The Drawing Center

On Thursday, June 17, Aaron Wexler gave the final presentation ina series of four talks in which emerging artists discuss the influence and relevancy of drawing within their multifaceted practices. With diversity in both technique and approach, the artists in this series share an affinity for integrating drawing into a wide range of mediums – painting, sculpture, installation, mixed media – to critically investigate subjects of interest to them be it economics, politics, quantum physics, the human subconscious, or personal narrative. These artists’ unique forays into conceptual thinking and theoretical significance further broaden our conceptions of the field of drawing and highlight current trends and issues in contemporary art.

Aaron Wexler looks to the traditions of early Modernist collage and formal aesthetics alongside new media to create complex matrixes of acrylic and paper on panel. Swirling, nebulous accumulations of geo-shapes and patterns drawn from nature synthesize abstraction and figuration, employing imagery that is vaguely familiar yet strangely enigmatic. Wexler was born in 1974 in Philadelphia, PA. He earned an M.F.A in 1999 from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, and a B.F.A. in 1996 from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. He has had solo exhibitions in New York, London, and Milan, and has been included in numerous group exhibitions at venues including The Saatchi Gallery in London, The National Academy Museum in New York, and Apexart, New York. He lives and works in New York City. Click Here to Listen to the Talk.

On Thursday, June 10th, a panel discussed the relationship between the visual arts and performance in the twentieth century, with a particular focus on Dorothea Tanning’s collaboration with George Balanchine throughout the 1940s and 50s. This partnership challenged both artists to expand their ideas about their own work, and the viewer’s perception of the dynamic intersections of dance, performance, design, and visual art. Panelists included Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art; Robert Greskovic, freelance writer and dance critic for The Wall Street Journal; and Anna Finke, Wardrobe Supervisor for Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Click Here to Listen to the Conversation.

On Thursday, June 3, Xylor Jane gave the third in a series of four talks in which emerging artists discuss the influence and relevancy of drawing within their multifaceted practices. With diversity in both technique and approach, the artists in this series share an affinity for integrating drawing into a wide range of mediums – painting, sculpture, installation, mixed media – to critically investigate subjects of interest to them be it economics, politics, quantum physics, the human subconscious, or personal narrative. These artists’ unique forays into conceptual thinking and theoretical significance further broaden our conceptions of the field of drawing and highlight current trends and issues in contemporary art.

Xylor Jane’s intuitive systems of abstract patterns reveal the handmade imperfections of her drawn grids and suggest that the seemingly mechanical process is strongly indebted to autobiography and emotion. Jane received her BFA in 1993 from the San Francisco Art Institute and recently had a solo exhibition at CANADA, New York. She lives and works in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Click Here to Listen to the Talk.

On Thursday, May 20, Sam Lewitt gave the second in series of four talks in which emerging artists discuss the influence and relevancy of drawing within their multifaceted practices. With diversity in both technique and approach, the artists in this series share an affinity for integrating drawing into a wide range of mediums – painting, sculpture, installation, mixed media – to critically investigate subjects of interest to them be it economics, politics, quantum physics, the human subconscious, or personal narrative. These artists’ unique forays into conceptual thinking and theoretical significance further broaden our conceptions of the field of drawing and highlight current trends and issues in contemporary art. Click Here to Listen to the Talk.

Sam Lewitt presents extensively researched projects in the form of meticulously fabricated artifacts, such as fictitious books and currency. His investigations explore a range of subjects, including the histories of writing, graphic design, and reading, as well as the exchange between language and material objects. Lewitt received his BFA from the School of Visual ARts and attended the Whitney independent Study Program. He is co-founder of Scorched Earth, a twelve-issue magazine in which the question of drawing’s place in theory and practice is addressed in dialogue with artists, critics and historians. He lives and works in New York.

On Thursday, May 6, Samm Kunce, Leon Golub’s studio assistant; Robert Storr, artist/critic, and Dean of the School of Art at Yale University; Susan Harris, independent curator and writer; and Douglas Dreishpoon, Chief Curator of The Albright Knox Art Gallery joined us for a panel discussion devoted to the life and work of Leon Golub. Each panelist was asked to discuss a specific drawing from the exhibition as it relates to his or her own relationship with Golub, and the lessons learned from his important legacy. The panelists were introduced by Brett Littman, curator of Leon Golub: Live & Die Like a Lion? and Executive Director of The Drawing Center. Click here to listen to the program.

Drawing Out was on view in the Drawing Room from April 10–16, 2010. The exhibition features student artwork from the Drawing Connections program, which pairs practicing artists with teachers in Lower Manhattan public schools to develop projects that relate classroom curricula to exhibitions at The Drawing Center. In its 6th year, Drawing Out featured group projects by approximately 100 students from four participating schools: Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School, P.S. 130 Hernando Desoto School, P.S. 42 Benjamin Altman School, and City As School, Bronx Campus.

Click here to view projects by students at P.S. 42 Benjamin Altman School.

Presentation by Serkan Ozkaya
Saturday April 24, 2010

Artist Serkan Ozkaya gave a twofold presentation titled Today Could Be a Day of Historical Importance: I am retiring from everything but drawing!. Ozkaya began with a slide-show presentation and description of his overall body of work, focusing on projects created from 1996 to the present. Works presented ranged from a proposal to the Louvre to display Mona Lisa upside down, to his mass-produced objects and hand-drawn newspaper reproductions. Ozkaya then discussed the relationship between tracing or copying and creating original drawings, explaining how he positions himself as an “art lover” rather than an artist. Click here to listen to a recording of the talk.

4 x 4: Four Contemporary Artists, Four Approaches to Drawing
Talk by Jonah Groeneboer

Click Here to listen to the first in a series of four talks in which emerging artists discuss the influence and relevancy of drawing within their multifaceted practices. With diversity in both technique and approach, the artists in this series share an affinity for integrating drawing into a wide range of mediums – painting, sculpture, installation, mixed media – to critically investigate subjects of interest to them be it economics, politics, quantum physics, the human subconscious, or personal narrative. These artists’ unique forays into conceptual thinking and theoretical significance further broaden our conceptions of the field of drawing and highlight current trends and issues in contemporary art.

Through an economy of means, artist Jonah Groeneboer relies on an object based Conceptualism to create starkly graceful string installations and mystical geo-graphite powder drawings that aspire to the fourth dimension and seemingly defy space and time. Groeneboer received his MFA from New York University in 2007, and recently had his first solo exhibition at Bellwether Gallery in New York City. He is based in Brooklyn, New York.