Casualism (art)

Casualism is a 21st century trend in art where the work reassesses conventionally accepted elements of art like color, composition, and balance to have unexpected outcomes rather than handsome results.
The term Casualism was coined in a 2011 essay which defined a new type of postminimalist painting that features a self-amused, anti-heroic style with an interest in off-kilter composition and impermanence. These artists are interested in a studied, passive-aggressive irresoluteness that reflect wider insights about culture and society Though the work may feel experimental and resist finality, it is still accomplished.
Many artists responded positively to the essay and embraced the notion of Casualism, while others rejected the term, suggesting it whiffed of 'labelism' and 'crypto-institutionalism. The Casualist tendency continues to inform much work and conversation around American abstract painting.
Sharon Butler, Tatiana Berg, Joe Bradley, Amy Feldman, Keltie Ferris, Beth Letain, Lauren Luloff, Chris Martin, Rebecca Morris, David Ostrowski, Cordy Ryman, Jason Stopa, Michael Voss, and Molly Zuckerman-Hartung are painters who work in a Casualist mode.
In addition to Casualist, the term "Provisional" has been used to describe paintings that might appear unfinished or incomplete; work that is intentionally awkward, physically fragile and unstable, that reject the display of conventional skills, or that discover beauty in unassuming materials. However, Provisional painters, unlike the younger Casualists, suggest a kind of exhaustion, entertaining the impossibility of painting. The older artists whose work is considered Provisional include Raoul De Keyser, Michael Krebber, Mary Heilmann, Kimber Smith, Richard Tuttle and Christopher Wool.