Reincarnations of Painting: Group Exhibition

Opening Reception: April 5, 2025 from 5 to 7pm

Every few decades, the rise of new technology calls into question the resiliency of painting as a medium. When photography was invented in the mid-1800s, many surmised that it would lead to the death of painting. Today, with rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, these questions and concerns for the medium have resurfaced. Praise Shadows is thrilled to announce Reincarnations of Painting, a group exhibition featuring the artists Susan Weil & José Betancourt, Tomashi Jackson, and Eleanor Conover. The works in this exhibition pay homage to the history of painting while deviating from conventional materials and structural frameworks. The edges of their work defy the bounds of a traditional four-sided canvas: their surfaces bow, bend, fracture, and overlap. While each artist’s choice of materials vary—from light sensitive emulsion, corduroy, to marble—, all of the artists have developed their own idiosyncratic visual languages that break down hierarchies between drawing, painting, printmaking, or photography. Their embrace of experimentation and interdisciplinary work is influenced, both directly and indirectly, by the teachings of Josef Albers and the historic Black Mountain College in North Carolina from the 1930s to late 1950s. This exhibition, furthermore, demonstrates how artists continue to iterate, redefine, and reincarnate the history of painting, and proves that painting is far from becoming obsolete.