Drawn to the Real
dal 10/6/2014 al 18/7/2014
Segnalato da
10/6/2014
Drawn to the Real
Alan Cristea Gallery, London
The exhibition brings together five contemporary artists whose work is united by the medium of drawing: Miriam de Burca, Jane Dixon, Richard Forster, Marie Harnett and Emma Stibbon.
Drawn to the Real brings together five contemporary artists whose work is united by the medium of
drawing. For all these artists drawing is not a means to an end, a quick sketch or a preparatory study,
but is the culmination of many months of work. Whilst drawing is not necessarily their sole means of
expression, it is a central part of their practice and vision.
Each artist uses the medium in a detailed and precise way. Although they are working within a
figurative framework, they are not attempting to replicate by hand the detail and patina of the
photographic image. Rather they are interested in issues of documentation, representation, scale
and the process of drawing.
Miriam de Búrca will present a series of new works, Deconstructing the North. De Búrca engages
with her own experience of the persisting divisions in her homeland of Northern Ireland by
documenting the wildlife and plants inhabiting the grounds of Crom Estate, a former Anglo-Irish
estate. Her intricate, detailed drawings accentuate the transformation of a place with a fractious
history and the conscious effort it takes to recall and understand its past and present.
Jane Dixon’s drawings reflect a continuation of her interest in the relationship between the real and
the artificial. Her boxed earth drawings form part of her Model Series; studies of architectural or
museum models. In this case resin casts of soil and glass boxed earth specimens are the subject.
These drawings combine surface rubbings from the physical world with pure invention. Dixon is
interested in the idea of a model being a representation of something which is either an authentic
representation of the real thing or the 3D embodiment of an imagined object.
Often presenting his drawings in sequences, Richard Forster’s practice is a documentary approach to
time, process and sense of place. For Drawn to the Real he will present a brand new triptych of
pencil drawings, meticulously created with his own photographic images of seascapes. Forster re-
visits the same section of beach, from the place of his birth in the north-east of England, time and
time again to capture the shifting tide.
Marie Harnett’s work is inspired by cinema. She makes small, intricately detailed pencil drawings
which capture fleeting moments of drama, suspense or beauty. When released from the original
context of the film that inspired them, the drawings each establish an alternative narrative of their
own. For this exhibition she will show a new series of drawings based on the movie American Hustle.
Landscape is a central concern in Emma Stibbon's practice. Her work emerges through her practice
of walking and gathering research ‘in the field’, often drawing from observation and using the
camera. Back in the studio she constructs large-scale drawings based on this site research often
using fragile drawing media such as chalk on blackboard or volcanic ash on paper. Stibbon is drawn
to locations that are in a condition of flux or change, that are connected by their sense of scale or
drama. Her underlying interest is focused on how the apparently monumental can be so fragile. In
Drawn to the Real, she will be showing new large-scale drawings based on her visit to the Antarctic
in 2013.
Image: Emma Stibbon, Falljokull glacier (Vatnajokull), 2013. Ink and mica on paper, 184 x 130 cm © Courtesy of the artist and Alan Cristea Gallery
For press information and images please contact:
Kara Reaney and Rachel Guthrie at Pelham Communications
Tel: +44 20 8969 3959
Email: kara@pelhamcommunications.com and rachel@pelhamcommunications.com
PRIVATE VIEW: 6.00 - 7.30pm, Wednesday 11 June 2014
Alan Cristea Gallery
34 Cork Street, London W1
10am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, 11am-2pm Sat
Free