Angela Mark, The Workers March (1991)

The idea of drawing has taken on great romance and importance since about the 1970s, when this originally humble cousin to Painting and Sculpture started to find its own footing in the world of contemporary art. Institutions such as the Drawing Center in New York (established in 1977), and exhibitions such as “Drawing Now: Eight Propositions” at the Museum of Modern Art in 2002 underscored the diversity and vitality of the shape-shifting genre, which long ago stepped out of the arena of the preliminary sketch and into the limelight. Opening at the New Art Center on April 7, “ON DRAWING: SURFACE, LINE, MARK” explores the subject through the work of eight New England artists working in a variety of media. Basil El Halwagy makes large-scale, narrative drawings with white pastel on black paper; Angela Mark does politically overt pen-and-ink work; Aparna Agrawal layers using collage and text. The exhibition will also offer an interactive “Drawing Space” created by artist and exhibition co-curator Deborah Putnoi where gallery visitors can try their own hands at techniques including blind contour drawing and working in sketchbooks.

Boston is so rich in talks by visiting artists, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all the talented folks coming through to share their slides and their insights. Two high-profile visitors are on the immediate horizon. On April 3, JEFF KOONS, creator of the 43-foot flower Puppy at Rockefeller Center and the fine porcelain-and-gold sculpture Michael Jackson and Bubbles, speaks at Harvard’s Carpenter Center. And on April 8, JENNY SAVILLE, esteemed painter of voluptuous (to put it nicely), fleshy figures, speaks at BU’s Morse Auditorium. Both events are free, but seating is limited, and reservations are required (see number below) for the Saville lecture.

On the Web
www.newartcenter.org
www.simmons.edu/trustman
www.ves.fas.harvard.edu
www.bu.edu/cfa