The
Renaissance
Society

Coming as a reaction to the thin, impersonal, surfaces of minimalsim, pop art and color-field painting, "thick paint" returns to familiar modes of "painterly" handling of pigments, while opening new paths to expression. While all of the nine young New York artists in this exhibition use thick paint, they re not linked by any common style. Thick paint is the hallmark of much classic art in which plastic pigment evokes imagery without sacrificing its own sensuous appeal. These new thick painters, however, are abstractionists. Paint is the main message.