DRAWING CHALLENGE X
We are thrilled to announce Nandini Bagla Chirimar, Barbara Friedman and Helen Oji as the featured contestants of our Drawing Challenge X
which was inspired by words from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s
"Letter from Birmingham Jail," written on 16 April 1963.
We would like to thank the artist Tony Moore for submitting these lines.
"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helped to perpetuate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963 -
Helen Oji, Window Eyes, 2019, acrylic on paper, 12 x 9 inches
”Though written in 1963, these words of Martin Luther King, Jr. still resonate in our current times. After reading this quote, I thought of a series of work on paper and photographs that I have been working on over the past few years entitled, Window Faces. This series was inspired by a building being renovated across from my studio. Viewed late at night and through veiled windows, the building's glowing construction lights created eyes and faces, often haunting. I felt that this particular work, Window Eyes, reflects our current experiences with the Covid-19 pandemic and recent events that have ignited worldwide protests centering on policing and social injustice.”
- Helen Oji, 2020
www.helenoji.com
Nandini Bagla Chirimar, One of Her Napkins, 2017, pencil on Japanese Kozo paper, 11 x 10 inches
"Tied in a single garment of destiny.." This much washed napkin brings to mind our society..checkered, fragile, fraying, and yet held together by a network of resilient threads.”
- Nandini Chirimar, 2020
www.nandinichirimar.com
Barbara Friedman, Pass the Duck, 2020, watercolor and oil on paper, 12 x 16 inches
“I started with amorphous pools of pigment and worked toward Martin Luther King's words, "caught in an inescapable network of mutuality." The duck came first. Only then did I find the two faces on both sides of the negative space surrounding the duck. The faces are close, like people's heads in "Pass the Orange," where you hold an orange under your chin and then tuck it under the next player's chin. Only now it's mouth to mouth, and the orange is a little duck. The game is being played as a game of social mutuality. You have to keep from hurting this living thing but you also have to bring it to someone else who won't hurt it. There's a fine line between doing your share and giving another person your share to do. The image connects with King's alert to that ambiguity between taking responsibility and shifting responsibility, an ambiguity also reflected in the title with its echo of "pass the buck."
- Barbara Friedman, 2020
www.barbarafriedmanpaintings.com
Iona Kleinhaut, Blindfold/Bandage, 2020, oil on linen, 72 x 80 inches
www.ionakleinhaut.com
Gloria Fiero, Bluster and Blow Series Number 4, 2019, mixed media . 12 x 16 inches
"Ours is a time of turmoil and terror
Of bluster and blow"
Eric Banks, Encroachment, 2020, acrylic/ paper fusion on wood
Elisa Decker, Hole in the Fabric, 2017, archival pigment print, 8 x 8 inches
www.elisadecker.org
Friederike Oeser, From the New York New York Series PROTEST, 2015, original screen print on digital photo collage, single work, 31 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches
www.friederike-oeser.de
"It is interesting how an art work's meaning can change into a poignant message, reflecting the time in which we live. This work was inspired by what I saw around New York City in 2015, the year I started working on my "New York New York" series. At that time this painting had no special designation. But it has now become most relevant, like a conflict smoldering, ready to explode."
Dane Goodman, then and then, 2019, oil stick on paper, 48 x 36 inches
www.estradafineart.com
Walter Markham, Tar and Feather Totem, 2020, Transitional Subject, Roofing Cement, goose feathers with various mediums applied, 112 x 18 x 20 inches
Roz Dimon, SAFETY LOST, 2016, digital drawing, ARTIFACTS II
www.rozdimon.com
”A simple tool such as a safety pin can mend or prick. It's our choices that differentiate good from evil.”
Laura Karetzky, Steam Drawing, June 2019, water and shower door, Brooklyn, New York
“Daily Ablutions. Unexpectedly, I seem to have begun a daily drawing practice in the shower, finger sketching in the steam on the shower door. I am documenting them regularly now.”
Alicia Rothman, Black and White Maze, 2020, oil and handmade stencils on panel, 8 x 10 inches
www.aliciarothman.com
Deanna Sirlin, Know, 2020, acrylic on wood, 10 x 8 inches
www.deannasirlin.com
Pat Badt, Crossed Letter, 2019, ink on paper, 15 x 11 inches
www.patbadt.com / www.thethirdbarn.org
"Historically a crossed letter is a letter that contains separate sets of writing, one written over the other at cross angles, to save paper as well as the cost of postage. Crossed Letters date pre-20th century."
John McDevitt King, All In Together, 2020, ghost monoprint on paper, Image: 14 x 12 inches, Paper: 28 x 22 1/2 inches
www.johnmcdevittking.com
Leonor Mendoza, Avocados, 2020
www.leonormendoza.com
“How should we react to threats to life on earth?”
Cynthia Hartling, Gravity's Pull, c. 2018, oil on unstretched linen, 66 x 83 inches
www.cynthiahartling.com
"Using color as a universal language, I chose to represent the centrifugal forces at play, to expand all voices-to seek change in a world mired by tribalism."
Julie Shapiro, Revolve, 2020, prismacolor and graphite on monoprint 13 1/2 x 13 inches
www.julieshapiroart.com
Carol Radsprecher, Piggy One, 2016, inkjet print drawn in Photoshop, 12 x 12 inches
www.carolradsprecher.com
Tony Moore, "Fire Painting 2.11.18" 2018, wood-fired ceramic, glass, 15 x 22 ½ x 2 ½ inches
www.TonyMooreArt.com
"For several years I have responded to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in my practice, though not in a literal way. They are more like shimmers of light reflecting upon my consciousness."
Soonae Tark, Untitled, 2020, acrylic on paper, 22 x 28 inches
www.soonaetark.com
Robert G. Edelman, Artifact, 2011, graphite, charcoal, pastel on paper, 9 x 12 inches
www.robertgedelman.com
Susan Moss, Earthslide 537, 2020, oil and oil crayon on paper, 60 x 44 inches
www.susanhmoss.com
Moses Hoskins, Untitled Polyptych, 2019, oil on canvas, 10 panels, Each: 24 x 18 inches
www.moseshoskins.net