Collaboration between the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies, Columbia University and the Museum of Fine Arts Split
Exhibition venues: Museum of Fine Arts and Gallery of the Multimedia Cultural Centre
Artists:
Jonathan Adams, Selva Aparicio, Ahmet Arslan, Vinko Barić, Margaret Braun, Ambreen Butt, Ernesto Caivano, Alexis Callender, Caroline Carlsmith, Nathan Catlin, Kat Chamberlin, Alejandro Contreras, William Cordova, JJ Cromer, Predrag Dimitrijević, Davor Dmitrović, Edvin Dragičević, Mario Ferretti, Sonja Gašperov, Baris Gokturk, Cate Holt, Katarina Ivanišin Kardum, Lin Jing, Jasper Johns, Nikica Jurković, Darina Karpov, Nils Karsten, Dan Kennedy, Alex Kvares, Nebojša Lazić, Miki Lee, Fred HC Liang, Miron Milić, Anita Miloš Tomaić, Simonetta Moro, LeRoy Neiman, Brian Novatny, Jennifer Nuss, Aga Ousseinov, Lav Paripović, Vedran Perkov, Eva Petrič, Ivana Pipal, Aleksandra Popović, Veljko Popović, Ivan Prerad, Eric Ramos Guerrero, Andrea Resner, Kristina Restović, Dennis Scholl, Jessica Segall, Shahzia Sikander, Luis Silva, Kiki Smith, Damir Sobota, Valentina Supanz Marinić, Ivan Svaguša, Miran Šabić, Marko Tadić, Richard Tinkler, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Vice Tomasović, Andy Van Dinh, Tomas Vu, Kara Walker, Laura Watt, Tommy White, Sun Xun, Yuan Zuo, Loren Živković Kuljiš
The exhibition DRAW – What Is Contemporary Drawing and What Can It All Be? presents a number of American and Croatian contemporary artists who are rethinking the medium of drawing in various ways. It is a project that was initiated by Tomas Vu, visual artist, professor and artistic director at the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia University in New York, and conceived as a curatorial platform focused on affirming drawing as an independent art discipline, and to encourage creativity in this medium of artistic expression. The DRAW exhibition provides an insight into the latest developments on the contemporary art scene, those artists who recognise the quality and possibilities of creation in the drawing medium, whose work surprises with its inventiveness and creativity, whether in pure drawing or in combination with other art techniques. Bringing together, in an exhibition format, internationally recognised artists and local artists from the milieus hosting the exhibition, the project carries particular importance for the cultural rapprochement between different cultures, primarily because of the need to consider our local art production in the broad international context and evaluate our own artistic achievements on the global stage. Participation of the world-renowned artists in eight exhibitions held thus far (Beijing, China; Dali City, Yunnan Province, China; Boston, Mass, USA; Novi Sad, Serbia; Manila, Philippines; Winston-Salem, North Karolina, USA; Hangzhou, China) confirms the international reputation of this project, which has become a meeting place of ideas and current art production in the drawing medium on a global level.
The artists selected for the exhibition in Split will demonstrate, with their works, a strong synergy between contemporary trends in visual communications and classic draughtsmanship, which spans a wide array of techniques and materials used. Their example will confirm that there is an overlap and intertwining of different media and disciplines in this as in other art disciplines today, in the spirit of postmodernism, as well as a respect for a broad range of approaches, from classical drawing to objects in space, the ready-made, installation and ambient art, from manual execution to computer processing. It is precisely this rethinking and examining of the ludic component of drawing, stepping out of the two-dimensional surface towards the third dimension, creating spatial drawings and objects in various materials, inventive procedures and combinations, pushing the limits of drawing towards a different and broader definition of this contemporary medium, that is supposed to answer the question – what is drawing today and what can it all be, what are its potentials in the time of expansion and coexistence of all possible pluralisms of styles, directions and tendencies, numerous new media and technically extremely sophisticated means of artistic expression.
The exhibition remains on view until 25 August 2022.
The exhibition is financed by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, City of Split, Split-Dalmatia County and LeRoy Neiman Foundation.
