Lala Drona is a Franco-American fine artist of Venezuelan heritage working between Paris and London. Her practice spans painting and video, probing the body not by appearance but by sensation: an interior landscape of memory, intervention, and transformation. She recently completed her Masters in Painting at the Royal College of Art.
Top 5 Books to Understand Expanded Painting
Lala Drona • September 20, 2025
Beyond the obvious: five books that rethink what painting can be.
Why Expanded Painting, and Why These Books
“Expanded painting” is a central term in contemporary art, but what does it actually mean, and why does it matter today?
Mark Titmarsh’s Expanded Painting is the foundational book on the subject and a must-read for anyone entering the field. Since it is already the standard reference, I have not included it in this list. Instead, I want to share other texts that broaden the conversation and offer different perspectives.
For me, the question What is Expanded Painting? is urgent because my own practice crosses painting, video, performance, and installation. Expanded painting provides the language to situate this hybridity within a larger critical context.
Whether you are an artist, student, or curator, these five books will give you strong entry points into the foundations and ongoing relevance of expanded painting.
1. Rosalind Krauss – Sculpture in the Expanded Field (1979) - (essay)
This essay marks the conceptual starting point. Krauss dismantled traditional definitions of sculpture and created a model that allowed painting to move beyond its frame.
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Why it matters: It provides the intellectual groundwork for thinking about painting in expanded terms.
2. Yve-Alain Bois & Rosalind Krauss – Formless: A User’s Guide (1997)
A study of “l’informe” (the formless) that destabilizes categories and undermines hierarchies of medium.
👉 Takeaway: Expanded painting is not only about material expansion. It is also about undoing the very structure of classification.
3. Isabelle Graw, Daniel Birnbaum, and Nikolaus Hirsch (eds.) – Thinking Through Painting: Reflexivity and Agency Beyond the Canvas (2012)
This collection explores contemporary painting’s role beyond the limits of medium-specific discourse. The essays situate painting in dialogue with broader cultural and theoretical debates.
👉 Why read it: It addresses painting’s expanded possibilities directly, offering multiple perspectives from leading thinkers.
4. Isabelle Graw – The Love of Painting: Genealogy of a Success Medium (2018)
Graw argues for painting’s persistence through its capacity to adapt and reinvent itself. Expanded painting is central to this ongoing vitality.
👉 Key insight: Expanded painting demonstrates how painting continues to survive by evolving its own terms.
5. Painting: Documents of Contemporary Art, edited by Terry R. Myers (2011) ⭐
An anthology dedicated directly to the term "painting", with essays exploring painting’s intersections with performance, photography, and installation.
👉 If you only read one: This is the definitive volume on expanded painting.
Final Thoughts
Expanded painting is less a fixed category than an ongoing negotiation. It is painting stretched, reframed, and redefined. These five texts provide the conceptual and historical grounding to approach it critically and creatively.
For a broader introduction, see my overview of expanded painting.
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