The promise of painting: Spectres of the Baroque in contemporary painting

ABSTRACT

The article discusses the strategy of using photographic fragments in contemporary painting. Distinct from Photorealism, photographic fragments are often used allegorically in painting to produce disjuncture of narratives and stylistic incoherence and openings. Following Jean-François Cheverier's distinction between photographers and artists who use photographs (meta-photography), the article argues that Photorealist approach confirms vision's primacy (aisthesis), while the use of photographic fragments approaches painting poetically (poiesis). Folding and unfolding pictorial compositions in the paintings in the latter category echo Baroque themes. Referring to the works of Christine Buci-Glucksmann and Gilles Deleuze, the article analyses the current painting-scape from the Baroque mindset. By comparing the works of painters who were showcased in ‘The Painting of Modern Life’ exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in 2007, and the Leipzig School of Painters, among others, the article discusses painting, which, like a Baroque garment with a complex set of folds, conceals and reveals a secret message. Here painting becomes a tableau to listen to, instead of an image-surface for visual pleasure. By exploring Jacques Derrida's notion of spectres, painting as a tableau manifests ghostly presence.

KEYWORDS:

• aisthesis
• poiesis
• spectres
• Baroque
• allegory
• folds