Intentionally Exposed Canvas

Paintings that feature intentionally exposed, unpainted, and often unprimed canvas. Since the emergence of modern art, various painters have left areas of canvas bare in order to question the finish of historical paintings, reveal the artist’s process, or explore the potential of the canvas as material. This technique also questions the assumption that paintings must last, since Western artists from the Renaissance to the 20th century primed canvases in order to create uniform and durable surfaces.