New image

A term derived from the 1978 Whitney Exhibition, "New Image Painting", curated by Richard Marshall. The exhibition was a seemingly unrelated variety of artworks. However, it had in common the return of recognizable figurative images in the face of prevalent Minimalism and paintings on canvas, which was a marked contrast to the free-for-all media experimentations of Conceptualism. Philip Guston, former Abstract Expressionist, is the early proponent of New Image painting, which became the forerunnier of the Post-Modern return to figurative imagery. Although Guston's cartoon-like figure and style were not copied, many artists were influenced by his rebelliousness and "gutzy eccentricity." Nicholas Africano did small figures; Susan Rothenberg sketched horses, Neil Jenney did images with explanatory titles, Jennifer Bartlett did paintings on steel plates, Pat Steir did historical scenes, and Jonathan Borofsky sculpted abstract figures. Source: Robert Atkins, "Art Speak"