Selections 24

In the 1984 exhibition, Selections 24, works on paper by ten emerging artists were on view at The Drawing Center, at 137 Greene Street. The artists, selected from participants in the Center's ongoing Viewing Program, presented a variety of works on paper, which expanded contemporary definitions of drawing and enhanced traditional conceptions of the medium.

Nedra Newby's crayon and ink drawings were her means of communicating opinions and politicizing events — in this case a call for the preservation of Adam Purple's garden on New York's Lower East Side. Kim McLean combined flat shapes of color in layered space to create abstracted images of cities. Debora Gilbert Ryan collected photos from newspapers and magazines, selectively cropping and retranslating the imagery into charcoal drawings. In this series she ironically depicted the hand gestures of corporate executives. Erik Sandgren's works were produced in the studio from drawings done outside. Figures were used compositionally in conjunction with the landscape to create an allegorical portrayal of nature saddened by the presence of man. Some of Carl Lehmann-Haupt's gouache works were done at the same location at different times of day, typifying the artist's interest in light and topography. In a much less literary way, shadowy forms in Patricia McCoy's dark drawings alluded to landscape. Michael Connelly combined a group of images from old works in a low-relief pastiche which illustrated the artist's personal history. Diaristically, the human figures symbolized the artist while objects and animals signified his interests.

Joan Weber's small drawings using dry pigment had their roots in primitive objects and imagery, and usually referred to animals. Eric Holzman used a litho pencil in delicately drawn genre studies in preparation for larger paintings. Looking into Paul Hunter's elongated boxes provided the viewer with voyeuristic glimpses into tiny, eerily lit interiors fabricated from cut paper and cardboard.

All of the artists in Selections 24 participated in a symposium on Wednesday, January 25, at 7:30 p.m. The artists discussed their work and answered questions from the audience.