Jan 23 to Sep 6, 2016
On Your Mark I and II
About the Exhibition
The On Your Mark series is the catalyst for a study of the products and processes of mark making, a thematic thread which is woven throughout our 2016 exhibition programming. From both a historic and contemporary perspective, our exhibitions explore how artists use marks as both a means to an end, and as ends in themselves. Nowhere is the mark more evident than in the practice of drawing. Curator Emma Dexter describes the drawing as a “map of time,” specifically, because of its ability to record the actions of the maker, the sequence of stroke after stroke. One hundred years separate the earliest drawing presented in this exhibition from its contemporary counterparts. How has drawing evolved within this time frame?
When F. H. Varley learned to draw at the end of the 19th century, the medium was seen as the foundation of artistic practice. Line, shape, proportion and perspective were the fundamental elements of every drawing and skill was assessed by the individual’s ability to create on paper a convincing illusion of the three-dimensional world. Today, contemporary artists defy this traditional notion and redefine our understanding of what a drawing is and can be. Now, the intention of the artist comes to the forefront and their choice of medium and support, as well as of scale and composition becomes as important as the imagery they produce.
By comparing and contrasting these old and new practices, along with the ways in which the mark itself can be explored and manipulated, our hopes are that new connections may be established between past and present.
On Your Mark was an exhibition presented in two parts. While the work of F. H. Varley and Kate Wilson remained throughout the run of the exhibition, works by Claire Scherzinger were replaced by works by Ed Pien halfway through the exhibition. This allowed for greater dialogue with the temporary exhibitions on view concurently Sarah Cale: Instants passing through the air I breathe and Visualizing a Culture for Strangers: Chinese Export Paintings from the Nineteenth Century.
