The other day Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City gave the latest series of iPad Paintings by the artist David Hockney at the Institute of Contemporary Culture in Ontario a short critical spanking. It was kinda fair. In a nutshell - in his handling software “can only ape the act of painting”. It made me wonder, all painting can be reduced to painting that can only ape its source image. Mimesis anyone? Anyway she also mentions that exhibiting the iPad itself with the painting on its screen is a little bit “like choosing to exhibit the easel as well as the painting”. This is a valid assesment. It is a little weird to see ipads on a museum wall, though I do understand Hockneys intent to exhibit the painting on its own terms as a file and as light, rather than as a print or a projection. There might have been other ways to go about it to save it from looking like an Apple store in the musem as Paddy acknowledges. Would a bunch of TV’s (like in most screen based gallery situations) have looked less commercial because of their faded novel identity and generic branding? Maybe we just need to get over it. David Hockney has done much to practically (not theoretically) investigate the instersection between painting and photography and technology in his quirky garish late picasso-esque style over the last 30 years, in fact painting with light from the BBC series (1986) was one of the first things PAINTED,ETC. ever posted. One of the good things about his current show at the ICC in Ontario is the little side events associated with it. They are a little bit awkward (ie: accessible to everyone) which is fine, including panel discussions of this amazing thing called “new media” and how it can be shown in the museum, to political advocacy on the internet, and even - wait for it - digital iPad drawing classes! As well as some younger digital artists presenting their digital art and why it must be digital. If you are in Ontario go and check some of these things out maybe. You can read Paddy’s full piece in Toronto Life here.
