Selections 33

Selections 33, an exhibition which featured the work of thirteen emerging artists, opened at The Drawing Center in 1986. Included were works by Jan Arabas, Steven Baris, Steve Derrickson, Rebecca Doughty, Cathrin Hoskinson, Daniel Josephs, Dave King, Peter Leyh, Linda Lynch, Stephen Maine, Peter Schroth, Tim Stocco, and Blake Summers. All of the artists in the exhibition had been chosen through The Drawing Center's unique Viewing Program.

Lyrical landscapes were evoked in Tim Stocco's abstractions, while Cathrin Hoskinson aimed at capturing in her seascapes the intimacy of letter writing as a form of communication. Peter Schroth's subtly-toned colored pencil drawings of tree trunks and Rebecca Doughty's brooding charcoals used landscape forms as a vehicle to explore human emotions. The stark expanses of the American Southwest provided inspiration for Linda Lynch's black-and-white pastels.

Steve Derrickson's giant movie posters played on the visual language of American cinema, presenting characters and situations that were familiar yet nonspecific and illusory. In a similar way, Dave King, working with the vocabulary of traditional still life painting, created an open-ended and ambiguous world which invited a range of interpretation. Abstract and realistic elements were combined in Jan Arabas' four-panel monotype, while  Daniel Joseph contrasted colorful abstract forms against the reality of newsprint photographs. Stephen Maine's work was a rich spatial layering created by varying densities of pigment, defining line and color relationships. The luminous abstractions of Steven Baris resulted from the layering of transparent color on mylar. Peter Leyh found inspiration for his charcoal and acrylic abstractions in the humble surface of brown paper bags. Blake Summer's ghostly portraits showed an active involvement with surface and painterly concerns.

The artists in Selections 33 participated in two special events at The Drawing Center. On Wednesday, March 12, at 7:00 p.m. Margaret Holben Ellis, Associate Conservator of Prints and Drawings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, conducted a Paper Conservation Workshop entitled "Conservation of Modern Drawings: Questions and Answers." Ms. Ellis considered questions submitted by the artists about the works on view as well as questions from the audience. On Wednesday, March 19 at 7:00 p.m. the artists from Selections 33 were present for an informal symposium. The artists discussed their work and answered questions from the audience.