Choices

Choices was the latest in a series focused on artists who had not been previously represented by galleries in New York, selected through The Drawing Center's Artists' Viewing Program. Choices included drawings by Nancy Dwyer, Ellen Evjen, James Ford, Carl Goldhagen, Kirsten Hawthorne, Kevin Larmon, Julian Lethbridge, Bernard Maisner, Barbara Novak, Tim Seggerman, and Charles Seplowin.

Choices showcased the diversity of approaches and techniques contemporary artists employed within the medium of drawing. Tim Seggerman's large, dark pastel drawings articulated simple shapes such as houses and steps with ghostly shadows. Kirsten Hawthorne stenciled the words of her poems in black graphite onto large sheets of paper. Bernard Maisner was a calligrapher who illuminated with fanciful patterns, gold leaf, and small drawings the texts of 20th century writers such as Kafka and John Cage. Julian Lethbridge used repeated shapes sequentially in his large abstract black ink and pastel drawings, and Carl Goldhagen juxtaposed black ink animal figures and natural forms to create patterns. Charles Seplowin's drawings were paper studies for sculptures, formed of cut and folded paper, and James Ford created a surface of many layers of plaster and paint so that the minimal shapes etched and sanded onto the paper would reveal layers of color and variations in texture. Barbara Novak painted classical watercolors of flowers, and Kevin Larmon employed a scratch technique of black over colors to depict bottles and other still-life elements within post-modernist interiors. Ellen Evjen's gouaches featured surreal figures in domestic interiors, and Nancy Dwyer's large, elegant line drawings contrasted shiny and matte surfaces.

In conjunction with the exhibition, The Drawing Center sponsored a symposium of the 11 artists on Wednesday, October 10.