Dive deeper into the thought-provoking themes of The Living End with this accompanying volume. Featuring a critical essay by the exhibition curator and a selection of illuminating artist entries, this book investigates the generative exchange between painting and technology over the last fifty years.

For decades, critics’ claim that painting is dead has been a common refrain. The Living End: Painting and Other Technologies, 1970–2020 suggests otherwise, exploring contemporary painting over the last fifty years to reveal a medium in a constant state of renewal and rebirth. This volume goes deeper into the themes of The Living End, expanding on the exhibition with insight from curator Jamillah James. Together with assistant curator Jack Schneider, James also highlights a selection of artists featured in the exhibition, showcasing their unique contributions to the practice of painting. Examining the impact that computers, cameras, and television, as well as social media and automation, have had on the medium, The Living End posits painting as a technology itself—one that has developed beyond the immediacy of the artist’s hand and expanded into increasingly experimental territory.