Drawing Paper
#4
Introduction Another portable lo-fi drawing exhibition – still logo-free and still artist-led. The work we’ve featured has developed for us a conversation about context – whether it’s context for the completed image or object or the context of the time and place of the creation and process of the work. This offers the opportunity to consider site-specific and object-specific works and to explore the context in which drawers have drawn. Some contributions are from artists who are on residency in new and unfamiliar surroundings, such as the work of Jordan Marani from Australia, Li Zhouwei and Zhang Zhenxue from China, all making images in Liverpool. Another Australian artist, Michael Grant produced drawings on location during his Manchester residency. Frances Disley has made drawings onto delicate ceramic hats and natural forms and the context for Paul Evans’ massive drawings is both time (Darwin Day 2009) and place – a church in Lincolnshire. Drawing communicates threads of significance that are attached to time, place, person and personal experience in a direct and accessible way. So there’s no subjectbased theme for this issue except that we continue to be inspired, amazed and fascinated by the context, range and diversity of drawing work that we either encounter or are sent. Please feel free to visit the Drawing Paper blog and Facebook page to add your comments and to see other responses to Drawing Paper. We are working on our distribution methodology just now and hope to make this and future issues more widely available. If you are interested in having copies to distribute from your organisation or at your event please let us know. Jon and Mike.
Drawing Paper is a freely distributed, not-for-profit publication funded and made possible solely by its contributors. Our featured artists pay an equal amount for their page which in total covers the production costs. With this model it is possible to be liberated from the tedious rigours of funding applications and criteria guidelines, enabling us to do things on our own terms—Drawing Paper is a logo and advert free zone. ... ... ... ... ... If you would like extra copies sent to you or your establishment please email us at something@mikesstudio.co.uk We are looking for distribution outlets (gallery shops, studio groups, book stores). If you are interested in stocking Drawing Paper please email us for details: something@mikesstudio.co.uk ... ... ... ... ... Sincere thanks to all our contributors for their support, encouragement and enthusiasm. All artworks copyright © The Artists Published September 2011 Back cover photo: Jon Barraclough Published and designed in Liverpool, UK by Mike Carney and Jon Barraclough. www.mikesstudio.co.uk www.jonbarraclough.co.uk Printed in a limited edition of 3000 by Sharman and Company, Peterborough. www.sharmanandco.co.uk ... ... ... ... ... drawing-paper.tumblr.com Find ‘Drawing Paper’ on Facebook.
ADAM BATCHELOR Watziznehm Pencil, coloured pencil on paper 380 x 560mm (2011)
MICHAEL GRANT Victoria Station (Manchester) Watercolour on paper 250 x 480mm (2011)
BRYAN BIGGS Happy Ever After In The Market Place (detail) Ink and spit on paper 210 x 148mm (individually) (2000 – present)
LI ZHOUWEI Lifeboat Ink on paper 1800 x 980mm (2011)
ELAINE PITTWOOD Drawing 6 Pen and ink on paper 550 x 555mm (2011)
TIM SOUTHALL Wolves in the Woods Etching and aquatint on copper 80.5 x 110.5mm (2011)
JORDAN MARANI The People You Meet Graphite, house paint on newspaper 300 x 450mm (individually) (2011)
DOREEN MCPHERSON Two Heads Pencil and graphite on paper 1140 x 840mm (2009)
SARA MAIA Straw Heads Indian ink on paper 1100 x 1400 mm (2011)
HARRY LAWSON Even the Stars look like a Mess Ink on Paper 420 x 297mm (2011)
SOPHIA CRILLY Walter Hopps From the series: Ausstellungsmacher / A History of Exhibitions & Spaces Pencil on paper 210 x 300mm (2011)
FRANCES DISLEY After the Deluge (detail) Clay and pencil Dimensions variable (2011)
LUCY WILSON Going Home Pen and Ink (2011)
HILARY ELLIS Pale Remembered II Mixed media 770 x 770.5mm (2010)
RICHARD TAYLOR & ROSS HAMILTON FREW Collaborative drawing: RICHARD house plant (bonsai balance), Pencil on paper. ROSS Plan for wall drawing, Biro on paper. (2011)
PAUL EVANS Leviathan Graphite on paper 4.5 x 10m (2009) x-church, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Darwin Day 2009. Photo by Dan Sumption.
ZHANG ZHENXUE Untitled Mixed media 2000 x 3000mm (2010)
HANNAH BITOWSKI Dimensionality Screen print on paper 120 x 290mm (2011)
About the artists
ADAM BATCHELOR (UK)
HANNAH BITOWSKI (UK)
FRANCES DISLEY (UK)
Adam Batchelor’s work is about a breakdown between the real and the unreal, of society and culture. It is about the interaction between these different worlds and how they can be manipulated and influenced. It not only looks at the blurring between cultures from the ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ world but also looks into the impact of hyper-reality within modern culture and lifestyles. The work is also divided between detailed pencil work and the comic abstraction of cartoon imagery.
The theme of self-perceived image is examined in this body of work through the use of print, paper and textiles. Portraiture is distorted and abstracted, challenging pre-conceived notions of identity to distract and submerge our initial perceptions.
Frances creates work that challenges the media’s current negative representation of teenagers. Transforming society’s wastelands into magical landscapes Frances seeks to emphasise the exciting yet terrifying transition from childhood to adulthood.
These ideas are reinforced by moving the work into the realms of dimensionality, with the application of mathematics and symmetry.
The work After the Deluge was created by dipping porous objects into clay-casting slip. The original object then burns away when fired; leaving a clay shell that holds the same form. Reminiscent of scrimshaws, intricately engraved whale bones created by sailors, these fragile objects tell tales of adolescence through the delicate pencil drawings on their surfaces.
The Circles series is a collection of abstractions looking at subjects within the medium of the cartoon and the comic strip. Through these drawings I put forward questions and subjects that explore the Comic on a socioeconomic point of view and can hopefully raise interesting topics of discussion based on how it depicts the world around us. Watziznehm highlights the depiction of Indians as magical and enigmatic Ghandi-Like figures in an Asterix the Gaul Comic. Is this common stereotype still thought upon and is this a call to change to assumptions of Hinduism and Islam in India? adambatchelor.co.uk
BRYAN BIGGS (UK) Bryan Biggs is artistic director of the Bluecoat, Liverpool. Trained in fine art at Liverpool Polytechnic, he has maintained a drawing practice, working predominantly small scale. Happy Ever After In The Market Place is an ongoing project of over 1,000 drawings that he has been engaged in over the past decade. A selection was shown in the Jerwood Drawing Prize in 2003 (Third Prize). The drawings are made quickly and intuitively with ink and spit, starting with tentative marks before something recognisable emerges, the selection here focusing on faces. As the drawings take on an improvisatory life of their own, the images become distressed by chance effects in the drawing process: splattered ink, smudges, scrawled words, alien or phantasmagorical elements. With no narrative intent, the drawings are nevertheless a sort of diary, made in response to what seems like the daily unravelling of cultures of greed, corruption and hypocrisy. bryan.b@thebluecoat.org.uk
Hannah lives and works in Liverpool and is based at The Royal Standard, an artist-led gallery, studio and social workspace. Hannah.bitowski@googlemail.com
Frances is a director and studio member at The Royal Standard Liverpool. francesdisley.com
SOPHIA CRILLY (UK) Sophia Crilly studied MA Visual Culture and BA Fine Art at Manchester School of Art. She is currently undertaking a practice based PhD in Curating at the University of Salford, where she is a part-time Lecturer in Critical & Contextual Studies. She is Director and Curator of Bureau, a gallery in Manchester. Walter Hopps is a portrait from Ausstellungsmacher / A History of Exhibitions & Spaces, a new series of pencil drawings developed from a personal collection of found and archival images. The series looks at the history of exhibition making over the last century; key protagonists – curators, critics, architects, and galleries – that have shaped and informed the display and presentation of art and the spaces it inhabits. Two works from this series were selected for exhibition in the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011, Jerwood Space, London (14 September – 30 October 2011), and touring the UK 2011–12. Crilly has exhibited internationally and undertaken residencies in Helsinki and Rotterdam. Her works are held in a number of private collections. sophiacrilly.com
HILARY ELLIS (UK) Hilary Ellis uses pen, pencil, ink, needles, beads, threads and perforations to create work invested in texture and surface. Meticulously building up layer after layer, and combining lines made using thread with those that are drawn and scored, she experiments with different combinations of process and media and explores the relationship between creativity and ritual. Both religious and secular societies rely on a framework of ritual which orders chaos, and instils a sense of comfort and safety that can also feel restrictive and narrowing. It is the space created by this dichotomy which Hilary Ellis explores. Ellis’s works are mixed media aggregations of repeated marks and actions that desire exact replication but whose inevitable deviations expose the frailty of the human hand in attempting the pursuit of mechanical process. The use of thread and beads is deliberately reminiscent of the labour-intensive toil of sweat shops, whose employees’ existence is reduced to a series of stitches. The works’ restricted and predominantly muted palette hints at the ennui of such ritualistic and repetitive creation, yet touches of colour – a pink bead, red thread – constitute glimmers of optimism. Hilary Ellis graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a BA (Hons) Fine Art and completed an MA in Printmaking at Camberwell College in 2009. She had a solo exhibition with Sumarria Lunn at The Frameless Gallery, Clerkenwell, London in 2010 and her work has been shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011, Jerwood Space, London (14 September – 30 October 2011), and touring the UK 2011–12. hilaryellis.co.uk
PAUL EVANS (UK) I am a visual artist based in Sheffield. My practice encompasses a variety of creative strategies including drawing, painting and animation. I use these to explore aspects of the complex field of relationships that exists between human beings and nature – in an effort to challenge the anthropocentric world view. I often work in series or through installations and web sites that connect disparate elements. The large-scale drawing Leviathan is an image of a diving sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). It measures 10m in height – the same height as an Olympic diving board. The drawing was made in an effort to gain comprehension of the vast scale of this organism; an attempt to see how we ‘measure up’ to the sublime immensity of such things. pkevans.co.uk origin09.org osteography.wordpress.com
MICHAEL GRANT (AUSTRALIA) “My most recent body of work investigates the legacies of the Second World War within Manchester, Liverpool and the wider United Kingdom. I have recently returned to Australia after a six week artist residency in Manchester, where I worked intensively both researching the war history and producing a body of work. The physical damage as a result of blitz was repaired long ago, but I believe the unseen emotional scars still linger on and forever mark places touched by war. Through my work, I aim to convey the intangible feelings one gets when visiting places such as these.” Michael Grant is an Australian based drawer and painter. He studied MA in painting at the University of Ballarat and has exhibited both within Australia and internationally. His works are represented in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. michaelgrant.com.au
RICHARD TAYLOR & ROSS HAMILTON FREW (UK) Since early 2011 Richard Taylor and Ross Hamilton Frew have been exploring collaborative measures through the engagement of drawing in their practices. In anticipation of their forthcoming exhibition at Superclub, Edinburgh in October 2011, they present a working drawing to Drawing Paper 4, in the form of a ‘plan’ for a curatorial model that will feature in the show at Superclub itself. In their joint blog ‘Drawing as a form of collaborative exchange’, both Ross and Richard have been overlaying ideas: the image they present here develops this narrative and is representative of the direct framing of one another’s work within, or next to that of the other. Richard utilises drawing to conserve ideas, which are then either acted out, constructed using found images / objects, or developed through written narrative. He actively steps outside the boundaries of the page, allowing his drawings to become three-dimensional and time-based. Ross on the other hand confines himself to the parameters of the page, engaging in pattern to explore a more systematic approach to the act of making marks. Ross’s drawings develop naturally however small or large, allowing the ‘page’ to have a multitude of appearances, rendering his work more sculptural and curatorially applied.
SARA MAIA (PORTUGAL)
ELAINE PITTWOOD (UK)
LUCY WILSON (UK)
“My work is always about questions I ask myself – and usually there is no answer. I turn the questions into images and open, ambiguous stories. I explore themes relating to human issues – human behaviour, affections, needs – how we organise ourselves socially and in our families.”
“My drawings are created using controlledautomatism; a labour-intensive process of conscious choice within an unplanned composition, governed by habitually followed rules.”
“The nostalgia you feel when picking up a pencil, your influences are endless and it feels natural to draw these things. Pattern is a playful way to represent symbolism.”
“The drawing Straw Heads explores ideas around judgement and difference. I find it interesting to try and understand how people ‘read’ images – how several different stories and emotions can be communicated from a single drawing or painting.” saramaia.com
JORDAN MARANI (AUSTRALIA) You / I see someone in a crowd, on a train on a plane, you / I overhear a snippet of conversation, a word here two words there, you / I sit down to recollect, your / my memory plays tricks, your / my mind plays games.
“The work is inspired by automatism, a technique that reveals the inner self through subconscious choice, but instead of freeing me from choice I am governed by it, each mark is chosen. The use of automatism is controlled throughout the production process to determine the relationship between the marks and the white space.” “My work follows the mark making processes of drawing and is influenced by obsessive mark making and duration drawing. I have cultivated a clear process of production using combinations of geometric and circular marks. The drawings communicate to viewers, giving them the freedom to apply their personal memories, influences and references and then trigger thoughts and discussion. I am based in Norwich and have recently completed my Fine Art degree at Norwich University College of the Arts.
elizabethsheart.com
ZHANG ZHENXUE & LI ZHOUWEI (CHINA)
DOREEN MCPHERSON (UK)
harrylawson.info
Lucy lives and illustrates in Liverpool, teaching and encouraging bookbinding.
jordemarani@yahoo.com
TIM SOUTHALL (UK)
Harry Lawson is currently studying an MA in Sculpture at The Royal College of Art.
By reviving traditional aspects of image making, symbolism within nature forms the soul of Lucy’s work, with dramatic use of symmetry it is versatile and a craft. Practicing a contemporary style, her work still grasps the nostalgia in tradition. Lucy’s work is applied to book making, gallery space and wallpaper design. Lucy also has work featured in the Ghost’s of Gone Birds Project.
elainepittwood@hotmail.com
rich-taylor.co.uk rosshamiltonfrew.tumblr.com
HARRY LAWSON (UK)
“This is an illustrative pattern of my hometown environment, hopefully a nostalgia that lot’s of people can relate to. Various symbols are placed theoretically within the pattern, encased in a plaque each bearing a meaning for example: Fossils: Are often found on Mappleton beach, imprints of shellfish and other creatures.”
“I draw people and their faces. I like when I use graphite and pencil and use the rubber to where I do dark shading around the eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks and hair.” Doreen McPherson is a member of Intoart, a London-based art collective. Her work has been included in a number of group exhibitions including See the Revolutionary Art Exhibit Whitechapel Gallery (2009) and Studio Voltaire (2007 and 2010). Her forthcoming solo exhibition at Studio Voltaire, London runs from 10 October – 19 November 2011. intoart.org.uk
“My exploration in drawing is carried out with an etching needle gliding over, or jabbing at, an etching plate: pushing and pulling a drawing from the inky blackness of a smoked plate. Then, using acids, resins and processes that seem almost alchemical, a plain and unmarked metal plate gradually becomes a finished piece.” “From delicate marks and ephemeral textures, to plunging blackness and shadowy unknowns, the etchings seen here are united in their efforts to push the medium in many different directions.” “Wolves in the Woods is a narrative that expands out of the image boundaries with an ominous, a sense of foreboding with a quickening sense of the chase.” timsouthall.net
Two prizewinners from the first John Moores Painting Prize Shanghai who were in residence this summer in Liverpool, hosted by Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Biennial. The residency is part of an ongoing cultural exchange between Liverpool and Shanghai. johnmooreschina.com