Some thoughts on drawing from Antony Gormley

To mark the opening of Antony Gormley's Space Stations exhibition at The Hatton Gallery, Antony Gormley gave a wonderful talk about drawing. His unscripted rambling about drawing was eloquent and thoughtful, and made for an insightful introduction to the exhibition.

"Space Stations is an exhibition of works on paper by Antony Gormley in which the artist seeks to reconcile the body with its habitat and architecture with anatomy, making drawings wherein the body is treated as a space within space."


Here are a few statements, questions and thoughts raised in the lecture

Drawing is the way we inhabit an imagined world

There is no hiding in drawing

Drawing is tuning in 

Drawing doesn't have to be about appearance

To draw up a plan...

To draw from...

Drawing is reflective

Drawing is a circuit

What is a drawing of? A thing? A place?

A trajectory of thoughts

A diagram of a state of mind

Reversing substance and appearance

Reversing space and body

Allowing the behaviour of materials

The surface of a piece of paper can become a landscape

Describing energy

Stop drawing when it gets too comfortable or too knowing

Drawing is a place of freedom

Drawing is a celebration of what is possible

Drawing enables an empathetic exchange with a viewer in a generous manner

"Gormley's Space Stations exhibition runs in parallel with Speculations: making thinking drawing, an exhibition in celebration of drawing. Speculations: making thinking drawing brings together archival material with the work of contemporary artists in order to explore the ingenious and imaginative ways in which ideas, materials, space and structure can be evoked and investigated on the flat plane of the paper’s surface. 

Speculations: making thinking drawing forms part of the inaugural exhibitions of ‘drawing?’ - a series of exhibitions, discussions, publications, lectures and events based around the theme of drawing, which will take place in various museums and galleries in the North East over the forthcoming year."

http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/hatton-gallery/whats-on/exhibitions