Contemporary painting and technology

Art and technology has always been in a close relationship. In this thesis the properties of contemporary painting under the influence of technology were studied and exemplified. The first turning point that technology caused in painting was the representation problem of painting aroused with the innovation of photography and the deeply questioned authenticity and the loss of the aura of the artwork after the technological facilities enabled men to reproduce the works of art, especially paintings. The second turning point of painting influenced mainly by technology occurred with the leap of the digital technologies. Recently the great developments in the computer and internet technologies have led the emergence of new artistic fields and also caused some diversity in the painting techniques. The problem area for painting is being widened with the new perception of aesthetics coming into the scene and with the ease of finding and manipulating the images. Now painting is a free, creative and also a problematic process in a period where all the techniques, forms and the images of the past and today waiting in the computerized memory banks of our culture and ready to be recalled at any time. In this thesis the works of various contemporary painters were illustrated and evaluated according to their postmodernist characteristics brought by the process outlined above. Since the technological progress happened anyway, it is impossible and incoherent to stay outside of this sphere. The artist must utilize the resources of today?s technological medium which bears the seeds of tomorrow?s art, and while doing this, must be aware of art history, and before application he must investigate and consider all the information he has.