But is it a painting?

Artist Wady Guyton next to one of his many paintings.

Dictionary.com defines a painting as a picture or design executed in paints. Does that still ring true today? Many artists have been pushing the boundaries in art for decades now, especially in the medium of painting. Gerhard Ricther used a squeegie, Pollock threw the paint on his canvases, and current-day artist Wady Guyton uses a large-scale printer to create images on linen.

The article about Guyton in the New York Times describes the work of this artist who is displayed throught the US. Guyton's technique is something quite different from the traditional paintbrush and oil pigment. Guyton's studio in Chinatown is filled with Mac computers and the biggest printer Epson makes. He creates images on the computers and prints them onto linen in order to create his "paintings." Guyton welcomes printer mistakes and running out of ink in the middle of a job to create surprise and interest. He enjoys these abstractions just as much as Rothko or Richter would. After looking at his work, the question still remains, should his work be considered painting?

While completing my undergraduate degree in studio art, the question "what is art?" arose on many occasions. Now, not only do we find the need to define art, we question what category it goes in as well. At first glance, one might consider Guyton's work as printmaking. In fact, he is transferring an image onto a porous surface. However, Guyton considers his pieces to be paintings. How can we distinguish the two? What makes a painting a painting and a print a print? Some refer to the action istelf to categorize a painting, such as the movement of a brush or other tool across a surface. We might say that Guyton's painting actually happens on the computer when he is designing the image before it prints out. But what other characteristics cause his work to be painterly?

I hope that after looking at Guyton's work, we question our own theories of art and media. Afterall, we cannot just look at a work first glance anymore and put it into a category such as painting, sculpture, performance, or even drawing. It is exciting to see artists such as Guyton push these boundaries and preset theories in the artworld. What are your thoughts?