EXHIBIT: drawn (not quartered)
ARTISTS: Glenn Downing, Katie Maratta, Shawn Smith, Jared Theis,
W. Tucker, & Randy Twaddle
DATES: 4 June - 18 July 2009
OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, 4 June, 6 – 8 pm

d berman gallery is pleased to present six Texas artists examining and portraying different forms of drawing. This exhibit will contain quite a range of drawings, including raw, energetic works by Glenn Downing; one inch tall Texas horizonscapes by Katie Maratta; Shawn Smith’s approach to drawings from a sculptor’s perspective; Jared Theis’ delicately rendered pen and ink on vellum pieces; W. Tucker’s intuitive and subconsciously directed works; and Randy Twaddle’s watercolor and gouache “reversal drawings”.

Glenn Downing says of his work: “I am interested in creating a collage of life with memorable imagery evoking range of emotions. I strive to keep a raw quality and a sense of humor in the finished work. In recent years, I have been more and more influenced by jazz and its spontaneity. I am not a musician, so my works are my visual tunes combining materials and images like notes. High ideals are expressed in crude lines and found objects, likewise crudeness is expressed in fine inks and pastels.”

Katie Maratta says: “What I like about these pieces: they should feel cramped and crowded, but they manage to convey a surprising sense of space. They should be corny because they include elements such as windmills and cows and pumpjacks, but in this small scale the cliché becomes fresh again. They allow me to play with the notion of beginning, middle, and end in new ways. They are, in fact, a Basic Geometry lesson with the verticality of the viewer complementing the line, squares, and basic shapes of the horizon and the pictorial elements strung along it. They are powerful without being intimidating. They are satisfying to do and satisfying to look at. They share a quality with Chinese porcelain of the complete world that one can hold in one’s hand.”

Shawn Smith’s sculptural works of the last several years (such as his piece in Austin Museum of Art’s New Art in Austin: 20 To Watch) have been composed of small blocks of wood to create “pixilated” three dimensional pieces. So, it was only natural that in approaching the idea of a two dimensional drawing, Smith starting cutting up full images into tiny pixel pieces of paper to use for collaging his drawings.

Jared Theis, who is an accomplished musician in addition to being a visual artist, ties the two arts together in his Sheet Music Drawings. He says of the series: “The Sheet Music Drawings evolved from my recent study of chamber music and a substantial interest in microscopy. The ethereal forms in these ink on vellum drawings float weightlessly across pages of sheet music and call to mind microorganisms, cellular activity, and continental drift. The musical scores I've chosen for these drawings are works I've studied, performed and loved deeply throughout my life.”

W. Tucker says his surfaces are “unplanned. Line drawings, markings, painted strokes and scribbles are made with oil, lumber stick, resin stick, charcoal, graphite and ink. I create these drawings/markings predominantly with my non-dominant hand. The use of my left hand allows me to draw in an unpracticed manner, and often rescues me from over-thinking the work. … I am not conscious of representing a specific story or idea as I work. The exact meaning of a piece in many instances eludes me. In the end, I am more often struck by an emotional response to what I paint and draw.”

Randy Twaddle is continuing his series of “reversal drawings”. In the new work, in which the format is more vertically pronounced, the banner on which the phrases are contained is more contorted and less "elegant" than in previous work, rendering the reversed phrases as less legible than before.

d berman gallery
1701 Guadalupe Street
Austin, Texas 78701
512.477.8877
Regular gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11 - 6 & by appointment
Summer gallery hours (July & August): Tuesday – Saturday, 12 - 5 & by appointment