grain of the canvas assumed the proportion of important artistic decisions. What else could be reduced to allow painting to preserve its aesthetic immunity? In spite of the collapse of modernism, the question does not appear to have been conclusively settled: painting is often described as an endangered art form which must be kept uncontaminated by the chaotic multifariousness of contemporary reality in order to preserve its specific character or essence. Very few believe today that painting will survive only as an institutionalized relic of the modernist era. There is faith in painting as a flexible practice which must reject its internal concerns in order to be renewed.

This has meant that attention has shifted from the limitations of painting to its possibilities. This is especially evident in a number of exhibitions during the last few years: "Unbound - Possibilities in Painting" (Hayward Gallery, London 1994), "Pittura Immedia - Malerei in den 90er Jahren", (Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum, Joanneum, Graz, 1995), "Das Abenteuer der Malerei - Eine Reise in die Bildkunst der neunziger Jahre". (Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart and Kunstverein für die Rheinlände und Westfalen, Düsseldorf,1995), "Des Limites du tableau - les possibles de la peinture" (Museé départemental de Rochechouart, 1995), "Painting Outside Painting" - 44th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, (Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington 1995-96). These exhibitions have varied in ambition - from a kind of "state of painting" which would provide an overview of the multifaceted expression of contemporary painting, to organizers who have been content with pursuing a "one-liner", a theory of limited scope with a certain resemblance to the manifested image of the modernist era which promotes a certain stylistic direction or painterly attitude. In neither form do we recognize the situation of painting today. It therefore seemed important to put together an exhibit whose ambition lay somewhere in between these two extremes. In working with this exhibition, the selection of artists was given top priority. It is interesting to note that this has resulted in a large number of different artistic points of departure which all have their equivalent in the contemporary state of art. Based on this, we arrived at several conclusions - that painting is no longer characterized by the same heroic and male aura as during the heyday of modernism; in today's painting, the female contingent is every bit as important as the male - that the American-European axis, which dominated painting in the modernist era no longer reigns supreme; the exhibition suggests a geographic diversity that includes representatives from virtually every part of the world - that the contemporary extensions of painting - be it in content or in choice of medium - is not a generational issue. We find that the artists included represent a large generation span. The oldest participant, Imi Knoebel, was born in 1940, and the youngest, Abigail Lane, in 1967. (...)

(Excerpt from the catalogue preface by David Neuman and Bo Nilsson, curators of the exhibition.)

Works in the exhibition

POLLY APFELBAUM
"Red Desert", 1993-95.
Crushed stretch velvet and dye, eleven sections, each approximately 130 x 140 cm
"Wonderbread", 1993.
Velvet, dye, 305 x 305 cm.

IMI KNOEBEL
"Grace Kelly VII-2 - VII-5", 1994.
4 paintings, all acrylic on wood and board, each 250x170 cm

JUTTA KOETHER
"faces of my only love" 1996.
opd, 95x84 cm
"I am New York",1994.
opd, 88x66 cm
frontage: "well, show me nothing", 1994.
opd, 88x66 cm
frontage: "her color was all these people". 1994.
opd, 74x112 cm
"Dance at Madison Square Garden", 1995 (2 parts).
opd, 20,5x16 and 83x64 cm
"very fucked up painting: die Erinnerung produziert nicht als Bilder...", 1993-95.
opd, 68x68 cm
"Blue Bleeding", 1995.
opd, 132x158 cm

GUILLERMO KUITCA
"Untitled", 1991.
Mixed media on canvas, 243, 8 x 192,4 cm
"Mozart da Ponte III", 1995.
Mixed media on canvas, 180,3 x 233,7 cm
"Untitled", 1995.
opd, 190,5 x 243,8 cm
"Untitled", 1992.
Mixed media on mattress, 200 x 200 cm
"Untitled Roads", 1990.
Mixed media on mattress, 198 x 198 cm

ABIGAIL LANE
"Ink Pad (Red) Bloody Wallpaper", 1995.
Aluminium, MDF, cotton covered felt layers, red ink, cement, fur, 152 x 305 cm (Ink pad, open)

NAHUM TEVET
"Untitled", 1995-96.
Painted wood, 200 x 800 x 650 cm

YUKONORI YANAGI
"Four China", 1993.
Ant trails, colored sand, plastic tubes, plastic box, video cassette and LCD monitor, each box 41,9 x 62,2 cm, centre box 39,4 x 59,7 cm
"Union Jack Ant Farm", 1994.
Colored sand, plexiglass boxes, plastic tubes, video cassette overall dimension 206 x 381 cm

UTA BARTH
"Ground #31 5/8", 1994.
Photograph on panel, 28,6 x 26,7 x 5 cm
"Ground #34 4/8", 1994.
Photograph on panel, 43,2 x 39,4 x 5 cm
"Ground # 41 2/8", 1994.
Photograph on panel, 28,6 x 26,7 x 5 cm
"Ground #42 4/8", 1994.
Photograph on panel, 28,6 x 26,7 x 5 cm
"Ground #43 8/8", 1994.
Photograph on panel, 26,7 x 30,5 x 5 cm
"Ground # 47 1/8", 1994.
Photograph on panel, 49,5 x 53,3 x 5 cm
"Ground #50 2/5", 1995.
Photograph on panel, 69,8 x 74,9 x 5 cm
"Ground # 56 3/8", 1995.
Photograph on panel, 61 x 77 x 5 cm
"Ground #65 4/8", 1996.
Photograph on panel, 70,5 x 78,7 x 5 cm
"Ground #70 1/8", 1996.
Photograph on panel, 41,3 x 38,7 x 5 cm
"Ground #95.7 2/8", 1995.
Photograph on panel, 35,6 x 33,6 x 5 cm
"Ground #95.8 2/8", 1995.
Photograph on panel, 35,6 x 33,6 x 5 cm

PAUL McCARTHY
"Painter", 1995.
Video, 49:58 min

"Red Painter Drawings", 1989-1990.
Felt-tip pen on paper, 9 pieces, 48,5 x 61 cm

"Red Painter Drawing", 1995.
Felt-tip pen and pencil on paper, 46 x 61 cm

RUDOLPH STINGEL
Untitled, 1996.
Wall-to-wall carpeting

JESSICA STOCKHOLDER
"#203", 1993.
Plywood sheet, hardware, acrylic yarn, wire mesh, carpet, clothing, plastic orange, acrylic and oil paints, basket, 244 x 196 x 193 cm
#237", 1994.
Two red plastic laundry baskets, oil paint, acrylic yarn, silicone caulking, light fixture, chromalux full spectrum bulb, orange cord, 101 x 71 x 53 cm
"Bowtied in the Middle", 1996.
Acrylic paint, latex paint on wall, wood, purple wool shag carpet, lamps, ultramarine lightbulbs, oraange boating rope, yellow and orange extension cords, plastic paint pot, terracotta plant pot, concrete, galvanized steel track, steel cable and hardware, cotton fabric covered cushions, dark green ribbon, fresh fruit, acrylic yarn, electric fans. Varying dimensions.

DIANA THATER
"Late and Soon (Occident Trotting)", 1993.
4 video projectors, laser disc, laser disc player, tape

LUC TUYMANS
"Encounter", 1985.
Oil on canvas, 75 x 90 cm
"Shadow I", 1992.
Oil on canvas, 32,5 x 27 cm
"Bathroom Tiles".
1992, Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm
"The Rabbit", 1994.
Oil on canvas, 59,3 x 71,5 cm
"St. Valentine", 1994.
Oil on canvas, 47 x 40,5 cm
"Blacklight", 1994.
Oil on canvas, 55 x 82 cm

RÉMY ZAUGG
"Och om,/när jag talar,/världen/inte längre/funnes", 1996.
Varnish on wood,184,5 x 164,7 x 4,2 cm

"And if/the world/as I start to speak/would not/exist anymore, 1996.
Varnish on wood, 233,2 x 208,2 x 4,2 cm

"Ett självporträtt/A Selfportrait", 1992-96.
Varnish on wood, 235,3 x 210,1 x 4,2 cm
"Men jag/världen/jag/ser dig", 1994-96.
Varnish on wood, 230 x 205,2 x 4,2 cm