Wednesday 1 July 2015

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

No comments: