A renewed interest in painting has emerged steadily over the last decade. A medium and practiced that had been deemed dead in the 1980s now appears to be culturally relevant despite, and often because of, the onslaught of new visual technologies. Painting Now brings together a survey of some of the most important painters, with a special emphasis on artists from the Southern California region who have come of age during this period of painting's resurgence. All the artists approach the medium from different perspectives. Through the diversity of the work, Painting Now demonstrates that, far from being dead, painting is not only particularly lively, but it may not have been as moribund as once thought.

Painting Now attempts to enliven the dialogue surrounding the current painting debate by presenting a wide range of painting on its own terms. This exhibition does not position painting within the contexts of its relationship to photography or digital art. Instead, the paintings are presented for the viewer to determine how painting relates to the world beyond the canvas, its relevance as a practice, and how one might define painting in the contemporary world.

Painting Now: Selections from the Permanent Collection is made possible by MCASD's corporate partner Clark Tess Properties and contributors to the Annual Fund.