Drawn: Concept & Craft
Curated by Tomas Vu and Wendy Earle, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
Exhibition View
Drawn: Concept & Craft
Museum:
SECCA
Exhibition:
Drawn: Concept & Craft
On Display:
September 16, 2020 – February 15, 2021
Hours:
We, Fr, SA: 10AM - 5PM
Th: 10AM - 8PM
Su: 1PM - 5PM
One might expect to be surrounded by, well, drawings when visiting Drawn: Concept & Craft. And, while there are many skillful “traditional” drawings, the exhibition, curated by Tomas Vu and Wendy Earle, broadens one’s definition of drawing—collages, etched cyanotypes, videos, and silk screens abound. For, the hope always was that ‘Drawn would be seen not just as a medium but also a verb—as in, being drawn into the many facets of the exhibition.’
Wendy, who graciously walked me through the exhibition, was first introduced to the idea of Drawn: Concept & Craft three years ago through an artist whose work was featured in SECCA's Cubans: Post Truth, Pleasure and Pain exhibit. ‘His professor at Columbia had begun creating a series which teamed up with local art organizations to curate an exhibition showcasing art from all over the world, as well as highlighting the talented artists within the local community… Perhaps SECCA would be a perfect fit?’ Since that initial introduction, iterations of Drawn: Concept & Craft have occurred in Serbia, Canada, and China. Currently there are plans for Berlin, Israel, and El Paso.
What a treat to have one just an hour and a half away in Winston-Salem, NC!
Image Courtesy of SECCA
Visit, 2019
Kiki Smith
Upon entering Drawn: Concept & Craft, I was met by the immense self-portrait of New Mexico-based artist Paula Wilson. Collaged and arriving rolled, the immense piece required a scissor lift to be placed. In a world where women are all too often complemented on their ability to be small, there was something rather empowering about Wilson’s audacity to take up so much space.
To my right, I immediately recognize Kiki Smith’s work and am told that she has been a huge supporter of the exhibition since day one, contributing a new drawing to each iteration. While the wolves I so often associate with Kiki’s work were missing from Visit, the presence of the ‘wild woman’—one who trusts her intuition, claims her wholeness, and takes the time to really get to know herself (what the wolf represents)—is felt immediately as one looks at her sister and mother painted in the studio. Initially I had assumed that it was Kiki’s sister Seton, a respected artist known for her Cibachrome photography, who was present. I was unaware until today that Seton had had a twin, Beatrice, an actress like her mother, who was lost to AIDS in 1988.
On the back wall, Kara Walker’s 2005 silkscreen print series Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated) moves me just as much as it did the first time I saw it. Why, yes—there is a very different story to tell than the one written by Alfred H. Guernsey and Henry Mills Alden in the 1860s.
Image Courtesy of SECCA
Both Pieces Part of Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated) Series From 2005
On Left: Banks’s Army Leaving Simmsport; On Right: Occupation of Alexandria
Kara Walker
Image Courtesy of SECCA
Welder’s Daughter: Safe and Powerless—The Waiting Room, 2011-2020
Elizabeth Alexander
Image Courtesy of SECCA
Radiating Blue, 2020
Leigh Suggs
Of the sixty-eight artists represented, some of which were either added or subtracted last minute due to COVID, eighteen were directly chosen by Wendy. While not a huge percentage, these artists she selected had an undeniable impact on the overall feel of the exhibition. Elizabeth Alexander’s wallpaper—the brown made of rust and the black of iron fillings, both collected from her father’s welding studio—seemed to perfectly depict strength and delicacy. The wall which Heather Gordon’s work claimed made me feel a bit like a proud mother as “my” Chrysalis made its museum debut. And, Leigh Suggs’ (who currently has a show with our friends at Massey Klein Gallery) Rorschach-like cutout pieces were completely captivating and a definite crowd favorite. What do you see? A PacMan? A Death Star? Me—I see the moon. Perhaps that makes me one of Kiki’s ‘Wild Women.’ ;)
Do go see the exhibition if you are able or visit SECCA’s website to experience it virtually. It is well worth it… no doubt you will be drawn in just as I was.
Image Courtesy of SECCA