Drawing is frequently considered the basis of all visual arts. Vasari states, “Drawing… represent the necessary beginning of everything [in art], and not having it, one has nothing.” Old Masters drawings by Michelangelo, Raphael and da Vinci were considered “studies” for a final painted work. Today all that has changed, drawings currently exist within the artworld as more than a means to the end, but for many artists has become the ends itself. The popularity of Contemporary drawings is increasing and no longer are they treated as less valuable artworks than paintings. Currently, there seems to be a renaissance for them among artists and art enthusiasts both.What does contemporary drawing look like today? This show will address what it implies to be a contemporary artist as well as provide an overview of contemporary drawing. The State of Contemporary Drawing will examine the art of contemporary drawing by artist selected from a national juried pool of submissions. Traditionally drawing was considered the technique of producing images on a surface, usually paper, by means of marks, usually ink, graphite, chalk, charcoal, or crayon. But over the last couple of decades, artist have constantly pushed the boundaries of what drawing can mean and be, redefining drawing. Drawings currently don't merely consist of the previous mentioned methods, but have seen processes like burning, cutting scratching, sticking, writing, and sewing. Materials such as wax, and metals have even been used. These works blur the boundaries between drawing and other mediums of art. Contemporary artists are using drawings to address questions of identity, place, time and memory, protest, power, and systems.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Carla Aspenberg, Ileana Barbu, Mary Becker, Joseph Bellofatto, Julia Bowden, Jonathan Bridges, Emily Broussard, Sally Brown, Amy Bumpus, James Burrell, Keith Buswell, Susan DAmato, Sara Drescher, Rosalyn Driscoll, Lou Eberhard, Bruce Erikson, Emily Fedorchak, Joshua Field, Agop Gemdjian, Ronald Gonzalez, Jason Guynes, Dean Habegger, Ahmad Hassan, Curtis Hendrickson, Nona Hershey, Richard Hoff, Deepa Mahajan, Elena Masrour, Denton Peter McCabe, Michelle McHale, Lauren Myers, Susa Nawrocki, Jim Pearson, Kevin Perkins, Beth Peck, Whitney Powell, Brett Poza, Chris Revelle, Ana Sophie Ruju, Michael Ryan, Hasna Sal, Emily Shepard, Clark Stoeckley, Kim Taggart, John Thrasher, Clark Valentine, John Vinklarek, Russell Horton, Blake Hughes, Peter Illig, Hattie Lee, Natalie Levy-Costa.