Drawing is the autograph of the imagination. It is possibility examined, options proposed, and self-discovery. To my mind, the best drawings conjure personal worlds: it might be a brushy sketch distilling an observation, a dream rendered in reflective and nuanced graphite, a color arrangement painted in astonishing balance and harmony, the charged tracks of charcoal on rough paper, a wry social commentary assembled in collage, or a visionary proposal intricately mapped in ink. I admire the thinking hand, so well-trained that it spills the soul spontaneously, but I also recognize the advantage of the clear-eyed untrained hand as well. I love paper with its flexibility and responsiveness that accommodates everything – including pentimenti, erasures, revisions, and accidents – elements that reveal the unguarded persona of the artist. I love the wildly varied materials and techniques of drawing that foster an astonishing range of approaches, finishes, and formats. Indeed, it might be the intrinsic versatility, intimacy, and informality of drawing that allows it to mirror our own struggles, growth, and epiphanies so acutely while stoking our inner visions.
For this survey of contemporary drawing, I reviewed 938 digital images to identify distinctive works that might vivify a gallery space that accommodates approximately 65 objects. With so many superb submissions, I proposed to include one drawing per artist. All works were kept in play during the entire jurying process. Images were reviewed multiple times, in full-screen view, in detail and I scanned groups of thumbnails asking if the drawing seemed potent from a distance and whether it spoke to its peers. Data tags informed my decision-making. I questioned whether titles were synergetic. I compared media descriptions with images trying to discern how each technique was employed and I used a long metal ruler to visualize sizes. I studied the artists’ commentaries. While many high-quality portraits were submitted, I refrained from emphasizing a particular genre. Additionally, those submitting prints and videos were competing with an incredibly robust field of works in more traditional drawing media. And finally, I attempted to fill the gallery with drawings of diverse sizes, textures, shapes, and palettes that could energize the walls, ceiling, and floor.
Drawing endures. While the vocal and gestural expressions of countless generations are gone, markings on cave walls remain. Standing in front of the actual work one can sense the purest fire of expression and best uncover the clues to its creation. In the cave, or the studio, or the exhibition gallery, there are none of the vagaries inherent in the ocean of reproductive images flooding contemporary vision. Drawings can be studied from myriad vantage points without blurred resolution or confusion about texture or contour or size. Color, medium, and support are beheld factually, sensually, and spiritually. I owe a great debt to the digital world that allowed this show to be assembled in a thoughtful and efficient manner and enabled a printed catalogue to be produced as a record. But those of us who stand before the physical works in this exhibition are the ones who perceive them best.
-Charles Ritchie