Why painting today? In the digital age, with its powers of instant recall and infinite reproduction, why are we witnessing an unprecedented revival of figurative painting? A Brush with the Real presents a survey of key contemporary artists who have each embraced painting and are working within a realist tradition. Through individual interviews the book peers into the life and work of each of these artists, discussing their methods, motives and sources, from art history to the internet and the language of film. The book celebrates the work of 51 artists who are each taking the medium in a new direction: from those who work with appropriation and found images, to those trying to get as close as possible to contemporary reality and first-hand experience, to artists who are simply using painting as a door to parallel or imaginary worlds. The book makes the argument that, since perhaps the early Renaissance, the role fulfilled by painting has never been so vital or timely: in our image-saturated culture, digital technology has given painting and its slow, full-resolution images a new lease of life.

Part 1: The Canvas and the Screen: Cinematic, Atmospheric and Narrative Painting This first part looks at the work of painters who have developed a 'cinematic eye', making use of visual tricks inherited from the camera: blurring images, framing subjects as if seen through a wide angle lens, reframing them suggestively or using deep focus. Artists featured: Amy Bennet (US), Andy Denzler (Switzerland), Jeremy Geddes (Australia), Tiina Heiska (Finland), Marcin Maciejowski (Poland), Muntean and Rosenblum, Kon Trubkovich (Russia/US), Jonathan Wateridge (Zambia/UK), Simon Willems (UK) Part 2: The Canvas and the Concept of News: Journalistic, Investigative and Media-Conscious Painting These works return to the idea of painting as a socially and politically engaged tool, as something capable of capturing the spirit of the times. These paintings encapsulate something about our world, our current historical moment. Artists featured: Ayman Baalbaki (Lebanon), Guillaume Bresson (France), Tim Eitel (Germany), Luka Kurashvili (Georgia), Justin Mortimer (UK), Ronald Ophuis (Netherlands), Li Songsong (China), Wayne Toepp (USA) Part 3: Hyper Individuality: Autobiographical, Confessional and Personal Painting The artists in this section have taken the art of portraiture out of the confines of focussing on single, unmoving subjects generally within a studio space. Artists featured: Eduardo Berliner (Brazil), Anna Bjerger (Sweden), Jonas Burgert (Germany), John Copeland (US), Esiri Erheriene-Essi (UK), Markus Harvey (UK), Joyce Ho (Taiwan), Oda Jaune (Bulgaria), Chantal Joffe (UK), Ulrich Lamsfuss (Germany), Dave Lovett (Australia), Harding Meyer (Brazil) , Lynette Yiadom (UK), Liu Xiadong (China) Part 4: New Landscapes and Unstill Lives: Landscape Painting in the age of the Virtual Paintings that scrutinize with great intensity the landscapes in which we live and our attitude towards them. Artists featured: Jules de Balincourt (France), Tilo Baumgartel (Germany), Zhang Enli (China), Maya Gold (Israel), Masakatsu Kondo (Japan), Thoralf Knobloch (Germany), Benjamin Rubloff (US), Shay Kun (Israel), Wilhelm Sasnal (Poland), George Shaw (UK), James White (UK), Etienne Zack (Canada) Part 5: The Shock of the Old: Nostalgic and Neo-Traditionalist Painting Paintings that let themselves fall into the allure of the past, these are often works that have been created by uprooted individuals, who are trying to reconstruct new identities in a highly alienating world. Artists featured: Alida Cervantes (Mexico/US), Stelios Faitakis (Greece), Gade (China/Tibet), Sigrid Holmwood (Sweden/UK), Harland Miller (UK), Johannes Phokela (South Africa), Tsherin Sherpa (Nepal), David Brian Smith (UK) , Hisashi Tenmyouya (Japan), Wolfe Von Lenkiewicz (UK), Akira Yamaguchi (Japan)

Marc Valli is the founder of the retail and book-selling company Magma as well as the magazines Graphic and Elephant. His books include RGB: Reviewing Graphics in Britain, Walk the Line and Microworlds (also with Margherita Dessanay). Margherita Dessanay graduated from the University of Cagliari with a degree in the History of Art before studying for an MA in Contemporary Art Theory at Goldsmith's, University of London. She writes regularly for Elephant magazine and has co-written a number of books, including It's A Stick Up! and Stencil Republic.