Flip through the drawings at Abbott and Holder Ltd

Just opposite the British Museum, in 30 Museum Street, we reach Abbott and Holder. Is one of the galleries that the collector Jason Brown suggested us to visit for our research. The display window on the street gives already an idea of the quantity of artworks that the gallery contains.

 



Abbott and Holder display window.



Once inside, we see that all the space available is filled to the brim. 

On the ground floor we find the exhibition "Portraits under pressure" of the contemporary illustrator Michael Daley (British Press Award 1987) with his caricatures for The Financial Times, The Indipendent, The Observer, etc.

All the other three floors are full of framed artworks on the wall and on the floor; unframed drawings, watercolours and prints are arranged in display racks; these are standing on the floor or on chests of drawers (for storing more drawings).

Display and storing in one of the rooms.

We check almost all the artworks on display and we discover an incredible ammount of drawing of different dimensions, with affordable prizes too. The range of drawings covers different periods, form XVIII to XX century mostly. In particular, the gallery is concentrated in collecting and selling English art.

It is pleasure to flip through all the material at disposal: handle the drawings, feel the variety of paper used, look in backlight how the artist ruled the lines. And finally, check if on the rear of the work there is a note of a previous owner or a serial number of a private collection. What a strong difference form the detached and distant approach to the artwork of the auction houses!



Flip through the drawings in a display rack.



We spend time to take notes and discuss about our personal opinion on the different drawings that corresponds to our personal taste and/or to our collective interest.

In particular, what catch our attention are two different series.

The first is a really particular series dated 1827 by the ornithologist Thomas Bewich (1753-1828). Details, precision and the particular themes represented define this series. Stunning the technique, since it is correlated to the really tiny dimensions of the works (roughly 10x7cm.): Bewich was a wood engraver, so that the series are impressions on paper. Observing the rear of the impressions, I notice a yellow mark, which means thet all the series is already reserved from a possible buyer.

The second series has a landscape subject. On the first drawing, on the top right of the cardboard that frames it, is written on pencil: Samuel Bard 1710-1778. Pen and ink £ 125. The series is not dated, not in the front nor in the rear.  Also these works are of a small dimension (roughly 10x10cm.) and particularly detailed. The drawing of the landscape represent also different architectures (houses, castles, etc.), framed by a draw flourish contour. The prizes of the drawings vary from £125 to £225.

These two series present, within the context of our project, two problems.

We want to purchase a drawing, so an artworks that present the technical characteristic of the drawing. In this case the first series by Thomas Bewich  is out of interest, since is produced with impression on paper.

Secondly, the series are dated, respectively, first half of the XIX century and XVIII century. Which means that if our interest is concentrated in the contemporary or, at least, second half of the XX century, both series are out of our goal.



Framed drawings and  watercolours
leaned on the floor.


We go back on the groundfloor and we meet the Director, Philip Athill, whom kindly answer to some questions about the gallery. When we explain the drawing project he looks interested, he show us a drawing hang in the gallery by Rydal Hanbury, contemporary artist. He shows us her website. His suggestion is to contact her directly and write that he, Philip Athill, gave her name to us. The practice of Rydal Hanbury is focused on drawing and she is also keen to participate in artistic projects. We will, of course, write her soon.


Visit the Abbott and Holder website:
http://www.abbottandholder.co.uk/

Michele Drascek

A visit to Austin / Desmond Fine Art

Austin / Desmond Fine Art faces a courtyard behind Great Russell Street, where also a well-stocked bookshop, a café with tables outside and an old camera shop remind me of a typical Italian square settlement. When we approach the gallery it is clear that the level of the artworks are out of our purchasing power. But we are here also to research and question about the commitment of the gallery with drawing.


Austin / Desmond Fine Art entrance in Pied Bull Yard.

The atmosphere is quite professional and the staff aloof. We visit the space and the works displayed, which turn out to be mostly paintings, particularly modern British painting. At the moment, on display we could see works by Josef Albers, Enrico Castellani, Piero Dorazio and others.
The gallery owns also works by Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975). In fact, we notice two of her drawing, that are delicate and bold at the same time. One drawing is dated 1941, the other one 1953. The prizes are also written on the caption: £60.000,00 the first, £80.000,00 the second.

Then we introduce the drawing project and ask if they have maybe more drawing in stock. The first answer is a question: "What is your budget?". Yes, our purchasing power doesn't correspond to their standards.

Mostly interested in paintings, the gallery offers also prints, but the expert on the matter is not in office today. Anyway, we say that it is drawings what we are really looking for. In the meanwhile, the phone starts to ring continually: it looks that are buyers asking information about artworks and prizes. We leave the gallery for another visit.




Leaving Austin /Desmond Fine Art.


Visit Austin /Desmond Fine Art:
http://www.austindesmond.com/

Michele Drascek

On drawing: Jean Fisher

Like being caught up in the rhythm of a dance or a jazz ensemble, or mesmerized by the intonations of a poetic reading, the act of drawing dismantles consciousness and plunges the self into a zone of experience or sensation liberated from the closure of representation and open to the free play of possibilities. Thus the drawing is the expression of this libidinal movement, free of signification and interpretation.

Fisher J., On drawing, in De Zegher C. (ed) The Stage of Drawing: Gesture and Act, Selected form the Tate Collection. London; New York: Tate Publishing and the Drawing Centre (2003)

Five Evaluation Criteria to purchase the drawing

It is clearly necessary an exchange of ideas on what could be a possible list of evaluation criteria to purchase the drawing. To do so, we decide to limit our personal opinions to a list of five basic criteria. These are, at the same time, what we individually consider as ultimate criteria. The following task of the drawing collective members is to examine resemblances and differences and then negotiate the final five criteria.



Notes on the five criteria from
The Drawing Archive.


The five individual criteria in alphabetic order:

Manca Bajec:

1. Aesthetic quality of the work.

2. Contemporary (i agree that it would be interesting to find an artist that would either hold merit or someone on the rise).

3. Size – ( although i generally would not mind a larger work, perhaps in our case a smaller work would be more interesting to our concept).

4. Preference of technique- Since I believe etching is a drawing technique, I would not mind it but I would find it more challenging to find something that is truly a drawing in the most basic sense- pencil, ink, charcoal...

5. The concept behind the work or the work of the artist in general...here I agree with both of you...it would be interesting to find someone that fits our profile either personally or in the work itself.

Milia Xin Bi:

1. Contemporary: I think it is interesting that we are researching the potential value of contemporary drawing. We are living in the contemporary, and we are creating the value of the art in our age.

2. Relational: It will be great if our selected drawing strongly related to our curating context.

3.  Aesthetics: Definitely high quality piece of art.

4. Materials: I think it’s a part of ‘contemporary’, isn’t it? Drawing is changing all the time because of the different of materials.

5. Size: I don’t mind the size, but I think it is better to have a good frame.

Michele Drascek:

1. Technique (drawing, not print nor etching / at least an artwork produced within the framework "drawing", so that contains the peculiar features of the technique of drawing).

2. Dimension (since the original idea is to exhibit a small drawing + personally I appreciate small artworks in general).

3. Year of production (if we want to stick to the contemporary I would not go back to the year 2000 / if we want to widening the possibilities at least the second half of the XX century).

4. Area of production (could be challenging to find a drawing of an artist simply reachable for a meeting, an interview or writing in support of the project).

5. Artist biography (could be better an artist that comes from a different field of knowledge, so to be more suitable to the drawing project as a whole).



Emma Moore:

1. Unfinished (I like work when the thought process and a sense of "figuring out" is evident, I think that would suit our overall idea)

2. Good/Strong quality of line

3. Contemporary ( Ideally I would like work from an established artist that would be able to hold its own in the space as the only artwork)

4. Experimental in the use of materials (I've been thinking about what constitutes a drawing and I think something that challenges the idea of what a    drawing is might be interesting)

5. Dimension (I also agree that it should be small)

On drawing: Becky Beasley

The history of drawing has maintained a lightness which painting has not. It was, somehow "weaker" than painting.

Its marginalization was also its strenght.

It was always elsewhere.

Perhaps drawing has within it the capacity for a kind of indifference to history which allows it a less encumbered position or, to use another term form Blanchot, a passionate indifference.

Beasley B. (2008) Nowhere is Here, in MacFarlane K.(2008) Nowhere is here. London: The Drawing Rooms and Portsmouth: Aspex.

The Drawing Room

As stated in the official website, The Drawing Room "is dedicated to the investigation and presentation of international contemporary drawing". We visit The Drawing Room aware of the mission and of the precise commitment of the gallery. We meet Mary Doyle, co-director and curator of the gallery. After a brief introduction of our project, knowing our interest and hypothetical budget, she takes out from the open-shelf of the office three boxes. The boxes contains a considerable amount of drawings in stock, all drew on A4 format paper. These drawings are donated from the artist, have a good sale prize and the earning goes in support of The Drawing Room.

The co-director and curator Mary Doyle
opens the boxes and puts the drawings on display.

There is a lot of material to check and consider:  from drawing produced with the recognizable techniques of drawing to artworks that definitely don't belong to the traditional idea of drawing. So that we handle a landscape - pencil on paper - by Rachel Cattle, a watercolor by Jocelyn Clarke, an abstract pencil and graphite on paper by Ana Genoves, a nude - brown ink on paper - by Marco Livingstone. But also an inkjet on paper by Sara Mackillop, a monoprint on paper by Boffey, a stencil by Tom Woolford or a wood veneer on paper by Ray Cooke. The prizes are really affordable. You could purchase a drawing from the prize of £150 upwards.



Checking the drawings on A4 paper format.

The curator show us then the different publications and catalogues that The Drawing Room produces for the exhibitions. In particular she introduces us to the work of the British artist Adam Dant. What really amused us about his production is not only the accuracy, but also the unexpected dimension of the drawings. For instance, the drawing Wall Street English (2001) - exhibited in 2003 in The Drawing Room - reaches the measurement of 244x244cm.

The gallery has in stock a series of sepia ink drawings by him. They measure is 36x38cm. and, unframed, they cost  £1.700.

Adam Dante The people who live on the plank
artist's book. As his drawings also the book
exceed the standard dimension.

At the end of the meeting, we are invited to what is described as the most  interesting event organized by The Drawing Room: the Silent Auction Event. This could be an opportunity to purchase a drawing for the project, but, unfortunately, the date of the auction is long after the opening of our exhibition. We will anyway try to attend this curious event.

Visit The Drawing Room website:
http://www.drawingroom.org.uk/

Michele Drascek

Fundraiser event presentation

Presentation during the drawing fundraiser event

Wednesday 9th February 2011, The Green Room 

Chelsea College of Art and Design
video 3min 44sec     © the drawing 2011

the drawing. fundraiser night. wednesday 9th 2011.

In November 2010, four students on the MA Curating course at Chelsea College of Art and Design formed The Drawing Collective. The collective were presented with the opportunity of creating an exhibition at the Wimbledon Space, in the Wimbledon College of Art. Since then the idea has grown into something that we all wish to continue long after we complete our studies.

The concept for the exhibition evolves from the idea of the four members, acting as one collector, to purchase a small drawing. This will be the first acquisition in the Drawing Collective’s collection. In order to make an informed decision, about the drawing, we have attended auctions, meetings with collectors, artists, professors, gallery managers, auctioneers, librarians, and many others involved in the field of art. During this process of selecting a drawing, which is yet to purchased, thorough documentation through photography, sketches, writings and video is carried out. As part of the research, we have also been recording conversations within the collective, which reveal our decision-making process. All of this documentation constitutes an archive, The Drawing Archive.

Throughout the entire process we have been and will be performing different functions and assuming different roles: collective, collector, artist, archivist, curator and manager. In this way we question the necessity of defining these roles.

The final exhibition at the Wimbledon space will take the form of an interactive installation.  Included will be the purchased drawing and the archive of the whole process, which will be at the disposal of the audience. The exhibition will be laid out as our workspace. By revealing the usually hidden aspects in exhibition making we are experimenting with curatorial methods. 

At the closing of the exhibition, we wish to host an event, a conversation with professionals in the field of drawing and archive and in doing so we hope to open up relevant discussions in the field. Finally, we aim to produce a substantial publication that would reflect the process we undertook.

With your help we will be a lot closer to achieving complete realization of our project. In exchange for your generosity, we can offer your name to be listed as a patron, within the exhibition space as well as the publication.

To support the project, please donate to:

Account Name: The Drawing

Branch Sort Code: 40-07-13

Account Number: 42035014

Swift: MIDLGB22

IBAN: GB96MIDL40071342035014

The Drawing Collective:
Manca Bajec, Milia Xin Bi, Michele Drascek, Emma Moore

Images from the drawing fundraiser event

The fundraiser was a great success last Wednesday night.
We had a really good turn-out and we would like to thank everybody who attended.
A very special thank you to those who donated and became patrons of the drawing collective!
See images below.

Don't forget you still can become a patron (Paypal and bank account details can be found on the blog). 



The reception in The Green Room



The presentation of the drawing project




Emma Moore and Michele Drascek presenting the project

 


Isobel Whitelegg (left)




Donald Smith (center)

 


Emma Moore, Manca Bajec and Milia Xin Bi




Michele Drascek, Jason Brown and Carlos Noronha Feio

 



The public



David Medalla and Inti Guerrero



David Medalla and Milia Xin Bi



Fundraising event invitation: Wednesday 9 February 2001

Where is Chelsea? How Do I Get There?

Drawing is the thing

  Any fool can paint,

  but drawing is the thing

  and drawing is the text.

  If you are a good draughtsman

  you are "ispo facto" a good painter.

  Walter Sickert (1860–1942)

  at Thanet School of Art

  Margate, 23 November 1934