Dan Fischer, Battered Nan Goldin, 2000. Graphite on paper 15 x 22.25 inches.
Idée fixe translates from French as an obsession, or an idea that preoccupies one’s mind. On view through June 11th at Winkleman Gallery, we can see how this concept is taken on in current activities in drawing in an intriguing exhibition entitled Idée Fixe: Drawings of an Obsessive Nature. In a traditional presentation of framed black and white drawings (with the exception of one unframed work), this show offers a glimpse at seven artists’ investigations. The works on view range from abstract to figurative and landscape, with the common thread being different expressions of repetitive gestures. At the entrance, a small drawing by Jacob El Hanani initially looks like a gradient of gray waves. Upon closer inspection, the gray areas reveal themselves as a complex, ordered system of cross-hatchings and lines. Man Bartlett and Astrid Bowlby contribute similar all-over abstractions composed of accumulations of marks on the page while Aric Obrosey creates a network of twists and knots based on the intricate patterns of lace. Daniel Zeller’s drawings oscillate between the fantasy and real worlds, as his obsessive ink marks follow his own prescribed set of rules. Building on the idea of invented space, Shane Hope uses open-source molecular visualization systems to create hyper-detailed drawings of flowchart-like doodles. Joan Linder takes the obsessive rendering practice into the realm of mundane, everyday objects in her large-scale drawings—in this case making weeds her subject matter. Dan Fischer meticulously redraws well-known photographs of contemporary artists, while Michael Waugh uses a technique called micrography, through which hand-written text is used to build up the visual imagery of his compositions. In this limited but diverse overview, I could immediately think of dozens of other artists who would fit within this framework and this show offers an exciting jumping off point to continue the dialogue. We are reminded how directly connected drawing is to an artist’s mind, as the hand on paper truly becomes the extension of the mind. – Rachel Liebowitz, Assistant Curator
Jacob El Hanani, Gauze (detail), 2001. Ink on Paper, 23.5 x 37.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Nicole Klagsbrun, New York.
Astrid Bowlby, 11.1.07 (Dark Garden), 2007. Ink on Paper 11 x 17 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA.