Real and Hyperreal June 9, 2010

For centuries, people have admired artists' magical ability to depict reality -- the virtuoso dab of paint that becomes a pearl in a Vermeer painting, for example. What is realism in the 21st century, when our world has taken on a virtual as well as physical dimension? 'Real and HyperReal' contrasts traditional realism rooted in careful observation of our immediate, visible world with new riffs on realism that mirror the expansive realities of the information age.