| The Drawing Center’s “Levity: Selections Spring 2007” explores lightness in both material and metaphoric terms, featuring 14 emerging artists selected from the Viewing Program. The term “levity” might be used to describe any number of works of drawing, implying a “light touch,” lightweight or light-colored materials, a sense of humor or even irreverence towards high art. The practice of the artists in “Levity” range from imprinting simple observations of daily life to creating flights of fantasy and visually humorous scenarios. |  |
Levity at the Drawing Center
The Drawing Center’s “Levity: Selections Spring 2007” explores lightness in both material and metaphoric terms, featuring 14 emerging artists selected from the Viewing Program. The term “levity” might be used to describe any number of works of drawing, implying a “light touch,” lightweight or light-colored materials, a sense of humor or even irreverence towards high art. The practice of the artists in “Levity” range from imprinting simple observations of daily life to creating flights of fantasy and visually humorous scenarios. Some generate levity by manipulating the form of lightweight materials while others work with light as a material for drawing. Participating in the exhibition are: Esteban Alvarez, Ingólfur Arnarsson, Norma-Jean Bothmer, Anne Daems, Ivana Franke, Bill Gerhard, Kate Joranson, Irene Kopelman, Jiha Moon, Mio Olsson, Michelle Oosterbaan, Lisa Perez, Eduardo Santiere, and Rachel Perry Welty.
About the Artists
Esteban Alvarez shares a sense of the absurd as he straightforwardly unveils on video a drawing he found on his living room floor made by his cat. Ingólfur Arnarsson makes small pencil marks creating texture on inconspicuous squares of paper that are barely visible. Norma-Jean Bothmer draws bright blue teddy bears. Anne Daems comments insightfully on everyday situations and objects in her multiple, small-scale pencil drawings. Ivana Franke has long experimented with transparency and the relationship of materials of near-invisibility, sometimes utilizing clear tape or luminous fabric, to the physicality of the human body and interior psychology. For “Levity,” she will create a new installation invoking these concerns through drawing with light. Bill Gerhard modulates the effect of sunlight to fade the colors of letter-size construction paper. Kate Joranson deals with contrasts of weight in particular: she drags a cinder block through powder leaving a delicate trail as the result of what could have been a violent move. From this disproportionate action emerges a sense of absurdity. Irene Kopelman’s finely rendered pencil drawings of microfossils in the collection of the natural history museum in Amsterdam make visible particles that otherwise would be invisible. Jiha Moon provides sly observations on traditional art genres through skillful drawing that combines the styles and imagery of Western pop and Asian landscapes. Mio Olsson gathers together arrangements of silly things in her sometimes three-dimensional drawings. Her acute vision subtly and simply shows a new point of view on overlooked moments. Michelle Oosterbaan’s large-scale drawings concoct epic narratives in a composition that floats with fantastical verve. Lisa Perez also arranges lighthearted vignettes in space with her colorful drawing cutouts on paper affixed to the wall. Eduardo Santiere draws ever-evolving combinations of lines and points of color on large expanses of paper that are permeated with lyrical motion and joy. Rachel Perry Welty constructs sinewy cosmic swirls out of tiny produce price tags from the grocery store.
