"After the 1970s and even in the face of a sputtering 'return to painting' in the 1980s, the actual practice of slapping paint around on canvas took a back seat to academically inspired Conceptual art. 'Ideas about painting,' which is one strategy the inspiring first generation of Conceptual artists employed to shake-up the status quo, superseded painting itself. But the ideas were getting monotonous by the time the second- and third-generation Conceptualists came around.
"Today, by contrast, actual painting is a staple in gallery exhibitions from Santa Monica and Culver City to mid-Wilshire and Chinatown. And paintings made by L.A. artists are everywhere. Lots of them are by younger artists, under 45. When California's deep recession of the early 1990s eased, galleries exploded across L.A. Now they number well into the triple digits. The number of painters, promising and accomplished, has likewise mushroomed. Painting--of all kinds--is as prominent as any other art in the city's galleries."
Christopher Knight in the Los Angeles Times notes the health of contemporary painting.
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