Exposed Painting Cobalt Blue 2008

Callum Innes made this artwork, "Exposed Painting Cobalt Blue," with paint, but also with an idea about how the institutions of art might need some rethinking. Innes, who was born in Scotland in 1962, emerged as a painter during a period when painting was declared "dead" by some critics. Innes, like many artists of his generation, returned to painting self-consciously and explored how painting might change its established patterns. In this painting, the material properties of paint are laid bare. A cobalt blue field bleeds downwards, as if it is being washed away by the solvent used to thin it. The artist calls attention to the support by leaving areas of raw canvas untouched. The cultural conversation around painting in Europe at the end of the twentieth century, especially in Art Schools, helps to give this work its full meaning. Art historians can learn more about the debates of the period by exploring archives, artists' statements, and institutional records.