(E)merging Ideas

Here are some interesting extracts about the state of Art in the new millennium I read in the introduction of  Charlotte Mullins' book 'Painting People':

Figure painting is currently experiencing a major revival...Following modernism's demise after its long search for the perfect self-referential painting, in the form of the ultimate abstract canvas, Douglas Crimp asserted - in his inflammatory 1981 essay "The End of Painting" - that painting had martyred itself. In achieving its nihilistic aim, it had painted itself into a corner from which there could be no escape...But as Sabine Folie, one of the curators of the seminal 2002 figurative painting show 'Cher Pientre, Lieber Maler, Dear Painter' at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, has commented, artists did continue to paint.. In fact, painting an  was just biding its time until critical attention returned to find it in rude health.'

'Painting may have been for a short time somehow denied by an overexposure of video computer-art or photography' says Folie, 'but in the end, its methods of representation and transformation were enriched by all those media and not diminished.'..

There's no longer the sensibility that one genre should dominate contemporary art in its entirety, as was claimed for abstract expressionism in post war America. And there's no longer a sense of having to choose which style of work you exhibit... With the advent of postmodernism, which embraced diversity and multiple viewpoints, and represented a fracturing of stylistic hierarchies and a knowing sense of historical irony...As a result young artists rarely pin themselves down to one specific area of expertise...

Artists who paint are aware of the history of the medium, and references to paintings from all ages can be found in the work of many of the artists in this book. With  the prevalence of cheap colour printing, scanners and the internet, painting's history is laid out like a web in front of each artist...All artists, to some extent operate with  the knowledge that these vast stores of images are available at the click of a mouse.

I would only add that the diversity of viewpoints and inter-textuality that are typical of Postmodern art  create a unique form of dialogue between different artists, genres and styles, transcending time and space. In my view these types of cultural bridges, spanning through different periods and continents only enrich art and make it more interesting. And to support this statement, here's a quote from the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali:

"Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing."

     - Salvador Dali

By imitating not only do we learn from the original and pay our homage to it, but we also develop its ideas and add something new which is ours, and that's what makes what we've created to a certain extent new and unique.