Selections 41

Selections 41 featured unique works on paper by nine emerging artists. Included were: Lisa Dawn Gold, Roland Houston, Steven Montgomery, Cindy Poorbaugh, Rebecca Quaytman, Wongi Sul, Pennie Umbrico, Fred E. Valentine, and Michael Zansky. All of the artists had been chosen through The Drawing Center's unique Viewing Program.

The enormous range of work included in the exhibition testified to the power and diversity of contemporary abstract imagery. Michael Zansky's wax, acrylic and conte drawings explored the dark labyrinths of an ominous world. Steven Montgomery's monumental drawings depicted a mysterious organic entity held in a state of tension by a network of entwining graphite. Wongi Sul and Roland Houston both relied on traditional elements of formal composition as a starting point for their abstractions. Wongi Sul's evanescent washes of color played across the smooth surface of his panoramic landscapes on vellum and mylar, while Roland Houston's vibrantly-colored mixed media works captured the pulsating rhythms of modern life. The velvety black charcoals of Cindy Poorbaugh began as tiny "thumbnail" sketches, which the artist photocopied, enlarged, and then projected and redrew. Rebecca Quaytman saw her ink and gouache abstractions as short poems, fragile and elusive. Pennie Umbrico utilized familiar but non-specific images, such as a vortex, circles and an ink blot, in her monumental acrylic and silica drawings. Lisa Dawn Gold constructed machines that drew, wryly commenting on sophisticated abstract imagery and the nature of mark making. Fred E. Valentine's enigmatic charcoals were fragmented visions of the dark side of commonplace scenes and events.

All of the artists included in Selections 41 participated in a symposium at The Drawing Center on Wednesday, March 9 at 7:00 pm. The artists discussed their work and answered questions from the audience.