Painting (Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art)
The “death of painting” and its subsequent resurrection in transformed conditions is a leitmotif of the modern era. Painting’s postconceptual resurgence at the start of the 1980s began a dramatic expansion of its field. If painting remains important today, it is because its contradictions have been acknowledged as artists have radically diversified the components of its production and presentation. This first anthology to focus on painting’s multiple discourses over the last three decades brings
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Price: $ 14.88
Art Alternatives Marquis Desk Easel
- A portable miniature desk that converts to a painting easel
- An easel that adjusts to four different positions
- Has a drawer with three compartments to hold brushes, and other essential gear
- Cleverly designed and light-weight yet sturdy
- Accommodates canvas art and prints up to 11 x 14 inches
The Marquis easel is a portable miniature desk that converts to a painting easel with one simple adjustment and folds up just as easily. The folding easel adjusts to four positions and will accommodate a canvas up to 11 x 14 inches. Cleverly designed and lightweight yet sturdy, it has a drawer with three compartments to hold brushes, paints, sketching tools and other essential gear.
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Price: $ 17.83
A book to chew or gnaw on for a while… Better than most!,
There’s enough painting and painters going on now globally to turn one’s head inside out. And this is (one) of the good collections of commentary on some of it; ‘the words to the paint’, if you will. It’s probably better than most books out there that promise good discussion ‘on painting’. So, if that’s your thing, I recommend it. Do keep in mind, the mix of essays ranges evenly from 1981~2009.
But, said ~30 years of discourse in one book naturally makes for a random/narrow, commercial/avante-guarde, didactic/speculative, confusing/convenient, heavy/light, etc/etc…all pretty consistent with today’s painting going on. It’s not to be read cover to cover, (mine stays near the tub,) and several of the essays are on the scholarly/ hard-to-decipher side. The essays date from 1981-2009 and include interviews, writings, criticisms, etc from well known (painters, critics, philosophers, hists, etc), to names you’ll have to look up, if so inclined. There’s ‘mourning the death of painting’, markets/capitalism/gallerism, Women in ptg., on China (Dafen), modern public/audience considerations, historical considerations, etc. Painters discussed or their writings, and some of the critics/writers include: Richter, Chuck Close, Dumas, Oehlen & Butzer, Jim Shaw, Storr, Philip Taaffe, B Milhazes, Tuymans, Curin, Mira Schor,… Deleuze, Groos, Collings &Alpers, Jerry Saltz, Storr, etcetc … Thats only a few, random names…there’s no shortage of subjects (size or range)…Easily more of these collections ‘on PAINTING’ could be similarly published with the 1000′s of similar writings out there. Some of the best contemporary thought and musing is in this book but a lot is probably missing…
There’s also a lot of rehash and old thought and popular themes, some cool interviews (the artists it seems are just as bewildered – and admit it.)
If you are mainly an art-painting-lover who likes to look at paintings (NO illustrations in this book), go look and buy and continue to love paintings, you dont NEED this book (unless thats your idea of fun).
If you are a painter, go to the studio and paint, dont bother or get too bogged down by such ramblings as these. That’s THEIR job, to write and theorize. You dont NEED this book (unless thats your idea of fun…probably is.)
If you’re curator, critic, gallerist, historian, philosopher, intellectual etcetc., don’t wait another moment, buy a copy to gorge on.
Enjoy!
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Read it, but don’t expect any major revelations.,
Every 30 pages I encountered a paragraph that reminded me why I was reading the book. That’s basically summarizes my thoughts about all of the Documents of Contemporary Art series. Read it, but don’t expect any major revelations. And don’t be afraid to skip ahead when you get bored.
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art in context course,
the book came just in time for my class, perfect condition worth the price, but can also be found online.
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FUNCTIONAL, EASY TO USE, DOES THE JOB AND IS INEXPENSIVE…What more could I want?,
What a nice little portable easel this has been. It completely fulfills several particular needs I have. I have several easels of different sizes, shapes, functions…big ones, small ones…good ones and bad. Surprisingly, for the cost, this is one of the most versatile I own.
Other than my office, which is not really an office per se, but rather a largish multiple functional room, I paint either on my back porch or on an old wooden table I have stuck in the woods behind my house. When I paint on the porch or in the woods I use this particular easel. When I am in the woods and the light changes, it is an easy matter to move all my work stuff.
This little thing is extremely well built considering its cost. It is so simple to set up that even I, who has problems even stacking two brick together correctly, find it impossible to mess up. It is stoutly built and can take quite a bit of abuse. I, for the most part paint small things and use small canvases or canvas boards. I do not paint large sweeping landscapes. I paint flowers, leaves, bugs and other critters. I also use a very limited number of colors. (I find that mixing my own color is half the fun of painting). The drawers on this unit hold enough to meet my needs.
There are a couple of things to note here:
As one reviewer as pointed out, the drawer does tend to stick at times. I solved this by using some wax (Paraffin) on the sides and that solved that problem.
The palette is wood. I use both oils and acrylics. Acrylics do not do well on wooden palettes. I solved this by spraying, with several coats, the entire palette with clear acrylic sealer. Works like a charm.
I have two other easels that are designed much like this one…or at least use the same concept. They are large, they are heavy and they were very expensive. Sadly to say I find myself using this little thing more than the others…could have saved me some coin had I had this unit available years ago.
To sum up my impression and feelings over this easel:
It is very inexpensive. I paid about fifteen dollars more at a local art supply store for mine. I like cheap.
It is simply. I like simple things…no hassle here…it is what it is.
It is extremely functional for small works. This is what I needed it for.
It is extremely portable.
It is very well made and very stable.
Did I mention that it is inexpensive?
This is a good product and you get your monies worth with it…very, very functional.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
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|FIts the need,
Good consruction.I have used it for canvas up to 14X18.Good to take outdoors but of course you need a table for set up.So far I have used it mainly inside.
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|Nice little easel,
This is a nice little easel. Works right. Easy to travel. Get’s the job done. Great for the price. Palette is a bit frustrating because the paints soak into it and stay there (I use acrylics). Aside from that very nice.
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