Buffalo, NY – On Saturday, July 8, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery will open a new exhibition entitled Drawing: The Beginning of Everything, exploring the evolution of this wide-ranging medium. The exhibition is located in the South Galleries of the museum’s 1905 Building, and will remain on view until Sunday, October 22, 2017.

“The Albright-Knox has a rich and varied collection of contemporary drawing, and the artists selected for this exhibition push the boundaries of the medium to create imagery that is simultaneously subtle and detailed,” said Godin-Spaulding Curator & Curator for the Collection Holly E. Hughes. “I think now, more than ever, museum visitors are looking for a place of contemplation and reassurance. It is my hope that the inviting nature of these works will result in extended observation, slowing the pace at which viewers experience each piece.”

The notion that drawing is simply a preparatory stage for painting or sculpture has been cast aside. The act of placing a pen or pencil to a surface is, for many artists, both a formative and driving experience. With an emphasis on works created within the last 30 years, Drawing: The Beginning of Everything is the first large-scale exhibition to highlight this area of the Albright-Knox’s collection.

Contemporary approaches to drawing are increasingly rooted in concepts, characteristics, and meditative techniques that result in compelling and intensely personal imagery. Practices, albeit varied, promote markmaking as a constructive exploration of surface, space, composition, and scale. This exhibition considers the ways in which drawing is employed as a means to test the limits that traditionally separate one artistic discipline from another by expanding beyond the page and into the realms of performance, photography, sculpture, film, and video.

Artists featured include Ingrid Calame (American, born 1965), Tacita Dean (British, born 1965), Olafur Eliasson (Icelandic, born 1967), Ellen Gallagher (American, born 1965), Roland Flexner (American, born France, 1944), Mark Fox (American, born 1963), David Hammons (American, born 1943), Nancy Rubins (American, born 1952), Fred Sandback (American, 1943–2003), Tam Van Tran (American, born Vietnam, 1966), and Daniel Zeller (American, born 1965), among others.

This exhibition has been organized by Godin-Spaulding Curator & Curator for the Collection Holly E. Hughes. Equipment and technical support has been provided by Advantage TI.

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