Past Exhibition

Vital Signs
August 20 - October 19, 2009

Newcomb Art Gallery’s first exhibition of the fall season is Vital Signs, an examination of drawings and works on paper within the context of new forms of digital production. The show is curated by Gary Sangster, former executive director of Headlands Center for the Arts in California and current instructor of curatorial studies at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

“The trace of gestures through marks recorded on a physical ground, creating line or the illusion of form, is at the heart of visual expression,” commented Sangster. “Technology—and new systems of representation—can be a springboard for creative production. The artists included in Vital Signs have all considered the role of technology in the modern world, yet they remain committed to the unique immediacy of drawing and the power of mark-making to convey human knowledge.”

Featuring more than 50 works, many revealing laborious construction and strong architectural components, the exhibition looks to push the boundaries of drawing. The show’s artists utilize a variety of surfaces, including drafting film, mylar, and vellum, as well as diverse materials such as thread, marker, pins, and duct tape.  Despite this multiformity, the works all return to the central role of drawing as a progenitor to artistic expression.

l to r [details]: Lead Pencil Studios, Under the Surface; Sid Garrison, July 12, 2005; Deborah Aschheim, Worry; Leslie Shows, Black Iceberg