In his influential essay “Provisional Painting,” Raphael Rubinstein applied the term “provisional” to contemporary painters whose work looked intentionally casual, dashed-off, tentative, unfinished or self-cancelling; who seemed to have deliberately turned away from "strong" painting for something that seems to constantly risk failure or inconsequence.
In this collection of essays, Rubinstein expands the scope of his original article by surveying the historical and philosophical underpinnings of provisionality in recent visual art, as well as examining the works of individual artists in detail. He also engages crucial texts by Samuel Beckett and philosopher Gianni Vattimo.
Reexamining several decades of painting practices, Rubinstein argues that provisionality, in all its many forms, has been both a foundational element in the history of modern art and the encapsulation of an attitude that is profoundly contemporary.
- ISBN10 135024371X
- ISBN13 9781350243712
- Publish Date 12 January 2023
- Publish Status Forthcoming
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 192
- Language English