It’s tough to be a painter these days, let alone one who has reached midcareer having emerged and won acclaim in the days when painting was the privileged medium—the ’80s. Now, with the emphasis on video, photography, and interactive work, more than one young curator has bluntly told me, “I’m not interested in painting.” A bit out of fashion, the medium seems not so much dead as ignored, which poses a serious challenge to its contemporary practitioners. While some have moved on to more up-to-the-minute technologies, others, committed to the oldest art, are attempting to push their work