The Black.Light Project

George Pratt, an instructor I had at Pratt (no relation), recently took part with other artists in the Black.Light Project. The project deals with the Charles Taylor wars in West Africa and their aftermath, and blends photography by Wolf Böwig, text by Pedro Rosa Mendes, and art by the various artists. The goal of the Black.Light Project was for the artists to give voice to those in West Africa who cannot speak for themselves.

George has a pretty stellar blog post about a workshop the artists took place in in Germany: http://georgepratt.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/the-black-light-project/. It’s a pretty long post, but it gives you a great behind the scenes look at a bunch of talented people working together for a great cause. What could be a better endeavor? Plus the post is filled with a ton of great drawing and painting. I highly recommend you give it a gander.

The Drawing Center

I recently visited the newly reopened Drawing Center on Wooster Street in SoHo. This small gallery space is home to 2 exhibition rooms, a book store, and in the basement what they call  The Lab, a collection of meeting and class rooms.

Taken directly from their misson statement: The Drawing Center is the only fine arts institution in the U.S. to focus solely on the exhibition of drawings, both historical and contemporary. It was established in 1977 to provide opportunities for emerging and under-recognized artists; to demonstrate the significance and diversity of drawings throughout history; and to stimulate public dialogue on issues of art and culture. Located in SoHo, The Drawing Center’s galleries provide an intimate and human scale viewing experience. It has been called “one of the city’s most highly respected small art museums” by The New York Times.

Currently the exhibition spaces are showing Diarios, by artist Guillermo Kuitca. The works in Diarios are discarded canvases that Guillermo stretched over a round table in his studio, and used the table to scribble notes, phone numbers, sketches for new works, whatever doodles or information came to hand at the time.  And it’s time that was the deciding factor of each piece, basically they became visual diaries that spanned a certain amount of time and weren’t dictated on when the artist thought they where finished pieces. Just a record of ideas and info in time.

In the smaller gallery is The Year Books, by Colombian artist Jose Antonio Suarez Londono. This exhibition is a selection of notebooks containing works from the artist’s ongoing project in which he creates a daily drawing based on a book or series of books that he reads.

Along with the gallery exhibits, The Drawing Center also runs educational programs and special events with artists and curators. Personally I think it would be pretty righteous if they ran some open figure drawing classes, but any organization dedicated to drawing is pretty stellar in my book. Plus who knows what we might see them do in the future?

If you’re in NYC, swing by and check them out. You can also help support the Center by becoming a member. All info is here.

Yep, it’s a Picasso

A fine example of the importance of drawing on all styles of art is the icon of abstract art, Pablo Picasso. The 2 drawings above are examples of some of Picasso’s early studies, and his skill as a classical draftsman is very evident. Form, light and dark, control of line, a true sense of seeing the subject, all are masterfully handled and applied.

Now, I’ve never met Picasso, nor seen or read any interviews (there might be something out there) with him discussing the application of his classical training to his later abstract art, but I personally believe that the knowledge he gained about form and space, from his early work, directly influenced the work he became famous for. I’d even go as far to say that the idea of cubism, of looking at a subject from many different angles at the same time, was a direct result of his early figure work, and learning how to see and interpret figure and form.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Picasso’s later work, but you can’t deny it’s importance or power. That power is a direct result of his drawing chops, knowing that every line on the canvas is there as intended, and for a reason, as a personal interpretation of form and subject. The painting here, Women at their Toilette, contains all the control and grace of line that his early studies does, it’s just a different approach and a new interpretation. But it is an educated interpretation, and this is what I believe made his work so appealing to so many. His early studies showed him what we were all seeing, he just showed us a different way to look at it. It also shows what an artist that learns to walk, before he runs, can accomplish.

Blog recco: Kent Williams@Random

© Kent Williams

One of my favorite painters, and fellow Pratt alum, Kent Williams, has a pretty righteous drawing blog of his own, entitled @Random.

The blog is pretty much just a showcase for his drawing and sketch work, and on occasion a sampling of a work-in-progress, from sketch to final painting. The blog is a great look into the process of a fantastic artist, and an inspiring site to visit regularly.

He also has another blog: http://www.kentwilliams.blogspot.com/ that is a regular update of his shows, publications, and painting work.

And his official portfolio site can be found here: KentWilliams.com

Sophie Jodoin

work © Sophie Jodoin

I’ve been highly attracted to the work of Quebec artist Sophie Jodoin for the past year, since discovering her in Drawing magazine.

And yes, even though she uses some paint in her work, it absolutely comes from a drawing sensibility, done with a fantastic “hand” and brilliant sense of light/dark/form. Her work is simple and iconic in composition, yet complex and emotional in technique and subject. Truly stunning work from an artist that knows the importance of emotional connectivity in her images, and gets the idea of a piece not needing to be large and grand to be just as powerful. And that the simple contrast of black and white can be just as compelling and eye catching as a piece drenched in color. Although I don’t know her, Sophie seems like the type of artist that I could spend hours with, talking about drawing, seeing, and creativity. Plus it would be pretty rad to thank her for the inspiration.

The sample shown here is from a series she did about her aging mother and Sophie’s projection of her own inevitable aging to come.

I highly recommend taking a look at Sophie’s site. She displays all of her series of works, which beautifully and poignantly cover many topics, from the year in the life of a little person, to the effects of war on children, all done with a masterful technique. It’s refreshing to see, with such clarity, the impact a strong relationship with drawing can have on great images.

sophiejodoin.com