This catalogue, published to accompany the exhibition at Tate Liverpool, focuses on how particular personal and cultural histories come to bear on the practice of painting, resulting in a rich iconography that extends the language of abstraction and figuration in unexpected and inventive ways. The internation list of artists includes: Inka Essenhigh, USA; Fabian Marcaccio, Argentina; Beatriz Milhazes, Brazil; Monique Prieto, Usa; David Reed, USA; Fiona Rae, Britain; Franz Akerman, Germany; and Sarah Morris, Britain/USA. Many of these artists make reference, through their painting, to other technologies and disciplines for picturing and interpreting the world. These compries mediums such as film and digital imaging, map making, sampling, graphic design, comics, urban architecture, printing and the exploration of religionand scientific theory.