Selections Fall 1992

Selections Fall 1992 brought together emerging artists united by a commitment to figurative drawing, exploring the body, identity, and cultural mythology through diverse personal, political, and poetic lenses. The Selections exhibition series, while typically non-thematic, provided the artists with an opportunity to present a significant body of work, and demonstrated the diversity of content, materials, and formal concerns found in contemporary drawing.

Demonstrating some of these ideas, Dan Asher's vivid caricatures focused on the single figure, which was realized through a spontaneous and agitated drawing style. A series of drawings by John-Paul Philippé appeared, at first glance, to be abstract images, but upon closer study the reoccurring shapes and muted colors became faces awash with tears, a testament to ongoing expressions of grief and loss.

Other artists in the exhibition focused on the figure as it relates to identity formation. Sowon Kwon critiqued the "average female and male" template created by designers, tracing outlines of individual body parts, piecing together figures to mock the notion of an "average body," while thoughtfully addressing issues of subjectivity through a device of its construction. Through her visceral drawings Stavit Allweis frequently recorded scenes of violence against women, while also declaring their strength and resistance against such repression. Similarly, the exuberant drawings of Margaret Curtis depicted the world of little girls: beguilingly full of lace and frills, yet existing with an underlying and sinister current of revolt which mocked the limited roles for women.

Selections Fall 1992 was one in a continuing series of exhibitions that brought the work of emerging artists from across the nation and abroad to public attention. All of the featured artists had participated in The Drawing Center's Viewing Program, a service which offered emerging artists an opportunity to present drawing to the curatorial staff for professional feedback and to be considered for inclusion in an exhibition.