Unrealism: New Figurative Painting - Hardcover

by Jeffrey Deitch (Introduction by), Aria Dean (Contribution by), Alison Gingeras (Contribution by)

Figurative painting of the past five years, represented here by an exciting young generation of artists and vital practitioners, addresses the challenge of contemporary representation through expressionistic compositions and new techniques reflecting digital fluency.

Figuration is one of the oldest art forms, but it continually evolves, along with our changing understanding of human identity. The artists featured here often source imagery from the Internet, and draw on aesthetics developed in Internet-first channels. Digital techniques and affordances are incorporated into rendering processes with traditional media: brushstrokes are more precise, lines are sharper, and color is more highly keyed. In these works, expressionism is located more in the composition than in the paint handling.

Author Biography

Jeffrey Deitch has helped to build the careers of some of the leading contemporary artists as a gallerist and curator. He is the former Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. His book Live the Art: Fifteen Years of Deitch Projects, was published by Rizzoli in 2015.