Everyone knows the Marylin Manson song Rock is Dead, right? Well, the idea for the title of this article derives from Manson’s song, but I do not believe rock is literally dead…however, painting certainly is. This article serves to inform our readers, Volume 14 of the Hardcover Catalogue is the final volume which contains articles about paintings. We do not regret writing about all the painters we have written about over the years, we have just evolved. No doubt, many of the painters published by Point Pleasant Publishing (formerly known as Aedra Fine Arts and Titan Contemporary Publishing) are gifted individuals who create expressive work, however, as an Editor of a critical visual art publication, my role is to be critical. And from a critical perspective, I believe painting no longer has anything to offer contemporary discourse and has been exhausted to the point of containing no further potential of being avant-garde. We have collectively beaten a dead horse as a civilization with painting.
The reader should also note, besides painting, Point Pleasant Publishing will no longer write or publish essays / articles about drawing, traditional sculpture, or traditional ceramics. 90% of galleries focus on paintings and 95%-99% of the art you will see in art fairs are paintings. So you may ask yourself, how is painting dead if most living artists are painters and galleries as well as art fairs still focus on painting? Well, the answer is quite simple. Painting has become more of a business rather than an artform in the late contemporary era. Paintings sell. Video art? Not so much. However, as a critical writer, my job is to determine what is good art which advances conceptual avenues and has the potential to evolve, not evaluate art market trends. Painting has no potential to advance conceptual principles beyond being incorporated with 2-D assemblage, which is a very young artform.
Now the reader may ask, ‘what right do you have besides being a critical writer to decide painting is deader than dead?’. How about the fact I was a painter from the age of 8 until I was 41 years old…I even remember the exact date I quit painting because the notion was liberating. I quit painting on December 4th, 2024, a date which will forever be etched in my mind. Which means I have 33 years experience as a painter. As a former painter and current critical writer with decades of experience, my professional opinion is yes…painting is deader than dead. But let’s not just pick on painting because drawing, traditional sculpture and traditional ceramics are just as dead, but painting happens to be more commercially popular. Any sculpture or ceramic which is not an assemblage or installation is basically dead weight as well. The work may be good, but not revolutionary. Installation and assemblage as artforms have unlimited potential because they rely on integrative techniques and interdisciplinary approaches. Straight sculpture or ceramics may be enjoyable, riveting, but has limited capacity in terms of theoretical discourse and advancing conceptual impact. And drawing is basically an extension of painting.
At Point Pleasant Publishing, in regard to all publications, I have written or published about 500 essays, a vast majority of them written by me, the Editor. This means I have done extensive research on many of today’s active living established artists who have a direct impact on contemporary directions. By all measure, the very best artists in our entire catalogue are defined not by market value but by pushing boundaries conceptually, socially, sensually, historically, confrontationally, psychologically, and maybe even politically. A great artist is not determined by how much of their work sells or who buys their art. But rather, by how they conceptually internalize their surroundings and themselves and best interpret the times and future we live in and approach.
Point Pleasant Publishing is not the only one determining painting to be dead, just ask the billionaire Belgian art collector Alain Servais his opinion. His collection is largely devoid of painting and he notably stated he would not touch contemporary painting with a ten-foot pole. In the article Why Any Media Except Painting and Drawing by Larry’s List, Alain Servais states in an interview he does not give artists who create paintings or drawing a chance because he feels the mediums are too easy. He explains the painter or draftsman becomes automatically rewarded for creating in very commercially-recognizable forms of art. Alain states, the first step in risk-taking in art is to work outside these mediums and he will generally not consider a painter or draftsman for his collection because the artist is basically not putting in the work or effort to look further beyond familiarity. I had a conversation with Alain Servais on Instagram (before I deleted my account) in which I ignorantly corrected him for stating “painting is practical”. Alan Servais basically replied, “I’m looking for artists who are willing to move beyond practicality. Art is not defined by convenience but rather a deeper search”. Such a statement was the reason why I quite painting and became an assemblage artist, photographer, and filmmaker.
So what do I hope to achieve with this essay? My intention is to have artists, gallerists, organizations, and curators to consider art outside the realm of painting. Don’t go to painting as a default, because the medium is deader than a doornail. In fact, if we collectively recognize painting only thrives because of the market and has lost deeper artistic meaning long ago, we may be better off at advancing contemporary art to have greater impact on society. We should not define what is art by what the financial markets think or the opinions of low-brow collectors. Rather, we should realize there is no future in painting and if there is I challenge the reader to provide an argument to me as how painting remains revolutionary with a convincing intellectual argument, not based on random ‘feelings’ such as the cheesy memes you see on social media about the dedication of the artist to their ‘craft’. There are miles of terrain more to art than just ‘craft’. If your idea of art is based on ‘craft’ and ‘feelings’ alone, then Point Pleasant Publishing is not the publisher for you. We are concerned about how the visual arts advances and has the potential to have deeper impact on our collective and individual psyche as well as society. If you think I am wrong, then you can send me an email at [email protected] telling me why. Just don’t tell me your opinion is based on feelings and the principles of craft / technique because my purpose as a publisher and critical writer is not to make people feel good but rather to educate, inform, and enlighten them.