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March 4, 2008
MEDIUM OF DRAWING IS FOCUS OF BEN SHAHN GALLERIES EXHIBIT
An exhibit featuring four artists for whom the medium of drawing is essential is on view at the Ben Shahn Galleries at William Paterson University in Wayne from March 24 through April 22, 2008. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. A reception for the exhibit will be held on Sunday, March 30, from 3 to 5 p.m.
“Primary”, on view in the South Gallery, features drawings by Alyce Gottesman of Montclair, Kathrin Hilten of New York City, Gina Ruggeri of Queens, and Robert Walden of Brooklyn. According to Nancy Einreinhofer, director of the Ben Shahn Galleries and curator of the exhibit, the works included range from preparatory works for other art forms to finished final expressions, but all provide insight into process and form.
“Drawing is a discipline that demands acute perception and coordination,” she explains. “It is considered fundamental to the making of art, the process of seeing, thinking, translating from the eye to the hand, and is a skill that must be constantly practiced and honed. Attention to such a fundamental process produces many rewards for the artist and the viewer alike.”
Gottesman’s abstract works are mysterious places full of shadowy images that float and swirl, released from the pull of gravity. The materials of charcoal, graphite, ink and gouache are layered to invoke an otherworldly atmosphere. “My work is an expression of my personal experience,” she says. “The starkness of black and white possesses an intensity that permits an inner meaning to emerge from the nakedness of the forms.”
Hilten is exhibiting seven drawings from a recent series titled “Circle Squares,” which are inspired by landscape. “The coincidence of natural patterns and spatial rhythms that repeat themselves have been the foundation of my work,” she says. The freely drawn, and therefore imperfect circle and square, function as a kind of anchor, a base to push against and dance around.
Ruggeri’s large-scale works, which are preparatory works for her paintings, also stand on their own. Dynamic interpretations of portions of landscape—details of roots, rocks, turf— the images are invented in the mind of the artist rather than observed in the real world. “I make drawings in order to see an image I want to paint,” she explains. “Though complete, they are in a raw state; their underlying energies remain exposed.”
Natural and man-made landscapes converge in the “road maps” drawn by Robert Walden. His ink on paper works deal with the nature of existence, analyzing concepts about essence, substance, time, location, space and identity. “Each drawing Is not only a finished work that represents a place, but is also a reflection of the hand of the artist,m the act of making lines,” he says.
The exhibit is one of three shows currently on view in the Ben Shahn Galleries. On view in the Court Gallery is “Currents,” the annual national juried art exhibition sponsored by Studio Montclair. “Prints and Company,” on view in the East Gallery, features an exploration of the state of various printed matter today.
The exhibit is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Ben Shahn Galleries are wheelchair-accessible. Large-print handouts are available. For additional information, please call the Ben Shahn Galleries at William Paterson University at 973-720-2654.
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