Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina, Dunavska 37, Novi Sad, Serbia
The exhibition DRAWN (OVER): Contemporary Drawing from LeRoy Neiman Until Today is a part of an international project DRAW that was launched by the LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia University in New York.
In cooperation with the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina in Novi Sad, Serbia, The exhibition DRAWN (OVER) brings together the private sketches and drawings of seventy artists from around the world in an exhibition that provides a rare, revealing look into the drawing process and artists’ innermost thoughts. The participating artists are:
Yasi Alipour
David Altmejd
Natalie Birinyi
Cecily Brown
Phong Bui
Ernesto Caivano
Nathan Catlin
Saint Clair Cemin
Aurélien Couput
Predrag Dimitrijević
Jelena Djurić
Rafael Domenech
Riaki Enyama
Ghada Amer and
Reza Farkhondeh
Fab Five Freddy
Ivan Forde
Barnaby Furnas
Gandalf Gavan
Eric Guerrero
Ben Hagari
Valerie Hammond
Suzanne Herrera
Duy Hoàng
Cary Hulbert
Jasper Johns
Goran Jureša
Kurt Kemp
William Kentridge
Hedya Klein
Susanna Koetter
Nataša Kokić
Fred H.C. Liang
Kate Liebman
Nicola López
Tijana Luković
Marko Marković
Nikola Marković
Bryan McGovern Wilson
Nora Mesaroš
Dante Migone-Ojeda
Johana Moscoso
LeRoy Neiman
Brian Novatny
Jennifer Nuss
Norman Paris
Mark Perlman
Eva Petrič
Kristin Plucar
Nemanja i
Vladimir Radusinović
Jessica Segall
Monika Sigeti
Shahzia Sikander
Luis Silva
Dana Sherwood
Dasha Shishkin
Kiki Smith
Dragana B. Stevanović
Emma Sulkowicz
Sarah Sze
TARWUK
Rirkrit Tiravanija
Tomas Vu
John Walker
Kara Walker
Heimo Wallner
Tommy White
Peter Wayne Lewis
Yuan Zuo
The exhibition seeks to unearth a raw form of creative energy channeling the essential truth of an artist no pasteurized for public consumption. Unlike artwork created for public or commercial use, the diverse array of works included in DRAWN (OVER) will reveal an authenticity that exists in intimate spaces hidden from the public eye such as an artist’s sketchbook or studio. By focusing on the medium of drawing, the purpose of this exhibition is to showcase not the finished, polished products of traditional art exhibitions but rather the authentic, unfiltered beginning of something recorded through drawing.
The concept of the Draw project began with the discovery of several sketchbooks that no one knew existed excavated from the New York studio of the late LeRoy Neiman after the artist’s passing. The stark difference between the drawings covering the pages of a sketchbook from 1949–52 compared to the characteristically jocular and proud imagery of Neiman’s “Americana” is shocking, if not jarring. Neiman himself has publicly asserted that he does not attempt to delve much beyond the surface in his work. “When I paint, I seriously consider the public presence of a person–the surface facade,” he wrote in Art and Life Style. “I am less concerned with how people look when they wake up or how they act at home. A person’s public presence reflects his own efforts at image development.” In these sketchbooks, however, gone are the prismatic and impressionistic illustrations of famous people and places. Instead, we find the murky depths of the realm of demons, mutated monsters and mythical beasts to reveal a completely diverging, hidden side of the famed artist. This discovery begs the question: how many more of these kinds of artist sketchbooks are out there? And, where does the artist go in the absence of outside pressures, expectations and interpretation?
To begin to answer this question about the artists’ internal dialogue, artists including Jasper Johns, Kiki Smith, Cecily Brown, William Kentridge, Sarah Sze, and Kara Walker will have their drawings displayed unconventionally as one might find them in a private studio. Works will hang from floor to ceiling in multiple groupings. Though traditional exhibitions have included sketches and studies as secondary accessories of an artist’s work, Draw engages these works as the forefront of the show. In doing so, the exhibition DRAWN (OVER) offers a glimpse into the maker’s process, a microcosm of the artist’s creative mind.
In addition to works hanging on the walls, this exhibition will include an interactive, live-action mural titled Demonstration Drawings by Rirkrit Tiravanija that will reflect some of the most pressing political topics of our time. Reconsidering the relevance of past resistance in light of today’s political climate, Tiravanija will invite local artists and volunteers to draw onto the walls of the exhibition using photographs collected over the course of many years that depict public protests and mass demonstrations from across the globe. This live drawing will provide a perspectival view of collective action and popular sovereignty movements worldwide—turning ephemeral images of strife and social conflict into documents of political aspiration. In participating in Rirkrit’s work, volunteers become implicated in the concept of activism.
Round and Round is a performance and fiber art installation by artist Johana Moscoso. This solo exhibition celebrates her family’s migrations to the United States of America, and reflects on gender and labor. It involves a collaboration with Latinas seamstresses who are immigrants or first-generation Americans living in Chicago. This exhibition is partially supported by the Individual Artist Program Grant of the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency through which federal funds are provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
movement. By using traditional Latino and caribbean dances (such as salsa, merengue, and soka) in her performances Moscoso questions gender roles in Hispanic culture. Engaging these fragile human states is the pivotal endeavor in her performance work.