‘Drawing – The Visual Expression of Thought’ in the Allsop Gallery
Most artists create drawings, but not all take them to a finished state, which can be appreciated as a work of art in itself. Artists also produce drawings as a way of thinking, trying out ideas, putting visual thoughts onto paper, constructing images.
The upcoming Exhibition at the Bridport Arts Centre titled “Drawing; The Visual Expression of Thought” puts together both finished drawings and sketchbooks showing how artists develop their ideas from the beginning concept to completed artwork. The exhibition has been curated by Bridport based artist David Brooke who has brought together 15 artists from all over the South West of England whose work is of a high quality and shows a diversity of approaches to drawing techniques. David is himself a past president of the Society of Graphic Fine Art, the national society which promotes fine drawing skills.
“What appeals to me about creating a drawing is the immediacy of putting a line or a mark onto paper,” said David Brooke, “I find the feel and look of a drawing has an attraction which is very different to that of a painting, and I wanted show this through the exhibition. The title of the exhibition reflects my belief that drawing is the means by which most artists develop their thoughts in a visual form.”
As well as finished framed drawings the exhibition will also have a number of the artists’ sketchbooks on show. Exhibiting artist Kate Lynch says “My sketchbooks are where I make on the spot drawings and work out compositions in pencil, charcoal or anything that comes to hand! The large finished charcoal drawings are worked up in the studio on heavy rough watercolour paper and different thicknesses of willow charcoal (produced by local Somerset willow growers). Drawing with charcoal is raw and direct.”
“Drawing is my main approach to making art,” says Mart Tebbs, another of the artists, “My imagery is abstracted from natural forms (and sometimes machine made objects) worked into pieces which reflect elements of landscapes I have lived in or visited often, at present mostly coastal West Dorset.”
Elaine Dixon’s work is highly imaginative, she says of her work; “I have, in the past, done a lot of life drawing. The human figure is the basic content of my work, although these days I work subjectively rather than objectively. I believe you have to be able to draw well before you can paint; you need to understand form before you can manipulate shape and mass to develop your ideas either as a drawing or painting. Any substance that leaves a stain on a flat surface that is a deliberate image made with a stick-like object could be called a drawing. So can a linear image created with ink and brush; the boundaries between what is a drawing and what is a painting, are being continually challenged.”
“Drawing can take you from hypothesis, through experimentation, to the final proof of an idea; it can encompass the most detailed scrutiny, or the merest impression; it can be an aide de memoir, or a piece of work in its own right,” says artists Caroline Ireland of her approach to drawing, “There is an element of playfulness and freedom in drawing and I delight in every discovery it brings me.”
Curators Talk: with David Brook, Saturday 4 February, 2pm. FREE
The exhibition runs from 20 January to 18 February 2012, in the Allsop Gallery of the Bridport Arts Centre, open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am to 4pm.
