Gesture is the traditional hallmark of drawing, the handwriting that guarantees the intimacy of the aesthetic encounter. In the late 1940s, artists like Willem De Kooning and Franz Kline brought that tradition to a peak, making their art from personal, even heroic marks. In reaction, other artists like Barnett Newman and Ad Reinhardt sought to keep the evidence of the artist's hand and wrist to a minimum, while still insisting that drawing was central to their art. It is their alternative spirit which inspires the collection presented in the exhibition. As the visitors to the exhibition will see, a variety of answers are posed.
Some artists replace gesture with unusual procedures.
Other artists in the exhibition interrupt the flow of drawing by using masking tape, collage, and unusual drawing tools. Using the solvent, he rubbed magazine and newspaper images onto paper, reversing them in the process. Many artists in the exhibition turn to the grid, that master figure of modernism, but subvert its controlling precision. Placed on top, collaged strips attempt to contain the layers of mixed graphite and pastel thriving below. For Serra, drawing is a language of doing and making.