Selections 20

Ten emerging artists presented their latest works on paper in Selections 20, an exhibition which opened at The Drawing Center in 1983. Selections 20 represented one facet of The Drawing Center's ongoing activities planned to highlight new and exciting works by artists who had had little or no exhibition exposure at the time in New York. The artists in the exhibition were: Stephen Aljian, Elisa Amoroso, Barbara Anello, John Ferro, Brandt Junceau, Michael Markham, Birke McGilly, Mariann Nowack, Peter Schuyf, and Joanne Storch. All artists had initially presented work to a staff member through the unique Artists' Viewing Program.

The works in the exhibition were chosen to reflect the many ways in which contemporary artists used drawing and included a wealth of materials and ideologies ranging in application from traditional to avant-garde. Stephen Aljian's panoramas of large imaginary buildings were painted on paper. Elisa Amoroso's intimate works were still lifes of objects in a stark interior. Small graphic paintings on paper by Barbara Anello functioned as a kind of linear shorthand of landscape, and, as drawings, retained a cinematic quality.

Several of the artists in Selections 20 worked exclusively in black and white; however, John Ferro's handsome works were the only purely abstract pieces in the exhibition. Brandt Junceau's large, boldly drawn charcoals referred to flowers and plant life and Birke McGilly's charcoal and watercolor were concerned with a personal dream-like imagery intended to spell out spiritual bankruptcy and self-alienation. Mariann Nowack's expressionist drawings of sky and landscape were derived from a previous involvement with lyrical abstraction. The gouache paintings on paper by Peter Schuyf were indirectly related to other art and artists while Joanne Storch addressed voyeurism in her enigmatic pastel interiors. The strange works by Michael Markham were created by burning paper.

All of the artists in Selections 20 took part in a symposium on Wednesday, December 8 at 7:30 p.m. Artists discussed their work and answered questions from the audience.