Expanded Painting: Ontological Aesthetics and the Essence of Colour
Mark Titmarsh
Bloomsbury
Colourful smoke bombs by Swiss artist Olaf Breuning grace the cover of this publication. Rainbow-hued explosions allow the viewer to look behind the scenes of the production, through the mess that overwhelms each frame and onto each page. Mark Titmarsh explores the relevance of painting in contemporary art practice amid new age media such as performance, photography, sculpture, installation and digital technology. Each chapter and its subsections delve deep into the art history, ethnology and ontology of painting, with a focus on colour and aesthetics. Through critical analysis Titmarsh discovers an ‘evolving medium’ that operates in part as a continued dialogue between these qualities, imprinting on opposing art forms and functioning as an extension of this historical art practice.