nonpainting

Nonpainting is a term used in art discourse to describe artworks that are not paintings in form or method, or works that explicitly reject traditional painting media while sharing concerns with painting, such as color, gesture, and surface. It is not a formal movement; rather, it serves as a descriptive label for works that lie outside conventional painting. Nonpainting encompasses a broad range of media, including sculpture, installation, drawing, photography, video, performance, and digital media, as well as hybrid works that combine painting with non-painting elements.

Historical roots can be traced to the early 20th century, particularly Duchamp's readymades, which challenged what counted as an artwork and what the artist's hand should be. In the 1950s and 1960s, artists such as Robert Rauschenberg created combines that integrated non-painting materials with painted surfaces, expanding the field beyond traditional painting. Sol LeWitt's wall drawings and other conceptual practices of the era further reframed art as systems, instructions, or experiences rather than conventional painted images.

In contemporary practice, nonpainting is widespread and fluid, with installations, time-based media, and digital works often foregrounding process, materiality, and context over pictorial representation. Critics debate the term's usefulness: some see it as a productive way to describe artworks that push beyond painting's limits, while others view it as a loose label that can obscure distinct media. As with many art labels, there is no single definition, and the term continues to evolve.