Tom Emery reviews Real Painting at at Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, on view through August 2, 2015. The show features works by Simon Callery, Adriano Costa, Deb Covell, Angela de la Cruz, Lydia Gifford, David Goerk, Alexis Harding, Jo McGonigal, DJ Simpson, and Finbar Ward.

Emery writes that the show questions "20th century modes of thinking about painting – where an image is representative of something, even when it is ostensibly abstract – and it is this mode of thinking that Covell and McGonigal seek to redress. In their own words, this exhibition does not consider 'what a painting means, but what it "does"'. This is an exhibition of paintings that exist on their own terms, for their own sake, works that provide a physical presence and don’t just passively sit on a wall to be admired."