Roundtable Explores Realism's Historical and Contemporary Relevance in Western Art

A roundtable discussion, published on February 5, 2018, by ARTMargins Online, examined the history and current state of artistic realism. Participants Dave Beech, Christoph Cox, Sami Khatib, John Roberts, and Marina Vishmidt were invited to reflect on realism's revivals within Western art and aesthetics. The discussion considered how these revivals might be influenced by discourses outside contemporary art and whether realism is an obsolete form incompatible with late capitalism's production modes and augmented social reality. The roundtable was conducted via electronic mail, and the content is available through MIT Press on a subscription-only basis. The conversation questioned if a new aesthetics of realism could differ from its historical antecedents and how its various modes relate to artistic forms like baroque painting or modernist collage.