DRAWING CHALLENGE III
Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present a selection of submissions that we received in answer to our Drawing Challenge III, which was announced on April 22nd, 2020. The below artworks were prompted in response to the following excerpt from T.S. Eliot’s (1888-1965) poem "The Hollow Men, Part V" (1925). We would like to thank Mary Hrbacek for sharing this poem with us.
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Susan Schwalb, Convergence #12, 2017, silverpoint on ivory Plike paper, 9 x 9 inches
“My primary medium for over 40 years has been the Renaissance technique of silverpoint and metalpoint drawing. I have been working within a square format almost exclusively since 1997. Juxtaposing a wide variety of metals (silver, gold, brass, copper, platinum, pewter, bronze and aluminum) I obtain soft shifts of tone and color. Diagonal lines in the work "Convergence #12" forms the basic structure of my drawing and serves as a spatial context for irregular events on the surface.”
Susan Schwalb, 2020
www.susanschwalb.com
Christopher Orchard, Hobby Horse (dada), 2007, charcoal on paper, 42 1/2 x 65 inches
"This work is part of a collection that I developed by using the Bald Avatar as an actor in a continuing argument about the nostalgia of the "Avantgarde". The explorer is gazing backwards while his double enacts a kind of Mother Courage by pulling him forward..."
- Christopher Orchard, 2020
www.christopherorchardartist.com.au
Gelah Penn, Stele #9, 2019, polyester mesh, lenticular plastic, plastic garbage bags, plastic mesh, silicone tubing, staples, Styrofoam ball, Velcro, eyelets, T-pins, 90 x 49 x 30 inches
“Near the end of Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 film noir Detour, its beleaguered and traumatized main character muses, "That's life -- whichever way you turn, fate sticks out a foot to trip you." For me, this response is a literate, straightforward and darkly funny take on tragedy. In my monumental drawing "Stele #9," made from simple synthetic materials and constructed through cutting, layering, tearing, stapling, and stretching, I try to conjure perceptual and psychological depth with a similar directness and humor. The process of manipulating and juxtaposing fragments of stuff to illuminate and obscure various geometires, gestures and visual incidents is a small way I’m finding solace in what can often feel like an unraveling world.“
- Gelah Penn, 2020
www.gelahpenn.com