Katharine Graham

Katharine Graham was chosen as a subject by Michael Fullerton as she connected several threads that had been prevalent in his practice for some time: the relationship between painting and the public realm and the role that aesthetics plays in this process. That is to say how we understand and experience beauty in painting. Katharine Graham was in charge of the Washington Post, one of America's most influential newspapers, making Graham one of the first female media magnates in America. The fact that she was female and the fact that she controlled how and what information was disseminated is a key element of this work. Fullerton is interested in how the medium of oil paint is situated within the wider spectrum of media in general. How does painting compete with or augment the mass media in today's 'information age'?